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McKechnie made her Broadway debut as a dancer in , starring as brown-nosing window washer J. Pierrepont Finch.
The show opened on Oct. 14, 1961, at the 46th Street Theatre (now the Richard Rodgers Theatre). It won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and received the 1962 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
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In 1968, McKechnie appeared in the original production of , and 's Promises, Promises. She played Vivien Della Hoya opposite as Chuck Baxter and as Fran Kubelik.
The musical opened on Dec. 1, 1968, at the Shubert Theatre and enjoyed a 1,281-performance run. In the show's positive New York Times review, Clive Barnes wrote that McKechnie "led the dance number at the end of the first act with the power and drive of a steam hammer in heat."
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Two years later, McKechnie originated the role of Kathy in the - musical , about the pleasures and pains of love and marriage in New York City. The opening night cast included and , who was replaced early in the run by his standby Larry Kert.
The musical was nominated for a record-breaking 14 Tony Awards, winning six. Kert was nominated for Best Actor in a Musical, marking the only time a replacement actor has been nominated in a competitive category.
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McKechnie's next career highlight came in the first Broadway revival of , and 's . She performed the role of Ivy Smith in a cast that included as Hildy Esterhazy and as Claire DeLoone.
The musical opened on Oct. 31, 1971, at the Imperial Theatre and ran for 73 performances.
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Four years later, McKechnie memorably created the role of Cassie in , which opened on Jul. 25, 1975, at the Shubert Theatre. The opening night cast included as Sheila, as Val, as Diana and as Zach.
The production won nine Tony Awards, including Best Actress in a Musical for McKechnie, and was awarded the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It ran for 6,137 performances and was the longest-running show in Broadway history until it was surpassed by in 1997.
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In 1996, McKechnie appeared in , the stage adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1945 musical film of the same name. She starred as Emily Arden alongside , Kathryn Crosby and .
The production opened on Mar. 27, 1996, at the Music Box Theatre and ran for 110 performances.
