William Marrié.

 

William Marrié, the dancer who played matinee performances as the lead Eddie in Movin' Out, died the morning of Nov. 16, following a motorcycle accident in New York City, according to newspaper accounts. The 33-year-old artist, who would have turned 34 Nov. 18, was on his motorcycle Nov. 15 en route to the Richard Rodgers Theatre, where Movin' Out is a box office and critical success, when he crashed with a taxi cab. He was rushed to New York Presbyterian Hospital but never regained consciousness. Mr. Marrié's role was played by Lawrence Rabson for the performance that Saturday.

The cast was in high spirits after Billy Joel made a surprise appearance at the Friday night curtain — singing "New York State of Mind" and the show's title song. They learned of Mr. Marrié's accident that night and of his death the following morning. The Saturday matinee performance of Movin' Out was dedicated to his memory as was that evening's performance of the National Ballet of Canada's The Firebird — in which Mr. Marrié had originated the role of Kartchei in the original production in 2000.

The Montreal-born dancer began dancing at the age of 19. He received his formal training at L'École Supérieur de Danse du Québec. He soon joined the National Ballet of Canada in 1990 where he eventually moved his way up to first soloist and then principal dancer. He also danced with the American Ballet Theater and Boston Ballet.

Mr. Marrié proudly listed his credits as Basilio in Don Quixote, Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet, Onegin and critically acclaimed Petruchio in Taming of the Shrew in his Movin' Out bio, ending with the message, "Special love to Mom."

According to The New York Times, Mr. Marrié is survived by his mother Andrée LeBlanc, his father Claude Marrié, sisters Maude and Edith, brother Blaise and stepfather Gilles Bleiveise.