Utah Ground

Utah Ground, choreographer, teacher and talent manager to Broadway stars Sandy Duncan, Tommy Tune, actress/composer Amanda McBroom, K. T. Oslin, Margo Martindale, and others died on February 9 in Austin, Texas. Born in Bremerhaven, Germany, Ms. Ground was raised in Manhattan and was a graduate of Professional Children’s School. She studied with George Balanchine, Charles “Honi” Coles, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson and others. As a child performer she appeared on Broadway and on film in The Little Rascals. From 1958 – 1970 she was Head of Dance at Lon Morris College in Jacksonville, Texas where many of her students, including Tune and Duncan went on to have successful professional careers on Broadway. She also taught in her own studio in Tyler, Texas and staged musicals for Tyler Junior College. In addition she choreographed many summer musicals. As a talent manager she was associated with the Lester Lewis Agency in New York. In 2001, on the closing night of her run in the Broadway musical Chicago, Sandy Duncan paid tribute to Ground from the stage of the Shubert Theatre. In addition to New York and Texas she has been a resident of Stratford, Ontario; London, England, and Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She is survived by her husband, Barney Hammond, a voice and acting coach and professor at The University of Texas at Austin. Other survivors include a son, Bob Ground of Tyler, Texas, a daughter, Donna De La Torre of Anaheim Hills, California, another daughter, Becky Flint of Phoenix, Arizona, a niece, Carola McBride of Boerne, Texas and a nephew, George Majewski of Austin, Texas, as well as eight grandchildren. A celebration of her life is planned in New York on March 21 at the Lowell Hotel. In honor of her life contributions may be made to The Seton Cove, 3708 Crawford Ave., Austin, Texas, www.setoncove.net. Obituary and guestbook available online at wcfish.com