Jelly’s Last Jam and The Wild Party Star Adrian Bailey Has Died

Jelly’s Last Jam and The Wild Party Star Adrian Bailey Has Died

The dancer was seriously injured onstage in 2008, leading to the end of his Broadway career.

Broadway dancer Adrian Bailey has died. News of his passing was confirmed by his My One and Only co-star Lucie Arnaz Luckinbill on social media. He was 67.

Mr. Bailey was a valued specialty dancer, making his Broadway debut in 1976 as a swing dancer in Your Arms Too Short to Box with God. For three decades, he was never far from the Broadway stage, appearing in Sophisticated Ladies, My One and Only, Legs Diamond, Black and Blue, Prince of Central Park, Jelly’s Last Jam, The Who’s Tommy, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Smokey Joe’s Cafe, The Wild Party, La Cage Aux Follies, and Hot Feet.

His final Broadway appearance came in 2008, when he performed in the ensemble of The Little Mermaid while understudying the role of King Triton. Mr. Bailey was injured after falling 20 feet through a trap door prior to the start of a performance, which caused him to suffer two fractured wrists, a broken back, a shattered pelvis, a fractured sternum, several fractured ribs and a fractured foot. His career was effectively suspended as he underwent countless surgeries in order to regain his ability to walk and care for himself.

That Mr. Bailey survived nearly two decades following the fall far surpassed initial expectations set by his doctors. In recent years, Mr. Bailey had even begun re-entering public life, attending a variety of opening night celebrations in support of the theatre community. 

Information on a public memorial is forthcoming.