Tappin’ Thru Life
Tappin’ Thru Life
New World Stages, NYC, February 15, 2016
Reviewed by Marilyn Lester for Cabaret Scenes
Photo: Carol Rosegg
More than an autobiography of a life well-lived on stage and on screens big and small, Maurice Hines’ Tappin’ Thru Life is an entertaining, celebratory homage to a Golden Age of show business as well as to the importance of family. Hines’ story is as much about his Cotton Club-dancer grandmother and parents (especially mother Alma, who “had the vision”) as it is about his own wide-ranging and successful career – and, of course, about his little brother, the late Gregory Hines. The Hines Kids (later the Hines Brothers) were barely out of diapers when they began dancing professionally at ages five and two. Taught by master dancer, teacher and Tony-winner Henry LeTang, the duo moved from strength to strength, together and individually, through stage, film and television.
Hines – a multi-talented singer, dancer, director-choreographer – captures this very full life in a heartfelt, self-authored narrative, delivered rapid-fire, as if his tappin’ feet had a conversation with his speech center. Hines is, after all, a New Yorker born and bred, which informs his presentation and which provides sharp contrast to one of the more trenchant parts of the show: Las Vegas in the mid-to-late 1950s. Juxtaposed with the thrill of playing in this desert wonderland with the likes of Lena Horne, Sammy Davis, Jr., Dean Martin, and Frank Sinatra is the chilling reality of segregation – a shameful era when black performers could be major hotel headliners yet were forced to enter the premises through the kitchen. Hines addresses the soul-searing indignities of the time with quiet reflection, singing the Chaplin/Turner/Parsons classic “Smile” with a Pagliacci edge. But better times were to come, with hats off to Judy Garland, Ella Fitzgerald and Johnny Carson, a great champion of the Hines talent.Tappin’ Thru Life is well-calculated and well-paced to hit highs and lows with a song list that intelligently move the show along. Other notable songs in the show, delivered with Hines’ solid jazz-oriented baritone, include “Honeysuckle Rose,” “Luck Be a Lady,” “Ballin’ the Jack” and “My Buddy.” The latter is in tribute to brother Gregory (who met an untimely death from liver cancer in 2003), with reference to their ten-year split and eventual reconciliation. A touching moment comes with the invocation of Gregory’s spirit, a special light, and a soft-shoe routine with the imagined presence of the much-loved little brother.
The through-line of Tappin’ Thru Life is enhanced by moving Mondrian-like screens upon which images are deftly projected. Toben Ost’s scenic design is further enhanced with tonal lighting by Michael Gilliam. There are also several teaser appearances of the tap-dancing Manzari Brothers (which includes a running gag of usurpation). These two dynamos of rhythm tap are both an echo of the two Hines boys and, ultimately, the face of the future. Hines, who is amazingly lithe and energetic at age 72, mainly conserves his dancing strength till the climax of the show – a tap explosion with the Manzaris, plus a “secret weapon” in the teenage tapping Ruth sisters, and the master himself – all routines self-choreographed by the several dancers. Former dancer Jeff Calhoun directed Tappin Thru Life, taking advantage of Hines’ deeply personal narrative to ensure a gratifying product of warmth and intimacy.
Last but not by any means least is Tappin’ Thru Life’s wow-factor: The Diva Jazz Orchestra, led by Musical Director Sherrie Maricle, one of the finest musicians ever to sit behind a drum set. Hines deftly worked the on-stage presence of the band into the show, interacting with the members with a pleasing consistency and charm. Their girl-power was evident from the start, with an opener that practically blew out the back wall of the theater – a supercharged version of the Duke Ellington/Irving Mills superlative “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing).” Hines closed the show with a reprise of this standard, with an invitation to the audience to join in singing the “doo-wahs.” Then, with a farewell of “Too Marvelous for Words,” Hines departed the stage, leaving the Divas to play-out with fierce, toe-tapping cool.
Tappin’ Thru Life also features stunning costumes by T. Tyler Stumpf and sound design by Michael Hahn, which includes some heightened and sharp tap riffs to introduce Hines at the top of the show. Production design is by Darrel Maloney.
Category: Musical Theatre Reviews, New York City, New York City Musical Theatre Reviews, Off-Broadway Reviews
