The Tap Dance Kid at Encores — Page 2

Bill Snibson said: "I was told by someone who saw it that basically “fat” is changed to “loud” because she’s stubborn and vocal but again thats from a friend who saw it. Someone else might be able to give more specifics."

In the real version, Emma sings about being “not pretty, “too loud,” and “pretty fat” in a duet with her mother called “Like Him,” during which she admits being terrified her father doesn’t love her. 

Jesse Green is right on the money. Joshua Henry is indeed sensational, but it makes no sense to give him that moment at the end of the show after having zero character development for the previous 2 hours.

It's a pretty boring musical, and Kenny Leon's inability to direct a musical really weighs it down. Everything needs a jolt of energy, and it made me wish that more of the book was cut. Encores proudly lists 10 people in creative leadership or advisory capacity now, yet nobody had the authority to tell Kenny to speed this thing up???

The cast also leaves much to be desired. Trevor Jackson (as Uncle Dipsey) never gives us the impression that this guy is a STAR. He is way too subtle, and his great dancing doesn't make up for it. Alexander Bello is merely a proficient tapper. Shahadi Wright Joseph sounds great but cannot act. (Or maybe she can, and was simply not well directed here.) I feel bad criticizing kids, but when the show relies on them so heavily, it's hard to make the show work without them.

The band sounds HOT, the choreography is great, and there are a few nice songs. But there's way too much other crap surrounding it.

I feel like I heard rumblings a few years ago that Savion Glover was attached to play the uncle and choreograph a new revival of it with a revised script (blanking on who was doing the rewrite). That might have been much better.

Well now I’m excited for it. 

SmoothLover said: "On balance, one of teh 5 worst ENCORES I have ever seen."

Eh, this is no worse than some of the other recent productions. If the gold standards of the past 10 years at Encores are Grand Hotel, Most Happy Fella, Superman, and Gents Prefer Blondes, this is certainly in the lower tier, but it's at least more engaging than High Button Shoes (which was badly miscast –– and a poor man's Music Man), Lady Be Good, and Call Me Madam.

Because of the tight schedule, ENCORES kind of has to work as a machine, and there are some directors and performers who simply are not up to the task of doing a show in 11 rehearsal days. But even with a better director and cast, this would never be a great show because the underlying material just isn't there.

Nominated for seven Tony Awards (including Best Musical), The Tap Dance Kid tells the story of Willie, a 10-year-old boy from an upper-middle-class Black family, who dreams of becoming a professional tap dancer, despite his father’s disapproval.

The production includes Tracee Beazer as Carole, Alexander Bello as Willie, DeWitt Fleming Jr. as Daddy Bates, Joshua Henry as William, Trevor Jackson as Uncle Dipsey, Shahadi Wright Joseph as Emma, Chance Smith as Winslow, and Adrienne Walker as Ginnie.

Tony Award-winning director Kenny Leon (A Raisin in the Sun) leads this revival, bringing a fresh take to the production with new tap sequences by choreographer Jared Grimes (After Midnight) to hits such as “Fabulous Feet” and a concert adaptation by Lydia Diamond (Stick Fly). The production features music direction by Broadway’s Joseph Joubert (Motown the Musical).

I was unsure about going to this, especially after the reviews came out, but the promise of Joshua Henry was too irresistible so I went tonight and surprisingly enjoyed myself.  I'd agree with pretty much everyone that it's nothing to write home about, but it kept my attention despite how trite it was (I was afraid I'd be falling asleep since I wasn't super well-rested, but that wasn't a concern at all during the show).  The production numbers and Josh Henry's big song are definitely the highlights and the characters are sweet albeit bland, but I did find myself tearing up a bit at the end (family reconciliation drama always gets to me).

I'm not sure if it's the fault of the book or direction (maybe both?) but I felt that the musical numbers seem to come out of nowhere.  A lot of the song moments don't necessarily seem worth of a song and I'd agree that the lyrics are fairly basic and essentially say the same thing over and over. Either way, I'm glad I went, and it was well worth the ticket price.

Also, for those that are familiar with the original show, is Winslow's part always that small?  It seems a waste to hire a second kid just for two short scenes where there's no music at all (though maybe the kids alternated on Broadway?)

chrishuyen said: "I'm not sure if it's the fault of the book or direction (maybe both?) but I felt that the musical numbers seem to come out of nowhere. A lot of the song moments don't necessarily seem worth of a song and I'd agree that the lyrics are fairly basic and essentially say the same thing over and over."

This gets at the crux of the matter and whatever the limitations of the material, points to the largest problem with the production (and it’s been said elsewhere):  the musical numbers are choreographed (and excellently) like the 1980s/1950s-style musical comedy that the show used to be, but the book scenes are paced, directed and delivered like a stately naturalistic kitchen-sink family drama.  To be even more specific, and it’s not a generalization, for whatever reason the songs are belted (as they should be) while for whatever reason the dialogue is almost whispered.  
 

This in part is why Henry’s number played so well with the audience- he realized he was the antagonist, set the tone (and size) of his characterization at the appropriate pitch early on, so even though his number is the one song that seemingly comes out of nowhere on the page, it was the only one that actually felt earned in the performing of it, and thus gave the audience what they’d been desperate for all evening.  

Other than that the night consisted of mother & daughter speaking quietly around the dinner table, or Dipsey and his girlfriend talking softly next to a telephone, when the orchestra would play a loud intro and the performers would suddenly need to lurch themselves into “Dreamgirls”-style singing. Then, on several occasions, if the song didn’t end the scene, they’d go back to whispering again as if the number never should have happened.  It was one of the more baffling approaches to a musical I’ve ever seen, and (surprisingly for Kenny Leon, even given his lack of experience with musicals) made it seem as if someone, or even a whole lot of people, just didn’t know what they were doing. Kudos again to Jared Grimes, whose choreography injected the show with what energy it had, and who to my mind came off as the hero of the evening.

Updated On: 2/7/22 at 09:55 AM

The last Encores production before the covid shutdown was Mack & Mable which had a problematic book but a wonderful score. So after waiting for two years this is the production the new artistic team chose to kick off with. THIS?? What on earth made them choose a show with a mediocre book and an equally unremarkable score? I thought a large part of selecting the Encores productions was to rediscover and appreciate the scores from lost or forgotten musicals.

Lear deBessonet, the new artistic director, refers to The Tap Dance Kid as "a hidden gem". By the looks of this production I don't think she'd be able to recognize the Hope Diamond from a lump of coal.

Even flawed Encores productions (DuBarry Was a Lady, Kismet, Band Wagon, 70 Girls 70, House of Flowers) have their merits, and this one was no exception. What concerns me is this incredibly stupid statement from Lear deBessonet, the new artistic director: "Almost zero shows before the 21st century have a worldview and politics that sit well with a contemporary viewer." So much for Shakespeare, I guess!

 

She also says that "Encores had been this gorgeous archeological site that had been perfectly excavated." HAD been? So now it's time for...what? Rewriting shows like The Life? That didn't work out so well for The Band Wagon, did it? And did we ever really need a Millie rewrite?

 

I would argue that there are LOTS of fun shows still to "excavate." And the Encores audience is sophisticated enough that any non-PC lyrics or book scenes in the shows do NOT need to be rewritten to suit any delicate sensibilities.

The original Tap Dance Kid was one of the first shows I saw on Broadway so I am quite fond of it, despite its flaws. I agree with most everyone here and say that Encores really messed this one up. Making Emma skinny was disastrous. Casting soft spoken tv actors really made for a boring evening of slow, quiet dialogue in between numbers. Only Joshua Henry knew how to command the stage and he was sensational.

The post-Saturday matinee talkback got a bit contentious with an audience member who made some very good points in his questions and comments about the performance - however, no one from the creative team was present so the actors did their best to deflect it all and the audience turned on the questioner - who to be fair, was very antagonistic in his delivery.  It was all pretty uncomfortable. But I don’t disagree with anything the young man said. 

Ms. deBessonet’s tenure is off to a rocky start.

Updated On: 2/9/22 at 05:50 PM

DaveyG said: "Ms. deBessonet’s tenure is off to a rocky start."

I have never liked anything she directed. Such as her work at the public and the delacorte. I found it all to be basic, bland and quite frankly amateurish too eager to please the audience without any sort of subtlety or style, like it's a school play. I'm not excited to see anything she directs. Anyone else feel the same?