STEPS
IN TIME:
A Broadway Biography in Song and Dance
Written,
Choreographed, Directed by Tommy Tune
Musical Direction
by Michael Biagi
Featuring Tommy
Tune and The Manhattan Rhythm Kings
On Tour
at Van
Wezel Performing Arts Hall
Sarasota, March
14, 2012
Reviewed by Marie
J. Kilker
After
Tommy Tune taps a ÔtimeÔ step and then shuffles across the stage, heÕs off
using variations of both and commenting on his life on stage for 90 wonderful
minutes. HeÕs 73 years ageless as he shows off not only his Broadway triumphs
but also not-quite-hits from My One and Only to The
Best Little Whorehouse in Texas Goes Public.
He goes through his life from Texas roots (the only place
he wasnÕt always so tall) to his first work on The Great White Way in a chorus.
He not only stood out there but stood away soon with a leading
role----something heÕs retained in films, television spots, Las Vegas revues,
and world-wide ÒconcertÒ tours such as the present.
Tommy
Tune gives his own spin on legendary Red Shoes (with real ones matched by a
vest and handkerchief), backed up enthusiastically in song and dance by The
Manhattan Rhythm Kings. They (Brian Nalepka, Hal Shane, Scott Leiendecker) wear
cowboy boots and appropriate hats. Musicians Michael Biagi, Bobby Hirshhorn,
and John Meyers make all their fine moves and sounds onstage throughout. And
speaking of sound, TuneÕs voice is vibrant as ever, just as his classic pop
songs are well worth listening to again and again. When he tries to end with
ÒEvery Time We Say Goodbye,Ò the audience wonÕt let him off without a much
appreciated encore. Perhaps he will be like onetime partner Charles ÒHoniÒ
Coles, to whom TuneÕs program is dedicated. The legendary tap master suffered a
stroke during a performance but his body, especially the feet, finished as if
on its own. Some might attribute ColesÔ performance to the power of dance that
took him over. Tommy Tune, in Steps in Time, seems to
evidence such a power.