Two NYC Tappers Will Dance Onstage in DAMES AT SEA After Monday's Contest

Over 100 people mobbed the Helen Hayes Theatre, stopping traffic on West 44th Street for the box office opening of the musical comedy Dames at Sea yesterday, August 31. What caused the disturbance? Under the Broadway Theater's marquee, tap dancers were competing for a chance to tap on stage with the cast of Dames at Sea during a performance.

One man who was walking down 44th street inquired "What is all this tapping about?" and when he was told of the contest, he pulled a pair of tap shoes out of his bag and joined in. He was on his way to dance class.

The contest was judged by Dames at Sea's assistant director and choreographer Emily Morgan and dance captain Kevin Worley, and in the end, two dancers were selected for their fast feet and talented tapping, Danielle Behrens, a recent Marymount graduate and Joshua Israel, from NYU's Tisch. Watch two of the performances below!

Produced by Infinity Theatre Company (Anna Roberts Ostroff & Alan Ostroff), Martin Platt and David Elliott, Dames at Sea will star John Bolton as The Captain/Hennesey, Mara Davi as Joan, Danny Gardner as Lucky, Eloise Kropp as Ruby, Laurence Olivier Award winner Lesli Margherita as Mona Kent, and Cary Tedder as Dick.

With a book and lyrics by George Haimsohn and Robin Miller, music by Jim Wise, and music supervision and vocal & dance arrangements by Emmy Award winner Rob Berman (Irving Berlin's White Christmas, Finian's Rainbow), Dames at Sea will be directed and choreographed by three-time Tony Award nominee Randy Skinner (42nd Street, Irving Berlin's White Christmas).

DAMES AT SEA is a tap-happy gem of a show that celebrates the golden era of movie musicals with dazzling dames and a heart as big as the ocean! Ruby steps off a bus in Manhattan, and into her first Broadway show, but hours before the opening night curtain is to rise, the cast learns their theater is being demolished, so it is "all hands on deck" to find a stage to put on the show. Featuring rollicking tap dancing, love at first sight, joyful music and a boatload of laughs, this glittering musical extravaganza has everything you need to sweep your glooms away.

DAMES AT SEA will feature scenic design by three-time Tony Award nominee Anna Louizos (In The Heights, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella), costume design by two-time Tony Award nominee David C. Woolard (West Side Story, The Rocky Horror Show), lighting design by Tony Award winner Ken Billington (Chicago, Act One) and Jason Kantrowitz ([title of show]), sound design by Tony Award winner Scott Lehrer (South Pacific, The King & I), and casting by Binder Casting.

One of the most unique musicals ever created, the original production of Dames at Sea pulled off the feat of creating a magnificent musical experience with a tight, multi-talented cast of six. Dames at Sea opened Off-Broadway at the Bouwerie Lane Theatre on December 20, 1968, and became an immediate smash hit and quickly transferred to the Theater de Lys on April 22, 1969, were it went on to run for 575 performances. The Theater de Lys, now called the Lucille Lortel Theatre, has the same basic stage dimensions as Broadway's Helen Hayes Theatre. The production starred a young ingénue named Bernadette Peters as Ruby, launching the career of one of Broadway's greatest stars. Dames at Sea successfully crossed the Atlantic twice to play the West End's Duchess Theatre in 1969 and again in 1989 to play the West End's Haymarket Theatre.