BWW Reviews: Audiences Love ARTHUR DUNCAN at the Monroe Forum Theatre of the El Portal

What a joy-filled experience to see tap legend Arthur Duncan live onstage in his one man show One More Time! at the El Portal in NoHo when he performed five shows September 12 - 14 in the Monroe Forum Theatre! Duncan was the first African American performer to do a regular TV gig - for 18 years in fact - on The Lawrence Welk Show. His legendary tapping has been seen all over the world from Australia to Egypt to Yugoslavia and on various TV shows such as Diagnosis Murder dancing with Dick Van Dyke and on the big screen in Tap with Sammy Davis Jr. and Gregory Hines.

For the very first time Duncan took the stage by himself, backed by the Lenny LaCroix trio, for a lovely walk down memory lane in song and dance and with lots of fun anecdotes about his life and career, which started at age 13 in Pasadena. California. What he remembered about Welk: "Never argue with a man who writes your paychecks" and that he was proud of what he accomplished: "We're not here to educate America about music, but to give them what they want." That's kind of what Duncan is all about... giving his audience what they want, which is full-out tap dancing at great-neck speed. He remembered Sammy Davis Jr. always advising "Hit the floor at 90 miles per hour." So, his audience were treated to a few bars in song of "Happy Feet", "Lulu's Back in Town", "Who Can I Turn to?", "Cute", "Indiana", "Copenhagen" until Duncan burst into tapping across the tiny stage and then on into the audience so that all could indeed appreciate those happy tapping feet.

There were also tributes to Bill Robinson with "Hi Ho, Doin' the New Lowdown", to his unforgettable teachers Nick Castle and Henry Mancini, and a pretty song with a message "When You're Smiling",whose lyrics seem to sum up the joyous attitude Duncan has for living: "When you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you". One story particularly moved me about Duncan meeting a man in Cairo by the name of Wally. When he found out he was the Prince of Afghanistan, he simply said "I could never call him Wally again." Such a humble man! He kept excusing his 'winging' most of the show due to nerves, but all I can say is that the freedom of speech and movement that Mr. Duncan displayed is what all performers merely dream of doing...'holding the audience in the palm of your hand'...and that he did in spades!

The show opened with a film montage of Duncan's career, but it was the live show that really thrilled and jolted folks from their seats. That was proven when many came up at show's end to accompany Duncan in a presentation of a "Shim Sham". Other highlights of the evening included "Up a Lazy River", 'Swing", Louis Armstrong's signature "What a Wonderful World" and a delightfully campy number from musical director Lenny LaCroix at the piano, replete with boas and candelabra.

Great show where every single member of the audience sat moving and grooving to the glorious taps of Arthur Duncan who one critic extoled "... can still tap like a man half his age". Hopefully he will perform locally again. Don't miss him!

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