Tap Dogs is taking the world by storm having performed in 330 cities worldwide with 12 million seats sold. Created by two-time Olivier Award-winning choreographer Dein Perry, with a construction site set by eclectic designer/director Nigel Triffitt and a driving score by composer Andrew Wilkie, Tap Dogs, a rocking theatrical entertainment – pArt Theatre, part dance, part rock concert, – a rough, tough and rocking reinvention of tap. Tap Dogs will be performed at Kingsbury Hall on the University of Utah campus on Tuesday and Wednesday, October 6 and 7, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $24.50 - $42.50 and are available by calling 801-581-7100 or visiting www.kingtix.com.
Australian
Dein Perry, creator and choreographer of Tap Dogs, has come a long way from the make-shift dance school in Newcastle, a steel town north of Sydney, where, as young boys, he and the future dogs learned how to tap. At the age of 17, with no opportunities in sight for a dancing career, he earned his union papers and worked as an industrial machinist for six years. He then moved to Sydney where he tried to break into show business. Small chorus parts in Broadway-style musicals led to Dein’s big break when he was cast in the long-running Sydney production of 42nd Street. When it closed, Dein decided to create a contemporary show around the themes of his industrial experience with his Newcastle tap dancing mates.
With a small government grant, Dein contacted his old friends, who had also taken up various “real” jobs by this time, and formed Tap Brothers, an early incarnation of Tap Dogs. From this, Dein was offered the chance to choreograph the West End musical, Hot Shoe Shuffle, which brought the group to London and earned Dein his Olivier Award in 1995. A subsequent offer from the Sydney Theatre Company led to the collaboration with designer and director Nigel Triffitt; which resulted in the creation of Tap Dogs.
Tap Dogs was the instant hit of the Sydney Theatre Festival, where it had its world premiere in January 1995, and caused an equal sensation at the Edinburgh Festival later that year. Tap Dogs then played to standing room only at London’s Sadler’s Wells, return tours of Australia, and a second West End engagement.
Tap Dogs made their North American debut at Montreal’s “Just For Laughs” festival in August 1996. The show then played to critical acclaim on a limited North American tour prior to an engagement in New York City, where
Dein Perry earned a 1997 Drama Desk nomination for “Best Choreography” and the show received a 1997 Obie Award. Tap Dogs went on to be immortalized in the movie Bootmen, directed by
Dein Perry and inspired by his Tap Dog experiences. Since it’s debut, Tap Dogs has toured extensively throughout North America, Europe, Australia, the Far East and South Africa.
Watch a video clip of Tap Dogs at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xm13Yd0rkQ.
Photo taken from http://www.convictcreations.com/culture/images/tapdogs.jpg.
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