Adrienne Arsht Center presents
TAP DOGS
June 30 – July 10, 2010
John S. and James L. Knight Concert Hall
Tickets $40 – $50
“Exciting, athletically feisty, fun-loving, and hilarious!” — The Chicago Tribune
It’s the hottest show with the hottest legs! Winner of 11 International Awards, TAP DOGS premiered at the Sydney Theatre Festival, moved on to London and New York, and has been a howling success across the globe. The seriously sexy TAP DOGS have taken the world by storm with a fast and fabulous theater-dance spectacle that combines the strength and power of hunky workmen with the precision and speed of the world’s most thrilling tap dancers. of tap dancing. The show started with six guys from a steel town north of Sydney, Australia. Olivier Award winning choreographer Dein Perry headed the team with designer/director Nigel Triffitt, and composer Andrew Wilkie and created TAP DOGS; an 80 minute reinvention of tap. Australian DEIN PERRY, creator and choreographer of TAP DOGS, has come a long way from the garage behind his dance teacher’s house in Newcastle, a steel town north of Sydney where, as young boys, he and the “Dogs” learned how to tap. At the age of 17, with no opportunities in sight for a dancing career, he earned his union papers as an industrial machinist before moving 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. TAP DOGS was the instant hit of the Sydney Theatre Festival where it had its world premiere in January 1995 – it caused an equal sensation at the Edinburgh Festival later that year. TAP DOGS went on the play to packed houses at Sadler’s Wells in London; return tours of Australia; a West End engagement, for which Dein won a second consecutive Olivier Award in 1996 for his choreography; an off Broadway, New York season in 1997 and three previous SOLD OUT visits to South Africa where they dazzled 137,000 people. So far the company has won 11 International Awards including a Pegasus Award at the Spoleto Festival in Italy and an Obie in New York. The Australian dance sensation returned home in 2000 to take part in the opening ceremony of the Sydney Olympic Games. 1000 TAP DOGS from companies around the world performed to an audience of 3.4 billion viewers as the event was televised across the world. The TAP DOGS story has gone on to be immortalized in the movie BOOTMEN, directed by Dein Perry and inspired by his TAP DOGS experiences. And nearly fifteen years later, the stage show continues to wow audiences all over the world – this high voltage tap sensation, 80-minute show of raw pulsating energy has performed in over 300 cities world wide. The stage show continues to wow audiences all over the world with 2009 seeing TAP DOGS perform in South Africa before returning to the USA. WHAT THE WORLD PRESS HAD TO SAY: “Tap Dogs – the wildly successful tap musical; part theatre, part rock concert and part construction site” – Barry Davis (BBC dance, Commentator, Sydney Olympic Games) “A phenomenon … They make Popstars look like shrinking violets” – London Metro “… a truly refreshing show … these tap dogs really are top dogs” – What’s On in London “Non-stop display of conversational clatter and competitive tap tattoos… astonishing stamina and industrial-strength testosterone” – The Stage “Guaranteed good-time entertainment” – The Times “The hard lads of the international dance circuit” – The Guardian “High-energy…raw-edged tap” – Los Angeles Daily News “A high voltage tap sensation … a hell of a good time” – Time Out, New York “Tap Dogs is positively electrifying” – NY Observer “Spectacular! Triumphant! An amazing achievement!” – The Los Angeles Times “Sexy, fast and fabulous” – San Francisco Chronicle “The hottest show on legs” – London Time Out “Kill to get a Ticket” – The Scotsman “Tap Dancing will never be the same again” – The Times “Hot, hunky and highly inventive” – Whats On “Raw pulsating energy” – Daily Mail “Does to steel capped boots what Gene Kelly did for umbrellas” – Independent On Sunday “Tap Dogs is a howling success” – News of the World A high-voltage, A high-voltage, fast paced, non-stop sweat-a-thon, the TAP DOGS have wowed audiences around the world – from their native Australia to South America, from the Edinburgh and Spoleto festivals to Off Broadway and the West End – winning a bootload of top theatrical prizes, including London’s Olivier Award and New York’s Obie. non-stop sweat-a-thon, the TAP DOGS have wowed audiences around the world — from their native Australia to South America, from the Edinburgh and Spoleto festivals to Off Broadway and the West End — winning a bootload of top theatrical prizes, including London’s Olivier Award and New York’s Obie. Nine fantastic dancers tap fast, slow, on water, on ladders, with basketballs and iron rods, and even hanging upside down. With award-winning choreography by Dein Perry, a construction site set by Nigel Triffitt, and a driving score by Andrew Wilkie, TAP DOGS is a rough, tough, rocking show!
For tickets visit www.arshtcenter.org, or call the Box Office at (305) 949-6722.