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By BOB NOCEK bobn@leader.net
Sunday, February 06, 2000 Page: 1G
First, Dan Clemente was a tap dancer.
Then he was a general contractor.
Now he’s a bit of both in “Tap Dogs,” the testosterone-fueled industrial
show that is all about muscle and metal.
“It’s six guys on a construction site, at work, tap dancing,” explained
Clemente, a cast member for more than two years. “Everything we’re lifting is
hard-core steel, and we’re up there doing our job as a construction crew as
well as tap dancers.”
“Tap Dogs,” which played an acclaimed off-Broadway run in 1997, visits
the Kirby Center for two performances this week. The show is the creation of
Australian choreographer Dein Perry, who worked as an industrial machinist
after learning to tap.
Perry wanted build a tap show around his industrial experiences in
Newcastle, a steel town north of Sydney. With designer and director Nigel
Triffitt, he created “Tap Dogs,” an instant hit at its premiere in the
Sydney Theatre Festival in 1995.
“It’s six male tappers who don’t follow the normal role of traditional
tap,” said Clemente.
The show’s roots are in traditional tap, but its presentation is steel and
sex appeal. On a metal-and-wood set, the six dancers dress in jeans and muscle
shirts, cutoffs and untucked flannels. They all dance in Blundtsones, an
Australian workboot.
They dance in water, on a drum kit and even upside down. There’s plenty of
heaving lifting, and it can be a dangerous gig – Clemente has broken a thumb
and required stitches, and saw a fellow “Tap Dog” struck in the head and
knocked cold by a falling steel crossbar.
“You’ve got to pay attention,” he said. “We’ve had casualties.”
As Clemente explained, the “Tap Dogs” cast features six roles: The
Foreman (“he’s the lead guy), 2IC (“second in charge”), The Enforcer
(“he’s the guy the boss sends to tell the guys to do something”), Funky
(“who’s a little bit, borderline homosexual”), The Rat (“who’s the big pain
in the a–”) and The Kid (“who gets taught by the foreman”).
There’s no plot to speak of, but “Tap Dogs” does follow a bit of a
storyline.
“It definitely has an evolution to it,” Clemente said. “The only real
kind of plot is realizing what the different roles are and who they turn out
to be.”
Clemente, a 23-year-old Middletown, N.J., native, has been with “Tap
Dogs” for more than two years. He learned to tap as a youngster, then studied
with contemporary tap star Savion Glover and legend Gregory Hines.
But he found it tough to make a living in tap shoes.
“When the time came to start paying a car payment and insurance in New
Jersey, I realized that tap wasn’t getting me anywhere,” he said. “So I went
into landscaping and general contracting.”
Then came auditions for a new tap show – one that might be suited to a
laborer with seven tattoos.
“Dein said, `You’re hired. You’re exactly what we’re looking for,’ ”
Clemente recalled. “It’s guys who aren’t going to be a normal tap dancer.
It’s part of the selling point. These guys can tap unbelievably, and they’re
street guys.”
WHAT: “Tap Dogs,” created by Dein Perry
WHERE: The Kirby Center, Public Square, Wilkes-Barre
WHEN: Wednesday and Thursday, 8 p.m.
TICKETS: $32.50, $28.50, $22.50
INFO: 826-1100