The house darkened, the footlights clicked on, and across the dark stage, Tommy Tune strode to take his place before the audience. When the lights came on, there he was, the familiar lanky song-and-dance man of our time, elegant in black with a red vest. Wide white sleeves billowed from his jacket sleeves. Looking down, Tune pointed out his scarlet cowboy boots, custom fitted with taps. On and off stage, Tune remains an eye-catching figure, statuesquely theatrical with a down-to-earth grin.
Tommy Tune, always dapper, always graceful, brought his memories and dance steps to Town Hall for a one-night revisit, Steps in Time, described as a “Broadway Biography in Song and Dance.” This was a celebration of his 55th year in show business. At 74, he is still tall, limber and good-looking. The high kicks and flashing feet are there (highlighted in “Won’t You Charleston With Me?”, but there fewer high-energy numbers. His vocals are robust while not as rich as they once were, but he delivers a collection of lilting melodies and touching ballads like his encore, “Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye” with his singularly generous warmth. In this theatrical journey juggling anecdotes of growing up in Texas and forging a career on Broadway, Tommy Tune is a joy to watch.
“Everything in my life has been one sequential step after another,” and for a show called, Steps in Time, Tune had to begin at the beginning, with a single time step, then a double, then a triple, and challenging the audience to identify each one. It formed a smooth connection with the audience, bringing them into his world. He illustrated his art with backup singers/dancers Hal Shane and Michael Fitaca performing a free-and-easy, Lieber and Stoller tune, ”I’ve Got the Feeling Too Good Today Blues” bringing you right into the mood of pure Americana by a Texas-sized talent.
Tommy Tune said, “My great dream was to dance in a chorus of a Broadway show, and that dream came true the first day I got to New York.” It was in the musical, Baker Street. He went on to step out of the chorus and become the star, establishing himself with My One and Only. As a choreographer, director, and actor, he earned multiple awards including nine Tony Awards, The National Medal of Arts, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
This performance was dedicated to the late dancer, Charles “Honi” Coles, whom Tune respected for his spare sophistication. The show’s most nostalgic moment came when he remembered appearing with Coles in My One and Only. In one show, after Coles failed to deliver a line, Tune cued him. Still no response. It was when Tune asked the orchestra to begin a song that Coles slowly stood up and began dancing. The veteran dancer had suffered a stroke on stage and could not speak but his dancer’s body responded to the music.
Tune remembers Hone Coles’ suggestion, "Tommy, could you make it a little more nonchalant?" You can expect Tommy Tune to keep polishing his performances to smooth perfection, crisp and snappy, and always making it look easy and “nonchalant.”
