Politicians will put on tap shoes and then
tap your phone lines in Theater for the New City’s new summer
production, "Tap Dance," performing free in parks from
Aug. 5 through Sept. 17.
Because the TNC company tours throughout the five boroughs, the
hour-long production makes sure it has something for everyone.
The lyrics are witty and political; the actors perform stunts
and slapstick; and there’s live music, dance and special effects.
Director Crystal Field, a TNC co-founder, has been writing these
summer street theater productions in the style of "commedia
dell’arte" for 30 years.
Field told GO Brooklyn she believes that free public theater
is important because "it brings theater to people who generally
don’t go to the theater, who are wary of theater. And this opens
the door to them.
"Our show is a service because it is about things that are
relevant. It is both entertaining and educating, and it improves
the audience for American plays."
The "Tap Dance" message is bringing people back to
their roots.
The story follows a young man who is taught to tap his way up
the corporate ladder. Another man with "corporate street
smarts teaches him to tap into board rooms, screw over coworkers,
and manipulate trustees," Field said.
But tapping isn’t only a form of dance in this production. The
government employs all kinds of "Bush administration shenanigans,"
said Field, like wiretaps, taps into Iraq, the Patriot Act and
global warming just to name a few. In one scene, "a group
of friends are planning to go out to dinner, and are surprised
to hear President Bush suggest a different restaurant as he listens
to their conversation."
In a world where privacy and civil rights are quickly disappearing,
the young man finds he cannot follow the dance of greed, but
does find a group of equally innocent friends, who are our story’s
heroes.
They meet a group of Native Americans who dance to help them
discover that their simpler way of life, without corrupt governments,
the desire for power, and noisy Blackberries is a better way
of life.
As always, TNC will have various special effects throughout the
show including a smoke machine, giant puppets, trap doors, masks
and the legendary "cranky," a 9-by-12-foot screen that
changes the scenery throughout the performance.
The process
The hour-long production takes a yearlong creative process to
come together. Field says she keeps "a little paper bag
in a drawer in my kitchen, and I throw notes in there throughout
the year."
About two months before TNC starts touring, the playwright retreats
to a trailer in the woods with her notes and thoughts and writes
the entire musical.
"For many years, I didn’t even keep a telephone with me!"
she said.
As Field finishes pieces of the show, songs are sent to one of
her three assistant directors, who relay the script to composer
Joseph Vernon Banks, who sets it all to music.
Also during this process, the actors are attending multiple workshops
on dance, improvisation, juggling, stilt walking, among other
talents, and lectures about the issues the musical addresses.
Field said that in "Tap Dance" some of the actors will
play the political and actually peace-loving "Raging Grannies,"
and one of the real life Grannies is coming to speak to the company
about their liberal "Action League."
For all ages
Over the years, the 50-person TNC company has become a family.
Field said they always have a variety of fresh-faced and veteran
actors, this year ranging from age 10 to those well into their
sixties.
And just like its cast, "Tap Dance" is for both children
and adults. You may see clowns throwing white cream pies at each
other, but here, they’re symbolizing the government’s whitewashing
scandals.
"[Tap Dance] has a childlike quality to it on purpose,"
Field said. "People know when we’re coming. They expect
us, and we’re always very popular with all different kinds of
audiences that you find in the parks."
Theater for the New City will perform "Tap Dance" in
Brooklyn on Aug. 13 at Von King Park (Greene Street and Marcy
Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant) at 2 pm; Aug. 18 on the Coney Island
Boardwalk at West 10th Street at 8 pm; and Aug. 26 at the Prospect
Park Concert Grove (enter on the corner of Parkside and Ocean
avenues) at 2 pm. The performances are free and open to the public.
For more information, visit www.theaterforthenewcity.net
or call (212) 254-1109.
