Happy 25th Anniversary to the film musical ‘Newies’! If you haven’t seen this Disney film, it is a fun historical musical inspired by the Newsboys Strike of 1899 in New York City. This was one of those movies that originally bombed in the movie theaters, but since then has acquired a cult following. In 2011, a stage production was even created and won 2 of the 8 Tony Awards it was nominated for. The following clip is of the big tap number “King of New York.” However, in the film this scene has very limited tapping, evident by the 2-3 minute difference in the film and Broadway versions of this song. But since today is the film anniversary, I felt I should share this clip along with the next one of the longer and more tap-oriented stage version of “King of New York.” Enjoy!
As promised, here is the stage version. This clip is from the Thanksgiving Parade in 2012. Between the Tony Awards Show and Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, Broadway is able to show off many of the talented performances within their shows to attract audiences. In the stage production, “King of New York” features a lot more tapping than the film version. Performance starts around 0:45. Check it out!
When you think tap musicals, probably one of the oldest, most classic film musicals featuring many tap numbers was 42nd Street (1933) show adapted from the novel by Bradford Ropes. In the 80s, it became a Broadway show and was revived in 2001. As you watch the next video, you will see what I mean with I say this is a TAP FILLED musical.
For women tappers on Broadway, Sutton Foster is a big name! My tap group reenacted this number for one of our spring shows in Dance Arts Society, with our own twists to make it a complete dance. Below is her performing at the Tony Awards for Anything Goes.
Another Sutton Foster classic! Here she plays Millie, a small town girl who moves to the big city in the roaring 20s. This clip is “Forget about the Boy,” a super fun number that makes a great tap piece for recitals and competitions. (I’m speaking from experience!)
This is a more recent production. I totally didn’t expect to see tap in Disney’s Aladdin on Broadway, but it was an exciting surprise in this Tony Awards performance!
In “Step in Time” from Mary Poppins, the choreographers took tap to a new level by having Bert tap dance on the ceiling of the stage! I saw this performance live and it was so cool to watch in person. They literally took tap dance to new heights!
To finish this post off, I have to share this video from Holiday Inn. Talk about taking tap to the new level. For this dance, the character uses firecrackers in celebration of Independence Day. It’s a very well done number (made famous by Fred Astaire in the film version of Holiday Inn) and sadly I couldn’t find the entire dance, but enjoy this short clip! And yes, that is Corbin Bleu from High School Musical.
In this performance, the tap dancers juggle, use multiple props, and even jump rope while tap dancing to “Shaking the Blues Away”, the Christmas themed number in Holiday Inn! I can’t even imagine how difficult this must be (but I really want to try the jump rope tapping). It is truly amazing to watch!
Hope you enjoyed all these clips of famous tap numbers from musicals! This is by far not a complete list, so my next post will feature more awesome tap dances for y’all to check out! Until then, wishing everyone the best!
Keep on Tappin' 