Tap-Happy Times Uplifting Story Of Hope Delivered With Lively, Infectious Tap Dancing

It has the ring of a Broadway fable:

The cast of a musical has just finished its triumphant opening night.

The performers are on stage, drinking in a standing ovation. Then, the producer steps to the stage and announces that he has an announcement to make: The show’s beloved director/choreographer is dead.

The audience gasps. The cast collapses in tears. But in the next days and hours, the cast and crew gain strength from the memory of their great director. The show goes on to run for eight solid years on Broadway.

This is not a fable. It happened to “42nd Street” on opening night on Broadway, Aug. 25, 1980. That was the day director/choreographer Gower Champion died.

Somehow, it’s fitting that this kind of (true) fable would be attached to “42nd Street,” because the show’s plot is a Broadway fable of a similar kind, although a much happier one.

The story, which was lifted almost intact from the 1933 movie musical of the same name, is about a young hoofer from Allentown, Pa., named Peggy Sawyer, who is chosen to be in the chorus of “Pretty Lady,” a taphappy Broadway musical in the ‘30s.

The leading lady breaks her ankle, and somehow Peggy is chosen to step in and save the day. The result is … well, let’s put it this way. You won’t go home depressed.

“It’s a show about hope,” said director/choreographer Tony Parise. “It’s a very uplifting story, but common to all of us. A small town girl makes good.”

Parise, who was in the original Broadway cast and who has been involved in hundreds of performances of the show, said the show’s enduring popularity is due to that uplifting quality. As well as one more thing: The tap-dancing.

“You just can’t have a tap musical without having people in the audience wanting to get up and tap,” said Parise. “It’s that infectious.”

“42nd Street” is so popular that, at any one time, multiple tours are out barnstorming the U.S. In fact, an entirely different tour is playing Seattle’s Fifth Avenue Theatre for the next two weeks.

Parise said that his version, staged by The Troika Organization, is not a huge one in terms of cast and sets. The cast consists of 26 people, compared to 40 in the Seattle tour.

But it not only has all 16 big production numbers, it actually throws in an extra. “Keep Young and Beautiful” was dropped during the pre-Broadway tryouts because the wrong character was singing it, but Parise has put it back in with the appropriate character singing it.

Surprisingly enough, the 1933 movie version had only four songs. It wasn’t really a musical; it was based on a novel. The 1980 stage version used the four Harry Warren-Al Dubin songs from the movie and then added a bunch of other WarrenDubin songs, many of which are standards, including “Shuffle Off to Buffalo,” and “We’re In the Money.”

There are people that love “42nd Street” so much, they go see it again and again (almost like a mini-“Les Miz”). They all have their favorite number, and Parise’s is “The Lullaby of Broadway.” This is not the most elaborate number, or the one with the most spectacular tapping, but it has a special place in Parise’s heart.

“The people in the cast are trying to convince Peggy to accept the job,” said Parise. “They’re rallying to get her back. To me, that brings a lump in my throat. It’s the whole reason we’re in this business.”

By the way, if you get to the Opera House early enough, you might even get a chance to see some fresh young local talent, hoofing their way to stardom.

A stage will be set up in the lobby. Each night at 6:45 p.m., a number of local dance studios and organizations will put on a mini-show. On Monday, it will be Bleker’s School of Dance and Susie’s Tap & Jazz Etc.; on Tuesday it will be Gail’s School of Dance, Creative Impact, Judy’s Dance Unlimited and Deb’s Dance Unlimited; on Wednesday, it will be Dancin’ With Sharron, Dance Center, Hyperformance and Isabelle’s Dance-Time; on Thursday, Theater Ballet of Spokane, Lilac City Cloggers and the Academy of Dance.

“We’ll try to emphasize tap, since it’s for a Broadway show, but we’ll have a little bit of everything,” said Gail Bongiovanni, president of the Inland Northwest Dance Association.

The dancers will range from age 8 to adult. Who knows? Maybe one of them will be the new Peggy Sawyer.

As for that other Broadway fable, the true one, Parise himself lived through it. He was an ensemble dancer in “42nd Street,” and he was on stage when David Merrick came on stage during the curtain call to make his announcement.

“He said, ‘I have a tragic announcement to make,’ and everybody laughed, because the show was a big hit. What’s so tragic?”

When he announced that Gower Champion was dead, he said they watched the audience drop to their seats in clumps.

“The curtain came down, and we were all like zombies,” said Parise, although they all knew that Champion had been ill for weeks.

Later that night and the next day, this close-knit group was filled with a new resolve. They went back out and gave an even better performance the next night.

“It was like, let’s do it for the Gipper,” said Parise. “We didn’t let it ruin the show. If Gower had been there, he would have been very proud.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: “42nd Street” Location and time: Opera House; Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 7:30 P.m. Tickets: $28 and $30