Tune in, turn on, tap out

Elia Powers

The last place Tommy Tune needs to be is on an elevated stage.

At 6 feet 6, he already towers over audiences, leading to

collective neck-craning for those in the front rows.

But on a stage is the only place Tune wants to be.

His acting-singingdancing-choreographing -directing career has

centered on live performance, and Tune takes full advantage of his

resources. During shows, he is known to take questions from the

crowd.

“I like the live audience,” said Tune, a Texas native who has held

onto a slight twang. “I put it out; they send it back.”

Tune, 66, is a regular at the Orange County Performing Arts Center

and said he is enamored with Segerstrom Hall’s physical layout.

“It’s an interesting design, very asymmetrical,” Tune said. “It’s

a vast place, but standing stage center, it doesn’t feel that way.”

For the first time, Tune and his stage partners, the Manhattan

Rhythm Kings, are performing at the Costa Mesa theater with a big

band.

Tune, a nine-time Tony-award winner, has performed with the

Manhattan Rhythm Kings, a tap dancing trio, for more than 20 years.

They primarily play American popular music from the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. It’s part of a growing movement that Tune calls “contemporary

nostalgia” -- an attempt to revive the works of American classic

artists such as Cole Porter, George Gershwin and Irving Berlin.

“I’ve always loved the work those artists did,” Tune said. “The

songs are smart, sophisticated and have a real shape -- it’s not just

a hook. When those songs come through the ear, they travel to the

heart.”

Tune and the Manhattan Rhythm Kings specialize in close harmonic

singing.

Tune’s background is dance -- more specifically, ballet. But he

literally grew out of that medium when an adolescent growth spurt

made it difficult for him to stay flexible.

He found Broadway to be a more suitable goal, and he has devoted

much of his career to musical theater. Tune joined up with the

Manhattan Rhythm Kings in 1984 after he spotted them playing on the

streets of New York.

“They were tearing up the sidewalks on 51st and Broadway,” Tune

said. “I was on my way to rehearsal, and they were tapping and money

was flying into the air into their hats. They were great.”

He asked the trio to help him assemble a show based on songs

written by Fred Astaire. They traveled to California, rehearsed for

11 weeks, and showed off their collaborative effort.

“We brought a lot of our repertoire to him,” said Manhattan Rhythm

Kings member Hal Shane. “That was the start of our careers together.

Now, once we are on stage, it just flows.”

Shane, a tap dancer who started his career performing on

television, plays guitar and sings.

The other members of the trio are bassist Brian Nalepka, and tenor

vocalist and tap dancer Marc Kessler.

Tune said he and the Manhattan Rhythm Kings have been all over the

world together and are inseparable.

In November 2003, he was singled out to perform at the White

House, where he accepted a National Medal of Arts award.

“It was such a high point of my life,” Tune said. “It was

thrilling to walk into the Oval Office. The thing I noticed the most

is the light in that room. There’s a golden glow -- it’s the most

beautiful thing.”

Tune pays close attention to aesthetics, which is why he sets up

his performance to be a continuous 90 minutes of song and dance.

He said the idea is to let the music take center stage.

“We’re not cutting edge,” Tune said. “We are more like

anthropologists or excavators finding gems at the bottom of the

ocean.”

* ELIA POWERS is the enterprise and general assignment reporter.

He may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or by e-mail at

elia.powers@latimes.com.