The Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe has produced a lot of musicals and revues focused on different artists and styles of music, but this week it is trying something new with the world premiere of “Syncopated Avenue.” It’s a musical created by Founder and Artistic Director Nate Jacobs and his brother Michael that focuses on tap dancing. Jacobs told me it was inspired, in part, after he saw tap dancer Lamont Brown in a show in Tampa. It got him thinking about how to work with the dancer and what kind of story they might tell. Brown, who choreographed the production, plays a young man who helps save a neighborhood dance studio and museum, and falls in love in the process. It features mostly original music along with a few classics. The show closes WBTT’s 2024-25 season.
What’s on your feet?
Tap shoes may not factor into the current Sarasota Art Museum show “Future Now: Virtual Sneakers to Cutting-Edge Kicks,” but there is plenty of other kinds of footwear on display in the exhibit that looks at the intersection of technology, fashion and art. Visual art writer Marty Fugate takes a look at the show, which comes from Toronto’s Bata Shoe Museum. Some of the items look extremely comfortable and quite a few look like they might be impossible to wear. The show is up through May 4.
Is it live or is it Memorex?
Am I dating myself with that question? Apparently a lot of audience members aren’t sure if actor Max Roll is really playing the piano toward the end of his terrific performance as Oscar Levant in Doug Wright’s “Good Night, Oscar” at Asolo Repertory Theatre. When I interviewed him, he was reluctant to talk about it because the truth is revealed in a highly theatrical and dramatic moment. But I guess there has been so much confusion among patrons, that the theater posted a video of the actor actually playing the piano. If you know anything about the piano, it is obvious that he is playing because of the way he moves his hands (even if you are in a seat where you can’t clearly see them). The piano playing is just one part of this engaging story about Levant, a witty musician and raconteur, who checks himself out of a psychiatric clinic to appear on live TV with Jack Paar. The results are entertaining, funny and disturbing.
There is still a lot going on in the area, so be sure to check out our April arts calendar to keep up with all that is happening this month…