Favorite opening night was the national tour of The Tap Dance Kid. There was an after party with the stars, including the legendary Harold Nicholas and then young Dule Hill as well as original cast member Martine Allard. I was in heaven spending time with them.
Jerry Zaks directed a reworking of the show, but the rewrite didn’t help. Great score, timid book. Timid because the novel it was based on had a surprisingly ugly ending. Willie doesn’t do what his father wants. He knows he can be a big star, and he becomes one. And he proceeds to rub it in his dad’s face for the rest of their lives. The make-nice ending of the musical fell flat.