Tap Dogs Perry, Dein performer Disney, Darren performer Horsey, Christopher performer Kaluski, Drew performer Read, Ben performer Sheen, Nathan performer Theatrical Performance 1996-09-03 Union Square Theater 1997, Union Square Theatre, New York City An Australian dance revue billed as "a 90-minute rough, tough and rocking reinvention of tap for the 1990s." Dein Perry had trained as a machinist in the steel town of Newcastle. and got his big break when he was cast in the long-running Sydney production of 42nd Street. With friends, he later formed the group "Tap Brothers" and went on to choreograph "Hot Shoe Shuffles" on London's West End, for which he received an Olivier Award. Perry teamed up with designer/choreographer Nigel Triffitt to create Tap Dogs, which played at the Sydney Theatre Festival, the Edinburgh Festival and the West End, leading to a second Olivier for Perry in 1996. The TAP DOGS: creator/choreographer Dein Perry, Darren Disney, Christopher Horsey, Drew Kaluski, Ben Reed, Nathan Sheens, along with Billy Burke, Jeremy Kiesman and Gil Stroming. Directed and designed by Nigel Triffit, Dogs offers lighting by David Murray, sound by Daryl Lewis, and a score (performed live) by Andrew Wilkie. "Australian beefcake tap-a-thon" "The hipper tappers, several of whom have been tapping since childhood, are so aggressively macho that they actually hoist goiters and wield power tools while they dance...No sheilas need apply here mate! And tuxedoes and patent-leather loafers, they're for sissies. Real men tap in work boots." North American tour began September 3,1996-September 22, 1996 at Los Angeles, Ca.; Tap dogs then settled in New York at the Union Square Theatre February or March 16, 1997, Union Square Theatre. Closed August 4, 1997 after 14 previews and 184 regular performances. Directed and choreographed by Australian dancer Dein Perry; a 90-minute "rough, tough and rocking reinvention of tap for the 90s." Creator/choreographer: Dein Perry; Darren Disney, Christopher Horsey, Drew Kaluski, Ben Read, Nathan Sheens,; with Billy Burke, Jeremy Kiesman, and Gil Stroming. Videotaped in performance at Union Square Theater, New York c. 1997. Starring Dein Perry with Darren Disney, Christopher Horsey, Drew Kaluski, Ben Read and Nathan Sheens. (Peter Marks, "Pecs First, Feet Last" New York Times March 18, 1997, c15.) Performing Arts Encyclopedia http://www.loc.gov/performingarts New York Public Library: CATNYP: Dance Collection: Tap Dancing. New York Public Library for the Performing Arts Gregory Hines Collection of American Tap Dance (). Tap Dance America http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/html/tda/tda-home.html tda IHAS 151216 loc.music.tda.626