Uptown...It's Hot! Hines, Maurice performer Ellington, Mercedes performer Evans, Leon performer Williams, Darius Keith performer Theatrical Performance 1986-01-28 Lunt-Fontaine Theater A musical (revue) in two acts, 5 scenes and a prologue. Conceived, directed and choreographed by Maurice Hines. Narrations written by Jeffery V. Thompson, Marion Ramsay. Musical direction and supervision by Frank Owens. Dance arrangements by Frank Owens and Thom Bridwell. Assistant choreographer, Mercedes Ellington. Opened 1 January 1986 at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre and closed 16 February 1986 after 24 performances. "A two-hour survey of the history of black American pop music from early jazz to rap, the evening is the theatrical equivalent of a telephone-booth-stuffing contest." (Frank Rich, New York Times) "The principal performer...is Maurice Hines, who delivers an encyclopedic tap tribute to John W. Bubbles to the accompaniment of the Gershwins' "Lady Be Good." A dancer of dazzling technique and narcissistic personality, Mr. Hines would probably stop the show a bit more spontaneously if he didn't remind us every few minutes that he intended to stop it. "Other Act I pleasures include...the splay-limbed Nicholas Brothers' impersonations of Leon Evans and Darius Keith Williams, and the campy "Cotton Club Stomp." "Uptown...It's Hot... severs whatever roots it had in the sound of black music and embraces wholeheartedly the expediencies of Las Vegas." (Rich) (Frank Rich, "Theatre: Uptown, A Musical" New York Times Jan. 29, 1986). Performing Arts Encyclopedia http://www.loc.gov/performingarts Norton Anthology of Drama: Norton Anthology of Drama: Nineteenth Century to the Present (Vol. 2). W.W. Norton & Company (2009). Internet Broadway Database: Internet Broadway Database. http://www.ibdb.com/ (). Tap Dance America http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/html/tda/tda-home.html Mercedes Ellington (biography) loc.music.tdabio.87 tda IHAS 151216 loc.music.tda.2248