Tommy Tune Dances At McCallum Theatre

Multiple Tony Award winner Tommy Tune dances onto the McCallum Theatre stage with The Manhattan Rhythm Kings for two performances on Friday and Saturday, February 27 and 28, at 8:00pm. This exhilarating revue is a personal look back at Tommy Tune's phenomenal career as he reflects on the past, sharing stories, memories and life experiences.

In 1965, Tommy Tune first danced onto the Great White Way and into the chorus of Baker Street. Next up was A Joyful Noise in 1967 and How Now Dow Jones in 1968. Five years later Tommy won his first Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical in Seesaw. Tommy's foray into directing was with the Off-Broadway hit The Club in 1976.

Back on Broadway, Tommy choreographed and co-directed The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas followed by A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine, for which he won his second Tony Award, this time for Best Choreography. Tommy returned to Off-Broadway in 1981 to direct Carol Churchill's Cloud 9. The next year Tommy brought us Nine, The Musical for which he won his third Tony, and his first for directing a Broadway Musical.

A double Tony Award win followed for Tommy as Best Actor in a Musical, and Best Choreography for the Broadway hit My One and Only, Grand Hotel, The Musical followed with Tony wins for Best Choreography and Best Direction. The following year, Tommy did what no artist had done before when he won the same two prestigious honors back-to-back for The Will Rogers Follies. Tommy returned to the other side of the Broadway footlights in his one-man song and dance show, Tommy Tune Tonight!, touring with it throughout the country and around the world.

In 2003, the President of The United States presented Tommy with the nation's highest honor for Artistic Achievement, The National Medal of Arts. His other accolades include eight Drama Desk Awards, two Obie Awards, two Astaire Awards, the American Dance Award, the Drama League Award, and the George Abbott Award for Lifetime Achievement. Tommy has sung and danced for three U.S. Presidents, the Queen of England and the Royal Family of Monaco. In 1991, he was inducted him into Broadway's Theatre Hall of Fame, and, three years later, he was honored with his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In 1997, Tommy gave us Footnotes, his memoir about life in the theatre, and Slow Dancin', a CD compilation of his favorite romantic ballads. The end of the millennium was the beginning of a dream come true for Tommy when he made his Las Vegas debut as the star of EFX, the $90 million spectacular at the MGM Grand Hotel. Tommy's production, Dr. Dolittle, in which he played the title role, toured the country in 2006.

When he's not drawing crowds, Tommy is painting canvases in his studio. Not content to entertain audiences on land alone, Tommy recently created an elaborate musical entitled Paparazzi for the Holland America Line. He resides in New York City and is currently preparing two original musicals for the near future. -- www.mccallumtheatre.com

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