Broadway Watch - Hot Feet

Hot Feet Conceived by Maurice Hines; Book by Heru Ptah; Music & Lyrics by Maurice White Directed & Choreographed by Maurice Hines Hilton Theatre Opened 30th April 2006 Extracts from various reviewers: “If you could harness the energy of the nearly two dozen dancers in Hot Feet, which just opened at the Hilton, you could light a small city for a year. In a season where too many musical offerings, both new and in revival, are deadening affairs, a new source of power isn't such a bad thing. “That's what they said before the Chernobyl disaster, too. As for this nuclear meltdown of a jukebox musical… you at least get the sense from watching the fantastically frenzied dancers that they're loving every minute of what they're doing, which helps you - temporarily - forgive all the misapplied energy.” “Unfortunately… it doesn't take long to realize that the company is dancing its feet off to prevent you from paying too much attention to the show's book.” “For unlike Movin' Out, Twyla Tharp's amazingly successful jukebox-musical ballet, this show actually has one. But librettist Heru Ptah should have learned from Tharp's example that it's sometimes best to let the dancing speak for itself.” Talkin’ Broadway – Matthew Murray “You've heard the statement, "Cold feet, warm heart"? Allow me to introduce you to a new expression: "Hot Feet, old hat." Triteness is the biggest sin committed by this show, which was inspired by a much better property, The Red Shoes. The scrim that greets us as we enter the Hilton Theatre may well be symbolic in that there's nothing on it. “Maurice Hines has "conceived, directed, and choreographed" a show that's more boring than terrible.” “Enter Victor Serpentine, whom we can tell is not a nice guy because he's got a camel-hair fedora pulled dramatically down one side of his head and a camel-hair coat that he wears as a cape. He asks Kalimba why he should let her audition, prompting her to say in front of two dozen dancers, "Because I'm the best." This makes us want to see her taken down a peg.” “There's also a melodramatic secret in the plot, one so patently obvious that you'll be astonished no one on stage figures it out before you do.” “Vivian Nixon as Kalimba, Ann Duquesnay as her mom, Michael Balderrama as Anthony, and Keith David as Victor all give decent, workmanlike performances but can't rise above the material.” “Someday soon, you'll find Hot Feet listed in the very back pages of a catalogue from a company that licenses stock and amateur rights. Note to Disney: Save some money and don't move The Lion King to the Minskoff. The Hilton will soon be free for Mary Poppins.” Theater Mania – Peter Filichia “With the ashes of the just-extinguished Ring of Fire still smoldering, Broadway now has yet another new jukebox musical: Hot Feet, a dance-driven show that sets The Red Shoes to Earth, Wind & Fire songs.” “Conceived by Earth Wind & Fire founder Hines and featuring a book by Heru Ptah… Hot Feet doesn't borrow only from The Red Shoes… Ptah also throws in characters from Faust and Showgirls. The result is a hackneyed, utterly predictable story that drags down the show.” “Hines… choreography isn't as distinctive as Twyla Tharp's in Movin' Out, but it suits the music and has the cast constantly on the move.” “Why did Hines & Co. decide to wedge The Red Shoes onto Earth, Wind & Fire songs? Why couldn't they have instead staged a 90-minute pure-dance show set to the group's up-tempo hits? That would have made for a shorter, more enjoyable evening. As is, whenever the dancing stops, Hot Feet is leaden.” Broadway.Com – William Stevenson Next Broadway Musical opening – The Drowsy Chaperone – 1st May