"Having thought I'd never get through it, I hope I have that optimism now." * THE Happy
Hoofer, by Celia Imrie, is published by Hodder & Stoughton on April 14, priced pounds 20.
And speaking of Gene Kelly--while the great
hoofer's praises are sung by director Baz Luhrmann on the new Singin' in the Rain DVD (Warner [see page 57]), Luhrmann's films Moulin Rouge, Romeo + Juliet, and Strictly Ballroom are packaged together (with extras) as the Red Curtain Trilogy (Fox).
Coordinating the action and adding special Chicago pizzazz was tap-dancing emcee Reggio "The
Hoofer." He dazzled the audience with his own skill, and then brought on ruffle-shirted, 86-year-old tapper Ernest "Brownie" Brown for a final flourish.
Although she's played Maria von Trapp, Eva Peron, Ado Annie, Reno Sweeney and Edwin Drood, Ellie May Chipley, the wisecracking
hoofer in Show Boat whose anthem is "Life Upon the Wicked Stage" remains her favorite role - O'Hara's Ellie incarnates the brassy, never-say-die mandate of American showbiz.
son of a noted
hoofer and choreographer-eloquently bridges tap dancing's past with its future.
Genuine star Carol McGiffin has been one of the most entertaining, along with ex-Corrie thesps Bruce Jones and Vicky Entwistle; Sophie Anderton; Lauren Harries, and camp
hoofer Louie Spence.
To up the ante I have shaved my chest for the routine, recalling former Strictly
hoofer Austin Healey shredding his shirt at every chance to show off his big guns.
BALL
hoofer and all-round twerp John Terry won't exactly suffer because of the PS220,000 fine handed down to him for racially abusing QPR defender Anton Ferdinand.
The veteran
hoofer once starred in the Channel Five reality show called The Farm opposite big clock-wearing loon Flavor Flav, and it seems he's doomed never to forget it.
All-star guests include Courtney Pine, legendary jazz
hoofer Will Gaines, Grammy winner Lekan Babalola, Cuban maestro Omar Puente, Ghanaian master drummer Nana Tsiboe, Black Voices and The Note benders Big Band.
"I'M just an old
hoofer at heart," declares twinkletoed entertainer Lionel Blair as he dances across the floor.
New England native began his career in Gotham as a singer and
hoofer in several nightclub and Broadway legit productions.
In the 1930s, during the Great Depression, the charismatic
hoofer was the highest-paid black entertainer in the country.
Joan Crawford tracks the onetime Lucille LeSueur from dust-bowl
hoofer to wildly ambitious contract player to major movie goddess to fallen star triumphantly reinventing herself as the alcoholic nightmare so familiar to fans the film Mommie Dearest, the Showgirls of '80s.
