Step into the magic of The Red Tap Shoes, a bold new musical that weaves African American fables and folklore with "The Red Shoes" -- the Hans Christian Andersen cautionary tale of dancing, desire, and destiny.
Set against the bygone world of burlesque halls, nightclub cabarets and vaudeville stages, the story follows Overcoat Sam, a down-and-out shingle dancer panhandling on the streets of Pittsburgh. When Sam encounters a mysterious pair of red tap shoes, his fortunes change overnight. Possessed with otherworldly power, the shoes transform Sam into a dancer of astonishing skill and magnetism, but their seductive promise comes at a steep cost.
What begins as a dream of fame and fortune becomes a decades-long odyssey through the gin joints, smoky honky-tonks and dimly lit dives along the Chitlin’ Circuit. From the swagger of Dixieland jazz to the pulse of rhythm and blues, Sam tap dances his way across America, bound to the temperamental shoes that bring him both triumph and torment.
As his star rises, the echoes of his past and the price of his ambition prove impossible to outrun. At journey’s end, Overcoat Sam must confront an age-old question of freedom and fate: Are we masters of our destiny, or merely slaves to the rhythm?
With soulful melodies, fascinating rhythms and a sweeping tale that dances between light and shadow, The Red Tap Shoes delivers a powerful theatrical experience that will leave audiences tapping their toes and pondering life’s deepest mysteries.
