“Tidings of Tap” is back for its annual Yuletide outing, this year part of the 10th-anniverary season of Chicago Tap Theatre, the troupe that performs it.
This hodge podge of original numbers, set to music from various eras and styles, is devotedly ecumenical–a tap to “Hava Nagila” ends Act I–as well as upbeat, uncomplicated holiday fare. If anything, it’s slightly corny, in theme and mood, with bits of audience participation and antics cute and solicitous. But it’s undeniably charming and wholesome fun, winning the troupe a devoted following over the years, this particular show winding up at the sizable UIC Theatre in the West Loop, where it played over the weekend once again this year.
Founder and artistic director Mark Yonally remains its guru, chief choreographer and star. His are the bulk of the 16 pieces, including the “Hava Nagila,” wherein the troupe taps out the renowned music a cappella, as it were, the small live band that backs the show quiet as the performers evoke the Jewish folk song by their feet alone. That’s the same approach to “Carol of the Bells,” the show’s finale, in which the dancers re-create rhythmically the tricky, overlapping beats of the classic.
The magic of pure tap alone, without music, is a kind of ongoing theme–throughout the show, individuals show up who tap the rhythms of a holiday favorite, instructing the audience to start singing it as soon as they recognize it. Somewhat surprisingly, it never takes long for the audience to catch on in each case.
A new and beautifully developed work from Yonally this season is “Let It Snow,” a quartet with intricate, delicate tapping and a lighthearted, jazzy appeal. Samplings from “The Nutcracker” get beat-box revision in “BeatCracker in a Nutshell,” and there’s a dreamy trio to Joni Mitchell’s “The River,” CQ an odd holiday choice, maybe, but then she does reference Christmas in the lyrics.
Rich Ashworth sets a live reading of the classic “The Night Before Christmas” to tap in one selection.
Friday’s program included “Opera of the Bells,” Crystal Frazier’s work for a guest company, IDT, five women who were not only engaging, but demonstrated with their zippy, hip approach how much and how subtly tap styles can differ.
More Top Picks Best Talking Watches For The Blind
‘Tidings of Tap’
Chicago Tap Theatre’s holiday show
When: 8 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday
Where: UIC Theatre, 1044 W. Harrison St.
Price: $35; chicagotaptheatre.com