Maurice Hines brings 'Tappin' Thru Life' to Penn's Landing Playhouse

After a half-hour with Maurice Hines, I needed a nap. At 72, this dancer / singer / actor / choreographer / director / mentor still radiates the energy of a teenager and the excitement of a novice performer. But Hines is no beginner.

Along with his brother Gregory (who died in 2003), Maurice Hines was a child prodigy, dancing and singing at the fabled Apollo Theater and appearing in Las Vegas nightclubs and on television - including 35 appearances on The Tonight Show. The brothers worked with everyone from Gypsy Rose Lee to the Lennon Sisters.

Eventually the act broke up, but Maurice built a successful solo career, winning accolades as a performer in Broadway musicals such as Guys and Dolls, Eubie!, and Sophisticated Ladies, and choreographing music videos, plus productions at Radio City Music Hall. With Gregory, Hines also appeared in the 1984 film The Cotton Club - but, as he said in a recent telephone interview from his New York City home, he prefers live performances, because moviemaking involves "too much sitting around."

Starting tomorrow, Philadelphians will have a chance to experience Hines doing everything but sit around. In Maurice Hines: Tappin' Thru Life, he will sing jazz and Broadway standards (backed by the all-female Diva Jazz Orchestra), tell colorful tales about his lifetime in show business, and display his suave style of dancing in a two-month engagement at the Penn's Landing Playhouse.

Audiences will also meet the Manzari Brothers, two young tappers Hines discovered. In addition, there will be a couple of "surprise" guest artists - Philadelphia dancers whom Hines chose in local auditions.

Touring obviously suits Hines. Though he loves performing in New York, he also enjoys other cities, where lower ticket prices make his shows more accessible. His current tour begins in Philadelphia. "I'm excited to come back there," Hines said. "The thing about Philly audiences is they don't play, baby; they let you know whether you're good or not!"

Philadelphia was the first place Hines and his brother worked outside New York - when the 1954 musical The Girl in Pink Tights, with 10-year-old Maurice and 8-year-old Gregory, had its pre-Broadway tryout. Hines says he is looking forward to working at the playhouse, an intimate space where he conducted auditions. "It's a lovely, lovely theater," he said. "I like the feel of it."

What Hines does is called "rhythm tap," a style perfected by the legendary John Bubbles. It emphasizes heel work and is, Hines notes, incredibly versatile. With it, he says, "you can tap to any tempo" and "every style of tap is viable - even Riverdance."

He clearly admires the innovations of Savion Glover and makes it a point to promote the art of promising young talents of all stripes. But his personal preference is for dance that is grounded and improvisational - like jazz music - vs. what he refers to as "airy, Busby Berkeley-type" tapping. Few young people know rhythm tap these days, but at the Philadelphia audition, Hines said he was so inspired by what he saw that even though "I never dance at auditions, I had to put on my tap shoes and join in."

Hines is still agile - "I keep myself in shape. I do the treadmill three times a week, plus a ballet barre." Yet he also spoke of planning to retire "at 77 or 78." He has been thinking about taking an apartment in Montmartre and/or Tempe, Ariz. A lifelong dog lover, Hines already knows he will get a pair of golden retrievers - "two females named Betty and Rosa." But before then, he is working on a number of projects, including a return to Broadway, and a possible television series with his old friend Debbie Allen.

In the course of our conversation, and throughout his current show, Hines paid tribute to his idols, including Gregory, John Bubbles, and "Baby Lawrence" Jackson, known for his skill at tap improvisation. But his most heartfelt comments were reserved for the memory of his mother, Alma. She was not in show business but understood it well. "My mom always said: 'You're not there for the producers; you're there for the audience," Hines said. " 'They chose to be there, so you owe them even if there are only two people in the theater.' "