Tap Dogs

The four of us went up town to see Tap Dogs last night. This is only the second time the kids have been to the theatre (pantomines don't count in my book). The first time was to see Footloose, also at the Novello. They loved it even though they had never seen the original film. I remember Ella stood on her seat at the end and wouldn't stop clapping.

For this one, I had to do some serious plotting to get Clint and the kids interested in a show they had never heard of. A sneaky purchase from Ebay of the film Bootmen, a couple of carefully chosen video posts on Facebook and I finally had my way. What really sold it was the fact it was Kid's week in the West End and so we only had to pay for the adult tickets!

For those that aren't familiar with Tap Dogs, I'll give a little background. This Australian show has been running in one format or another for 15 years in over 250 cities worldwide. As you might have guessed from the name, it is a Tap show. But wait - there isn't a top hat or a silver capped cane in sight. Think hobnail boots, steel girders, grinders, drums and sweat, lots and lots of sweat. 42nd Street this ain't! This is manly tap dancing. There is nothing camp at all about this show. If you loved Stomp, you'll love Tap Dogs. For the ladies, of course, it helps that Adam Garcia has been appearing in the latest run in London!

I'll admit that Adam Garcia may have been the main reason I wanted to go originally but it was the video clips on the Tap Dogs website that convinced me to actually buy the tickets. On the night, it was actually young Jesse Rasmussen that stood out. We all loved Rat.

There is so much more I could say but I won't because Clint will be reading this at some point!

Tap Dogs is appearing at the Novello Theatre until 5th Sept. It then moves on to Sydney, Australia.