Overview

Jazz so good you’ll tap your feet. Enjoy an evening with tap dance legend Maurice Hines, accompanied by The DIVA Jazz Orchestra and hosted by fellow hoofer Savion Glover!

Fresh from a successful off-Broadway run, Tappin’ Thru Life comes to NJPAC! Tony Award-nominated dance legend Maurice Hines taps us through his incredible career in this song-and-dance celebration that pays tribute to his brother, the legendary Gregory Hines. He’ll be backed by fellow hoofers (and siblings) John and Mary Manzari. Plus, Hines has invited four young local dancers—two sets of extremely talented twins who recently appeared in NJPAC’s The Tap Dance Kid — to join him on stage! It’s a celebration of brotherly love told through rhythm, music and fabulous feet.

Hines and his crew of uniquely gifted sib-sets will be by the acclaimed all-female DIVA Jazz Orchestra, directed by Sherrie Maricle. Tappin’ Thru Life includes Hines’ distinctive take on your favorite American standards, including:

  • “Luck Be a Lady”
  • “Smile”
  • “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)”
  • “I’ve Never Been in Love Before”
  • “Get Me to the Church on Time”
  • “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”

“Crowd-pleasing showmanship…as a song and dance man, he is quite irresistible.”
­– The Seattle Times

“He’s an old-school entertainer, the life of the party…he’s a spoonful of sugar and a shot of caffeine…it’s a pleasure to be in the company of a shameless, ebullient vaudeville heart.”

–The Washington Post

Sponsored by The Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers