The Tap Pack

After more than a decade of writing about The Tap Pack – from their first performance at Chapel off Chapel in Melbourne – I am finally running out of superlatives for this fabulous throwback to another era of showbusiness, one which most of the audience have never seen live before. Loosely based on the famous Rat Pack of 1950s Las Vegas fame – The Tap Pack sings, clowns around, involves the crowd in audience participation, dabbles in contemporary music, juggles, plays percussion, performs light comedy to perfection, all in a night of spectacular entertainment.

But most of all they tap, in a manner incredibly classy, spectacularly fast, and superbly stylish. We’ve all seen Tap Dogs or Stomp, but no other act/show in the last twenty years has given us such a diverse and wide-ranging display of pure talent. They are simply superb.

The show has evolved in such an organic way that there are now several variations of the pack - both 5 hander and 4 hander - and a pool of  26 gob-smackingly good tappers and singers from which to mount several companies at once if needed.

For the Queensland tour, the five triple threats (does that make 15 threats in total?) were three Tommies, a Jesse and a Sam. Five individuals, each with their own style, working in perfect unison together.

Jesse Rasmussen is a local Gold Coast boy, trained by the famed Peta Norton. At a self-confessed 39 years old, his skills aren’t impaired at all, and every beat is clean and crisp. He also has an uncanny ability to mimic the dancing styles of everyone from Fred Astaire to Donald O’Connor.

Tommy J Egan handles the comedy brilliantly, including donning high heels and dancing backwards as Ginger Rogers – but with flaming red hair. Don’t let that fool you, he is a superb dancer with his own idiosyncratic tap style and astonishing skill at multiple pirouettes (was it seven or eight at one point?). Both these dancers are creative directors and founders of The Tap Pack, but I must confess I did miss the presence of Jordan Pollard, the third creator of the Pack, who brought a totally different dynamic to the stage.

The other two Toms are the strongest vocally in the show. Tom McGuane has matinee idol looks, a terrific crooner’s voice, great dance skills and has already made his mark in musical theatre. Tom Struik, seemingly the “baby” of the group, has amazing stage presence and fabulous vocal chops, but more than holds his own in the tap routines. Sam Marks is a fabulously stylish dancer with an endearing stage presence.

Director Nigel Turner-Carroll has rehearsed the show to perfection and every move is brilliantly synchronized in unison. The result is pure class, beautifully lit, and with a fabulous band playing impeccable music charts.

Not all the tap routines are incredibly difficult - it would be impossible to keep up that level of energy for ninety minutes. Yes, there are choruses of time steps, shim sham, lots of cramp rolls, wings - even some fan kicks…. But these are done with great precision and tempered with some of the most amazingly difficult sequences you will ever see in tap. And to see all five dancing on individual staircases is a moment you will never forget.

With an audience aged from 8-80 on their feet cheering at the end of the night – and an obligatory encore, it’s safe to say that tap dancing is alive and stronger than ever. We have The Tap Pack to thank for that and their upcoming regional tour will give everyone outside of the capital cities a chance to see that all the hype is totally justified. Make sure you see them.

Coral Drouyn

Tap Pack upcoming tour dates:

May 31^st Albury Entertainment Centre.

June 1^st Wagga Wagga Civic Theatre

June 2^nd Griffith Regional Theatre-

June 4^th Goulburn Performing Arts Centre

June 5^th Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre

June 6^th Illawarra Performing Arts Centre

June 7^th Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre

June 8^th The Pavilion Performing Arts Centre, Sutherland

June 9^th Glen St Theatre Belrose

June 11^th Laycock Theatre Wyoming

June 12^th and 13^th Riverside Theatre Parramatta

June 14^th Evan Theatre Penrith

June 15^th Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre

June 16^th The Juniors Kingsford

For other dates and states from August on see https://www.thetappack.com/