DAVID ATKINS Returns - HOT SHOE SHUFFLE!

DAVID ATKINS Returns to the stage

Jaz Flowers and Bobby Fox to star

In HOT SHOE SHUFFLE

National Tour 2013

David Atkins Enterprises presents one of the most successful Australian Musicals of all time, the joyous, exhilarating hit Tap Dance musical comedy, Hot Shoe Shuffle.

Before Tap Dogs and The Boy from Oz, Hot Shoe Shuffle paved the way as the first Australian musical to succeed both at home and internationally and is one of the longest running multi-award winning musicals ever to be produced in Australia. Originally conceived, directed and produced by David Atkins OAM in 1992 it was choreographed by both Atkins and the now world-renowned tap choreographer Dein Perry.

Returning to the stage for the first time in 15 years, David Atkins will play DEXTER a role originally played by Jack Webster. Jersey Boys star Bobby Fox will play SPRING, the eldest of the tap brothers, a role originally created by David Atkins and Hairspray’s Jaz Flowers will play APRIL the long lost sister.

Featuring the big band hits of the 1940s, Hot Shoe Shuffle has won numerous awards and been produced in six different countries. It played sell-out seasons in London, where the production won the prestigious Lawrence Olivier Award for Choreography. It has also won an ARIA Award for its soundtrack album, 4 Mo Awards, 2 Green Room Awards, and an Advance Australia Award for services to the Arts. After its award-winning season on London’s West End, Hot Shoe Shuffle broke box office records on the UK’s regional touring circuit, where it toured for two years.

Recognized in the 2003 Queen’s Birthday Honours with a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for services to the entertainment industry, David Atkins is Australia’s most awarded producer, choreographer and director. He has starred in, produced, directed, choreographed and created more than 20 musicals in Australia, Britain, the United States, Canada, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong. In 2000, Juan Antonio Samaranch, the president of the International Olympic Committee, presented David with a Gold Olympic Pin for his outstanding and innovative work as Artistic Director and Producer of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Opening and Closing Ceremonies. Over and above the enormous body of theatrical, arena and live event work that David has directed and produced, beyond the vast number of awards and nominations, he has revolutionised the way shows are created and produced.

“It’s been almost twenty years since Hot Show Shuffle first wowed audiences around the world.” said David Atkins. “If you’ve seen the show you’ll need no convincing to see it again, It’s song and dance at its very best and most exciting. With hits of the Big Band Era and the hottest tapping you’ll ever see with a brilliant Australian cast.”

Jaz Flowers’ big break was as ‘Tracey Turnblad’ in the multi award winning production of Hairspray for which she won Sydney Theatre Awards and received a Helpmann Award Nomination for Best Female Actor in a Musical. Other credits include Fame – the Musical and Shane Warne the Musical. Most recently Jaz appeared as one of the contestants in the hit television show The Voice.

“I find myself randomly smiling all the time. A dream come true is an understatement. Being a leading lady is one thing but being a leading lady of Hot Shoe Shuffle is in a whole other league. It was the first show i ever saw, it’s my favourite musical, and to be working with David who was in the original cast is a joke! Not coping, I’m ecstatic!” said Jaz Flowers.

Hailing from Longford, Ireland, Bobby Fox moved to Australia in 2002 and began his professional musical theatre career with feature roles in Mamma Mia, Leader of the Pack, Dusty – The Original Pop Diva, We Will Rock You, Spamalot and The Production Company’s Sweet Charity and Damn Yankies. Bobby was then hand picked by the man himself to play the role of Frankie Valli in the smash hit musical The Jersey Boys, playing to sold out seasons in Melbourne & Sydney. More recently Bobby has been seen in Nine Network’s new hit House Husbands.

“I am ecstatic and honoured to be given the opportunity to play the role of “Spring” in Hot Shoe Shuffle,” said Bobby Fox. This show combines everything I’ve learnt throughout my training and performing career. It will be such a full circle moment for me. I simply cannot wait to hit the rehearsal room floor.

Hot Shoe Shuffle tells the tale of the Seven Tap Brothers, Spring, Slap, Buck, Wing, Tip, Tap and Slide who learn of the death of their long-absent father, who has apparently left them a fortune. The only catch is that to receive their inheritance, they must rehearse and perform his legendary ‘Act’ – the Hot Shoe Shuffle!! In addition, they must also include their long-lost sister, April, into The Act. The only problem is – she has two left feet! Hot Shoe Shuffle is finally performed triumphantly, in the tradition of the best Broadway musicals

“Some of the most exhilarating dancing ever to shake a theatre floor”