A Broadway legend drops in for visit.

Byline: Carolyn Lamberson The Register-Guard

In his 40-plus-year career, Tommy Tune has cast a long shadow over Broadway.

And it's not only because the lanky song-and-dance man stands 6-foot-6. It's because of everything he's accomplished: nine Tony Awards, eight Drama Desk Awards, two Astaire Awards and, in 2003, the nation's highest artistic honor, the National Medal of Arts.

On Sunday, fans in Eugene will have their first chance to see Tune and his cohorts, the Manhattan Rhythm Kings, when Broadway's tallest Texan puts on his tap shoes for a night of "Taps, Tunes & Tails" at the Hult Center.

`We've got a nice show we're putting together,' said Tune, speaking by phone from his apartment in Manhattan. "A lot of it is new. Of course, we've worked together for 20 years, so we have a repertoire of the great songs that we always include, like `Fascinatin' Rhythm' and `Let's Fall in Love,' 'Stardust.'

`We have a big Gershwin medley that we do. We do a lot of Irving Berlin and Cole Porter. And then we have some new stuff coming in that's real nice.'

If the name "Tommy Tune" rings a bell, but you just can't place it, here's a hint. Tune was involved in some of the biggest Broadway hits of the 1970s and '80s.

He won a Tony in 1973 as best actor in a musical for his role in "Seesaw." Ten years later, he won another Tony for best actor - and one for choreography - for "My One and Only," co-starring Twiggy.

He choreographed and co-directed "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas," "A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine," "Grand Hotel: The Musical" and "The Will Rogers Follies." For the latter two, he accomplished quite a feat: He won back-to-back, twin Tonys for directing and choreography.

Local group fills out orchestra

Tune's visit to Eugene is, it turns out, A Pretty Big Deal.

"He is one of the most outstanding performers in an art form that is highly musical," said Janet Descutner, a retired University of Oregon dance professor who also ran a tap troupe for eight years. And while she's not seen Tune's song-and-dance show in person, "I've seen clips of the show, and I think it's terrific."

Steve Stone, director of the Emerald City Jazz Kings, saw Tune in person in "My One and Only" back in 1983.

`He's an incredible performer in whatever capacity you want to talk about him, as a comedian, as an actor, as a dancer, whatever,' Stone said.

And now Stone and the Jazz Kings will get an even closer look at Tune's talents. Tune travels with a conductor, a pianist and a drummer. Members of the Jazz Kings will fill out the remainder of the show's 16-piece orchestra.

`It's a great opportunity," Stone said, adding that he was less familiar with the Manhattan Rhythm Kings. "But I've been listening to them and they sound great."

The Rhythm Kings - Hal Shane, Marc Kessler and Brian Nalepka - began performing on the streets of New York. That's where Tune found them in 1984, in front of the Winter Garden Theater on Broadway.

`I came out of the subway one day and they were singing and dancing and they'd drawn a crowd that was just having a ball,' Tune said. `I'm tall, so I could see over the crowd, and they were putting on quite a show.

`So I left my card in their hat and asked them if they would like to join up. They called me and we got together, and we've been together ever since.

`But I haven't worked on the street with them yet. I brought them inside. I don't have the courage to perform on the sidewalk.'

Don't expect to see a lot of numbers on Sunday that Tune made famous in his career.

"I tend to stay away from songs I've done in shows because without the whole chorus and everybody dancing, it seems somehow less,' he said. `If people saw the shows and remember them, then I'm out there doing some truncated version, it's not very fulfilling for the audience.

`So, I try to give them more complete things, things that I start from scratch and create for this show, instead of borrowing from the others.'

The exception is the George and Ira Gershwin medley. Tune danced in the Gershwin musical "My One and Only," and the Rhythm Kings were featured in "Crazy for You."

`So we've taken our favorite songs from both those shows and put them together in a great, big Gershwin suite,' he said.

Tap dancing started early

Growing up a boy dancer in Texas in the 1940s and '50s could have rough going. But Tune said his family was very sup- portive.

`My father loved that I tap-danced. When people would come over to the house, he would roll back the rug in the living room and get me to tap-dance for people. So at 5 years old, I was tap-dancing in the living room, to great applause.

`Of course, my father made great drinks, so I don't know how good I was, or if it was the booze talking, but I went over great in our living room.'

He managed to go over great in New York, too, right from the beginning.

When he headed to New York, his dream was simple: to dance in the chorus of a Broadway show. On his first day in the city, he went to an audition and got the part.

He had achieved his dream in one day.

`Now that is a way-out dream when you are built like me,' he said. `When you're this tall, you don't know it. I bump my head on a doorway and then I know it, but you're not aware of it. You just go about your business.

`It was unusual because chorus boys are not built like this. Thank God I got the job.'

With his 66th birthday coming up at the end of February, it might seem natural for Tune to contemplate hanging up his tap shoes. But he's not.

"The best dancer I worked with in my life was this wonderful dancer named Charles `Honi' Coles,' Tune said. "And when I worked with him, in `My One and Only, he was 76 years old. I think that given how fabulous he was, and the inspiration that he passed to me, I think I should keep going like that.'

You can reach Carolyn Lamberson at 338-2341 or e-mail [e-mail].

CONCERT PREVIEW

Tommy Tune

and the Manhattan Rhythm Kings: "Taps, Tunes & Tails"

When: 8 p.m. Sunday

Where: Silva Concert Hall, Hult Center, Seventh Avenue and Willamette Street

Tickets: $25 to $45 through www.hultcenter.org, by phone at 682-5000 or at the Hult ticket office

CAPTION(S):

Tommy Tune turns 66 in February, but he has no plans to slow down. His inspiration is Charles `Honi' Coles, who was still dancing at 76. "I think that given how fabulous he was, and the inspiration that he passed to me, I think I should keep going like that.'