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All Singing All Dancing One Man Show
Up close and personal… This show takes you through the classic ages of when music and dance had style, grace and charisma.
Celebrating iconic legends of stage and screen, such as Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jnr, with a medley of the most recognisable songs Make Em Laugh, It Had To Be You and Singin in the rain just to name a few .
I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Luke Alleva recently and chatting to him about his life, his dance journey, his inspirations and love of performing. Here is a little of his story …
I was raised in Sydney and moved to Melbourne in 2003 but back and forth to Sydney all the time for work. As much as I love Sydney I really LOVE Melbourne!
You’re one-man-show is The Dancin’ Man? Is this a throw-back to David Atkins’ Dancin’ Man from the 80’s or is it completely different?
It’s definitely not the same. I had a talk to David before I could put it up … I have so much respect for him so I didn’t want to do it the same at all. My show has completely different songs and I wanted to make it very personal and very little. In the 80’s David made his show very big so I wanted to make mine completely the opposite. I’m having a 4 piece band and myself … all singing, all dancing on stage … tapping, doing some of the classics like Mr Bojangles, Song & Dance Man, Singing in the Rain, Come Fly with me. I’m celebrating the life of Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire but also putting a bit of a modern twist to it … like a tap jam jazz version! There is absolutely no ‘4th Wall’ … I’m making it very personal! That’s why our venue is so good in Sydney because every seat is so close. I want to make it an event with a little bit of comedy and ad-libbing as well. For me it’s all about ‘style’ … my big thing is bringing the style and charisma back from the 40’s and 50’s era.
Where have your dance influences come from to want to bring that era?
I’ve done so many musicals in the past – Hot Shoe Shuffle will probably be my 19th Musical! So many different styles and versions of shows like ‘Rocky Horror’, ‘42nd Street’, ‘Hot Shoe Shuffle’, ‘The Boyfriend’ … so many different versions! I think it gets to a point in your career where a lot of influences of when you were younger and what becomes your personal taste and I just found that I felt completely at home with this genre and style. I feel comfortable and it really suits me … it just comes naturally to me. I can’t stop smiling when I do those types of songs … you just can’t help but feel good about it … the style and charisma just takes over for me!
What was your training background?
Donna Jean’s in Minchinbury – good old out west! Donna is beautiful, such a lovely person! She was sort of like my second mum really! I was there for the first couple of years of her studio opening and I really learnt a lot of style from her straight away. I was really lucky to have learnt from her! Then I got to travel and worked in London’s West End, in Asia and all around Australia. You learn off other people and their experiences as well. I think experience is absolutely everything. The best way of learning is EXPERIENCE! It’s a lot of hard work but if you love what you are doing you just DO IT!
What styles of tap are in your repertoire?
There are so many different styles of tap … there are a good 12-15 different styles of tap. I love every style of it but I prefer the style of Gene Kelly … he is my absolute IDOL. He is the reason why I do what I do and I always get goose bumps over it! He is an absolute LEGEND … the quintessential Song and Dance Man!
What did you learn working with David Atkins over the years?
I remember when I did Hot Shoe Shuffle in 2013, David Atkins was the hardest person I’ve ever had to work with … but … he was yet the BEST! He was the hardest working, he expected one thousand percent from us energy-wise and in professionalism and all the above. I COMPLETELY respect that in every sense! I learnt A LOT from him in a very short amount of time! He is also one of the people who I grew up admiring. He’s really funny … on and off stage. He’s got a pretty quick wit about him. He has a great aura about him, he’s just a beautiful genuine man! He is coming to see ‘Hot Shoe Shuffle’ when we open in April. I’m playing ‘Spring’ – his original role – so he is coming to opening night! I reckon afterwards he will give me schtick! But he is a great guy!
So, what now for you?
I’m in Sydney from the 22nd April until the 3rd of May – I’m doing Hot Shoe Shuffle at the Brian Brown Theatre and then pretty much as soon as we finish that on the 2nd, I’m doing my ‘one man show’ on the 3rd of May! I then take the show back to Victoria and have one at the Wyndham Cultural Centre on 30th May and another at Mildura Arts Centre on 18th July!
TICKETING INFORMATION
SUNDAY 3RD MAY – BRYAN BROWN THEATRE – 2PM SHOW
Book Tickets through The Byran Brown Theatre
Bankstown Library and Knowledge Centre
80 Richard road , Bankstown NSW
www.venuemanagement.com.au
tickets@venuemanagement.com.au
SATURDAY 30TH MAY – WYNDHAM CULTURAL CENTRE – 8PM SHOW
Book Tickets through Wyndham Cultural Centre Box Office
177 Watton Street, Werribee, Victoria
(03) 8734 6000 | boxoffice@wyndham.vic.gov.au
SATURDAY 18TH JULY – MILDURA ARTS CENTRE – 8PM SHOW
Book Tickets through Mildura Arts Centre Box Office
199 Cureton Avenue, Mildura, Victoria
(03) 5018 8330 | www.milduraartscentre.com.au
TO WIN TICKETS TO ANY OF THESE PERFORMANCES, WRITE TO US AT
win@dancelife.com.au
TELL US YOUR NAME, ADDRESS, PHONE NUMBER and WHO is Luke’s greatest inspiration as a dancer?
