Hot Feet

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Hot Feet is a jukebox musical featuring the music of Earth, Wind & Fire, conceived, directed, and choreographed by Maurice Hines. It opened on Broadway at the Hilton Theatre on April 30, 2006 and closed on July 23rd, 2006.

Hot Feet is about a beautiful young dancer whose dream is to dance on Broadway. When she puts on a pair of magical red shoes, they begin to take control of her fate. This story is a modern retelling of The Red Shoes, a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen.

The plot centers on Kalimba, a high schooler with dreams of making it big as a dancer. Soon enough her ambition lands her a spot in the ensemble of the most prestigious dance company in town, much to the chagrin of her mother, who is suspicious of the company’s founder, Victor Serpertine. Rightfully so, it turns out. Victor owes the success of his company to his business partner, Louie (also known as Lucifer). Meanwhile, Kalimba faces the first adult challenges of her life: professional jealousy from the company’s resident diva, Naomi (also Victor’s girlfriend), and a budding romance with the choreographer, Anthony. It’s not long before Kalimba is starring in the company’s newest work, "Hot Feet." Little does she (or anyone else) know that there’s more to those red shoes she dances in than meets the eye.

Hot Feet essentially is about the joy of dancing. Equal parts Broadway musical, dance recital, and Vegas floorshow, Hot Feet is armed with a battalion of talented theatre Gypsies who know how to talk with their bodies. Hines puts them through their paces to form one of the hardest-working ensembles in town right now: they run through dozens of costume changes, entrances, and exits with a speed and facility that is amazing. The choreography is not particularly inventive, but it is rousing (again, crowd-pleasing by design), and the company knows how to execute it so as to elicit the desired response.

The Earth Wind and Fire catalogue is one of the premiere pop music songbooks of the 1970s, comparable to other R & B and funk giants of that era, like Stevie Wonder and Parliament / Funkadelic. Songs include "After the Love Has Gone," "Shining Star," "Boogie Wonderland," plus six new songs by Maurice White. Music director Jeffrey Klitz and orchestrator Bill Meyers stay true to the songs and do not "Broadway" them up in any way. Three offstage vocalists, Brent Carter, Keith Anthony Fluitt, and Theresa Thomason, handle the majority of the singing (a choice that thankfully frees the dancers from having to do so while performing some breath-defying moves).