‘Da Show Is Honest, American

“Bring in ‘Da Noise, Bring in ‘Da Funk” opens with a mournful recitation of the names of the slave ships that brought Africans to America.

It ends with an ironic vignette of African American life in the 1990s, as various urban blacks try to hail a cab, always without success.

But don’t think “Noise/Funk,” which opens a weeklong run Tuesday at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa, is a downer.

It’s an explosive celebration of rhythm and dance, an ode to the uniquely American art form of tap-dancing and to the people who created it.

It shows that tap can tell stories and convey complex emotions and that, far from being an art of the past, tap can be an art of the future.

Produced and directed by George C. Wolfe in collaboration with genius tapper Savion Glover, “Noise/Funk” began as a workshop at the New York Public Theater in November 1995. Unexpectedly garnering enthusiastic reviews there, it ran until January 1996, moving a few months later to Broadway, where it quickly became a hit and picked up four Tony Awards.

(Wolfe and Glover each won Tony Awards for their roles in the production, but neither could be reached by press time because they are both out of the country, according to a center spokesman.)

Derick K. Grant danced Glover’s role of ‘Da Beat for the first U.S. tour and subsequently became tour choreographer for all the productions.

“They didn’t really know that it was going to be so popular,” Grant said in a recent phone interview from his home in New York. “They were expecting to do it only for three weeks. Then it kept getting extended.

“When they realized that it would go on for a lot more, they realized they needed bodies. That’s when they contacted me.”

Grant, now 25, became dance captain of the show when the production moved to Broadway, learning all the roles “note for note and teaching them to everyone and all the replacements,” he said.

“Savion couldn’t go on the tour because of his commitments. They needed someone to replace him. That’s how I stepped into his role for the past two years.”

But Grant won’t be dancing in Orange County.

“My son turns 1 this month,” Grant said. “His birthday is on [Saturday]. . . .

“I don’t dance as much now. I drop in on the tour from time to time to make sure that it’s still tight.”

Keeping it tight means keeping it strictly adhering to the original.

“I feel it would almost be insulting if I tried to change the show at all,” Grant said. “I try to do it justice by teaching it note for note.”

Still, there is opportunity for all the dancers--the cast of 16 includes dancers and musicians--to make their own contributions.

“Maybe 60% of it is improvisation, with pockets within which the dancers can express themselves as individuals,” Grant said. “That’s what gives a different flavor or feeling to every performance and lets people who have seen it once get a point of view that’s new and different.

“That chance for the dancers to have their personal expression was there in the original state. I haven’t really changed the show at all.”

While the story focuses upon the African American experience over 400 years, the success of the musical reflects experience that transcends any single group.

“This is the story of America,” Grant said. “What does that mean? America is the melting pot. Everyone wants to come here. Only we Africans didn’t come of own free will. We were brought here. We’re the only culture that was brought against its will.

“But everyone fights to be equally accepted. We all have that that in common, every race.”

The show even includes satires of such African American tap icons as the Nicholas Brothers and Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, who had to prostitute “ ‘da beat” in Hollywood musicals of the 1930s and later.

“The show is like an emotional roller-coaster ride,” Grant said. “But it’s all very honest. That’s why the impact is so heavy. It’s just honest. It’s the facts. Everything we have has been documented.”

* “Bring in ‘Da Noise, Bring in ‘Da Funk” opens Tuesday at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. 8 p.m. Performances continue at 8 p.m. through Friday, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Sunday. $21-$52.50. (714) 556-2787.