Hoofer Maurice Hines brings show to Alliance Theatre

His excitement is almost palatable as he watches John and Leo Manzari tap during a rehearsal at the Alliance Theatre.

“Here comes my step,” the man in black says, leaning forward.

They nail it.

“Alriiight,” he said, laughing. “I don’t know if Atlanta is ready for all that, now.”

Audiences can judge for themselves.

Hines, 70, brings his “Maurice Hines Is Tappin’ Thru Life” show to Atlanta now through May 4.

The show, written by the famed hoofer, gives a peek into his life, the people who influenced his career and the beloved relationship with his brother, the late Gregory Hines, and their mother, whom he calls the “giant of my life.”

It’s an outgrowth, in part, of brotherly love and a smidgen of anger.

The outspoken Hines said he was once reading an article on tap and was dismayed to see it didn’t mention his Tony Award-winning brother. “After Gregory had gotten (National) Tap (Dance) Day with Congress and everything else, I could not believe it,” he said. “One of the great, if not the greatest, tapper I ever saw was my brother, so I was quite upset.”

Gregory Hines, also an actor and singer, died in 2003 at age 57, and at his memorial service, Maurice performed and left an empty spot next to him as if Gregory were dancing with him. “It was very difficult for me, but it was very meaningful for me because that is where we started.”

Maurice Hines started incorporating aspects of that and old photos into his performances, and eventually it evolved into a show about his life and its major influences. He credits director Jeff Calhoun, also of “Newsies” fame, with making it “more meaningful, much more logical and very narrative.”

Calhoun considers the show a musical time capsule. People today, he said, don’t get this kind of exposure to talent like Hines and the Manzari Brothers.

“Truly, Maurice is the last song and dance man,” he said.

Hines calls it a love letter to his mother, who, he said, nurtured and encouraged her dancing sons.

“When people said Greg and I weren’t talented, she wasn’t about to hear that.” The two went on to work with the likes of Ella Fitzgerald.

The show also stars the Manzari Brothers, of Washington, D.C., who worked with Hines on “Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies” and appeared on “So You Think You Can Dance.” It also features locals 10-year-olds Leilani Negron and Maika Takemoto.

“Every city we go around, we try to find young, new talent,” said Hines, who like his brother has always pushed people to respect tap.

The Manzari Brothers — John, 21, and Leo, 19 — said they learned more about tap, the tough side of business, how to carry themselves and about Gregory.

“Being a tap dancer is a good thing,” said Leo Manzari. “People need to understand that tap dance is an art form that needs to be respected for all time.”

Does Maurice Hines see parallels between the Manzaris and the Hines brothers?

“I thought that John, being the older, was going to be like me,” and he would see more of Gregory in Leo. “Just the opposite,” he said. “Leo is more like me: sweet, nice.” John is more acerbic. However, “tap wise they are really the greatest I’ve seen today. They’re on par with Savion Glover… Improvisationally, when they do something. When we did the show before … they did steps that just defy description.”

And Hines can be a tough judge.

“I don’t like mediocre talent,” he said. “Nothing around me is that way.”

In fact, Hines said while he’s thrilled with the talent he has, others were less impressive.

“I was very disappointed,” he said. “Everyone was doing the same thing.” It was almost, he said, as if they all had the same teacher. “I saw being cutesy, not being real.”

In the end, though, he just wants the audience to leave smiling.

He remembers the advice his mother once gave him.

"The audience must leave saying, 'I had a good time, baby. I had a good time.'"

He clearly is.