THE PERFECT FIT:
KALIMBA ENTERTAINMENT FOUNDER, AND EARTH, WIND & FIRE FORCE MAURICE WHITE
PAIRS UP WITH TONY-NOMINATED ACTOR, DANCER, CHOREOGRAPHER & DIRECTOR MAURICE HINES
FOR BROADWAY-BOUND URBAN MUSICAL HOT FEET

Kalimba Entertainment president and six-time Grammy-winning Earth, Wind & Fire founder, creator and driving force Maurice White has paired up with Tony-nominated actor, choreographer and member of the famed dance troupe Hines, Hines and Dad, Maurice Hines for the Broadway-stepping musical HOT FEET. The contemporary urban play will feature Hines' choreography and direction set to White's Earth, Wind & Fire hits, including “Shining Star,” “September,” “Boogie Wonderland,” “That's The Way of The World,” and “After The Love Has Gone,” as well as new originals that White is composing for Hot Feet. A live band will perform the songs during the theatrical production.

Mr. Ptah's book, Mr. White's music, and Mr. Hines' direction and choreography weave a Faustian tale about a beautiful young dancer - Kalimba, whose whole life’s dreams and ambition are to be a Broadway dancer. Kalimba is cajoled to dance wearing a pair of magical and enchanted red shoes; when puts them on, they begin to take control of the talented dancer's fate. HOT FEET is the story of a gifted young girl, a mother's need to protect her daughter, an impresario's desire to control her, a choreographer's love, a shoemaker's manipulation and an aging diva holding on to her last hurrah. It is ultimately the story of love and ambition told to us through songs we know and cherish.

This is the first collaboration for “M-Squared,” as the two Maurices are sometimes referred to. Hines, whose many credits include director / choreographer for such musicals as “Satchmo,” “Harlem Suite,” and “Ella Fitzgerald: The First Lady of Song,” presented the HOT FEET idea to White, and they have been working on it for the past year. The pairing of White and Hines for this project has already generated interest from Broadway producers and theatres in the U.S. and abroad.

Maurice Hines began his career at the age of five as a dancer alongside his brother and, later, his father. His Broadway credits include appearances in Eubie!, Bring Back Birdie and Sophisticated Ladies. Tony Award nominated for Uptown...It's Hot!, Hines went on to direct Satchmo, Harlem Suite and to become the first African-American director for Radio City Music Hall.

Earth, Wind & Fire racked up a string of hits in the '70s and early '80s. A large ensemble, the group's sound was characterized by joyful, buoyant melodies, falsetto harmonies and the use of horns. After early funk-based hits such as "Shining Star," the act moved into a romantic period of melodic, almost sing-a-long anthems such as "Sing a Song," "September" and "After the Love Has Gone." They largely dropped off the charts after the early '80s hit "Let's Groove." White went on to a solo career.

Heru Ptah, MTV Books author of the sensational novel A Hip-Hop Story, wrote the book for HOT FEET.  Mr. Ptah was born and raised in Jamaica. The Egyptian meaning of Heru is "Sun God" and Ptah was one of Egypt's earliest gods, associated with creation and the arts.  Combined, the names are an auspicious designation for a young playwright.  Heru migrated with his family to the US, where, as a teenager, his infectious inflections first mesmerized mics in the cafes of New York City.  He has performed his poetry at such prestigious venues as The Apollo Theatre, Madison Square Garden,The Cotton Club, The Nuyorican Poets Cafe and countless colleges and universities across the U.S. and Canada. He has toured also in England, Scotland, Germany, Italy, France, and Switzerland.   His directorial credits include the film FOREIGN.  On page and on stage, Ptah's bristling imagination and raw energy electrify readers and audiences with multi-volts of sizzling power.

From Variety:

'Feet' taps into hip-hop beat - Tuner aims to lure young fans as well as matinee crowds
By MARK BLANKENSHIP

NEW YORK -- Straight out of "Boogie Wonderland" and onto Broadway.

Theater pundits don't seem sure what to expect. Even the producers don't quite know how to describe "Hot Feet," the Earth, Wind & Fire tunertuner. . .

That's because the show is an unusual hybrid. On the surface, it looks like another jukebox tuner; but it is actually a mix of ballet, hip-hop and the high-speed street dance called krumping. Throw in a fairy tale plot from Hans Christian Andersen, as told through an MTV-generation scribe, and suddenly this tuner looks more like a crossbreed between the jukebox and the boombox.

The public will get a few answers to its questions when "Hot Feet" bows at D.C.'s National Theater on March 21.

"We've never approached this as anything other than something new," says co-producer Herb Trawler. "Hot Feet" features eight new songs from Maurice White -- an EW&F founder as well as "Hot Feet's" composer and co-producer -- and takes its plot from Andersen's "The Red Shoes."

The point, Trawler says, is using old songs as a means of enhancing a fresh story in the hopes of enticing both those who want original product and those attracted by what they know.

In adapting "The Red Shoes" -- about a ballerina who compromises her heart to pursue her career -- "Hot Feet's" creators can also woo another sizable contingent: dance aficionados. Though it features live singing and a book from first-time playwright Heru Ptah, the production unfolds mainly through 18 dance numbers created by director-choreographer Maurice Hines. . .

Attempting a double-whammy, producers and marketers are aiming to reach older patrons with the credibility of White and Hines while pursuing the younger market with the musical's hip-hop element.

Youthful auds may also respond to the fresh faces of the multi-culti dancers, most of whom are either making their debuts or stepping forward from chorus line obscurity. (The cast also features stalwarts like Keith DavidKeith David and Tony winner Anne Duquesnay).

Considering that Broadway's other nostalgia tuners have mined the catalogs of white musicians with mostly rock scores, it makes sense to reach out to fans of R&B.

And the pull of White has given the show an early boost, garnering attention from TV newsmags like "Extra" and "Access Hollywood."

Like White, Hines is a marketable name, having carved his reprep tap-dancing with brother Gregory and then touring the country in a popular revival of "Guys and Dolls." There's no tapping here, however. Instead, Hines will stage everything from a 22-minute ballet to modern pieces that incorporate hip-hop and krumping, a style chronicled in David LaChapelle's doc "Rize."

Hines is certain these elaborate numbers will draw a crowd. "I know how they're going to react to the dancing," he says. "I always want the audience to have a good time ... to be thrilled."

Along with krumping, tuner also features a reggaeton song from White. Plus, Ptah has the cachet of being a 27-year-old newcomer discovered by MTV Books while selling his novel, "A Hip-Hop Story," on the subway. That certainly gives him street cred as he fills "Hot Feet" with urban slang and rhyming dialogue reminiscent of rap.

With so many dance and music styles fused together in a single show, the question then becomes a marketing one: how to expand beyond one or two audience niches. The answer: Court as many of them as possible all at once. What might seem like an identity crisis to some is in fact being approached here by producers and creatives as a multiple-avenue marketing opportunity.

Along with the jukebox, dance and hip-hop crowds, "Hot Feet" wants to appeal to culturally diverse communities. Though he believes it can satisfy everyone, Hines does hope the tuner finds support from minorities. "This is the first time an African-American director-choreographer has been handed (a Broadway budget of) $8 million ," he enthuses. "And I'm grateful for that."

But with so many specialized auds to attract, not to mention more traditional ticketbuyers, how is a musical to proceed? Trawler responds, "We're saying, 'Let's reach people where they live.' The strategy is different for the hip-hop kids than for the ladies who lunch."

To that end, marketers are not only buying newspaper ads and filming commercials, but they're also using "street teams" to drum up word of mouth . . ..

There are plenty of contradictions here: expensive ads running next to grassroots campaigns, classic R&B joining hip-hop, established artists working with an untested playwright.

For now, though, Trawler embraces the situation. "This is a show that serves a lot of masters," he laughs. "And we're getting out of the way and letting it happen."

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