‘EFX’ gets attuned to Tommy

Melissa Schorr

Friday, Jan. 22, 1999 | 10:08 a.m.

Tommy Tune sure knows how to make an entrance.

Wearing a white satin tux, top hat and tails, the Tony-award winning dancer rises up from the middle of the stage. He rises, rises -- and rises still, showcasing the length of his signature 6-foot, 6-inch frame.

The MGM Grand's "EFX" has also gotten a slight rise out of the Tune-d up show. Tune brings a choreographer's touch to the already visually over-the-top show.

Still, much of the show will be familiar to old fans: the James Earl Jones floating head, the flame-spewing dragon, the Flying Kaganovitch trapeze act, the Harry Houdini water torture escape act, the 3-D glasses for the time travel sequence and the "Let It Shine" finale -- all are intact.

Tune has mainly tinkered with the show -- rather than ripped and shredded. This is unfortunate, as it would have been nice to see what he would do with the show if not limited by the computerized score and the $45 million already spent on sets and special effects.

What is gone is David Cassidy's entrance as a bus boy and the silly storyline of recapturing lost love, which never really worked.

Instead, the show is now simply about "a journey into the realm of imagination" featuring the same four themes: "magic, spirits, laughter and time." And Tune has also revived a tune from the original production, starring Michael Crawford, called "Tonight," which was favored by Crawford fans.

But unfortunately, "EFX" can still be more visual junk food than a satisfying theatrical meal. With more blinding bursts of light than memorable songs or thought-provoking plot lines, the show never truly delivers on its potential.

A highlight of the star-driven vehicle is the moment, halfway through, when Tune, like Cassidy before him, takes a Liz Dole/Oprah moment, sitting on the edge of the stage, breaking the fourth wall, and taking questions from the audience.

On this particlar night, it turns into a scene from "This is Your Life," when a dancer from Tune's "My One and Only" pipes up to tell Tommy that he "made his dream come true." Then, a former student of Tune's chimes in to say she took tap lessons from him at the University of Texas, and he convinces her to come on stage for an impromptu "sand box tap" to "Under the Bamboo Tree."

Tune charms the audience with his easygoing personality and light Texan drawl. Struggling to fit into the H.G. Wells "time machine," he jokes: "Who was this made for -- David Cassidy?"

And unlike his predecessors, this is a dancer who can sing, rather than a singer who can dance. Despite a nasty break about three years earlier, Tune's dancing feet have recovered nicely enough for him to shine in a couple of brand new bits.

Stand-out moments include Tune, standing center stage, leading a tap routine and a "cosmic jig" with the 33-member chorus line, with all but their feet hidden behind the curtain. Another highlight is the atmospheric number "Eclipse," in which Tune taps on a metal grid, using special effects to delay and echo the reverberating sound.

The pressing question for the MGM is whether a Tommy Tune marquee will draw. Although theater professionals and industry experts all agree that Tune is a welcome presence in the show, middle America is still a long way from Broadway.

That point was driven home opening night, when many audience members were on their way out the door well before the final curtain call. Worse, Tune did not receive the standing ovation that a star of his caliber should receive, almost as a matter of course -- not to mention for taking the show a step or two higher.