For performer Addisyn Kintzle, a passenger in “Anything Goes,” this year’s musical has been an opportunity to showcase a decade’s worth of dance experience.
“I have quite a few featured tap roles,” Kintzle said. “I really enjoy dancing, so I like that I get to feature my tap skills because I don’t get to do that often.”
With tap dancing taking center stage in a couple of the show’s most iconic numbers, preparation was key. Kintzle leaned on years of training with Studio B under the direction of Bergan Blommers to master the choreography.
“I prepared with lots of practice,” Kintzle said, “and it was a lot of Bergan helping me through some of the moves because I didn’t know how to meet all of them.”
Kintzle played a big role in helping fellow cast members polish their steps while Katelyn Soat-Weber, the dance choreographer, taught the dance.
“I was helping them through the moves while Katelyn was walking them through it,” Kintzle said. “I was mainly teaching them the difference between a shuffle and a flap, because they sound really similar to a person who hasn’t been around dance.”
Kintzle has grown as a performer throughout the process of this musical.
“This has taught me to be bigger when I am performing and really try and stand out,” Kintzle said. “I kept trying harder until the directors told me to tone it back.”
Kintzle is not the only tapper in the musical; Claire Hegland, Gwenyth Hough, Tamara Pittman, Maya Pennington, and Grace Sleeper are also tappers.
“I was asked to join tap at the last minute, and I’ve never done it before,” Pennington said. “It was intimidating at first, but you just have to fake it until you make it to get the click of the tap shoes on beat.”
Even though tap is not something Pennington does regularly, she enjoys the challenges it brings.
The productions take place in Hanson Auditorium on Thursday, Nov. 6, at 7 p.m.; Saturday, Nov. 8, at 7 p.m.; and a final show on Sunday, Nov. 9, at 2 p.m.
