Tommy Tune's "Steps in Time"

Tommy Tune performed his new autobiographical dance show "Steps in Times" September 21 at John Jay College as a benefit for Friends in Deed. Though the show is intended to be taken on the road, I am hoping it will receive an extended run in Manhattan too.

Speaking with him, he described "Steps in Time" as a "biography in song, dance and story" that did not aim to show off the highlights of his career line by line, hit by hit, but instead present a more emotional and surprising collection of lasting memories and impressions.

I should have asked whether "Turn of the Century," the musical he debuted regionally last year with Jeff Daniels and Rachel York, will ever come to New York. Instead, I asked whether he might be interested in directing a musical revival, which led him to repeat the same diatribe against revivals that he gave in Rick McKay's 2004 documentary "Broadway: The Golden Age."

I also asked if he is looking forward to Rob Marshall's film version of "Nine." (Tune directed the original production production of "Nine.") Tune replied enthusiastically that he can't wait to see it and that he loved Marshall's film of "Chicago." I checked whether he had seen the Fringe Festival prodution of "How Now, Dow Jones," since he appeared in the original cast. He said yes, and that he didn't much like the newly revised, more scaled-down version.

Finally, as an end note, I asked Tune about the effect of critics on his career, which I often do now during interviews in hopes of gaining material for the book that I am attempting to write on theater critics. He noted the advice he got out-of-town with "Grand Hotel" on the lack of dramatic tension in the plot. As he left to go party with his pals, he told me that he thought I was a great interviewer. Elated, I exited O'Neill's, turned my IPOD to "Seesaw," and peddled away on my bike.