Greta Gerwig is Currently Working on a Musical, Wants to Bring Back Tap Dancing

Greta Gerwig wants to bring tap dancing back. The Little Women director brought a fresh, modern edge to the beloved American classic by Louisa May Alcott, and now she’s determined to make tap dancing cool again. Gerwig revealed that she is currently working on a musical, and that it may or may not involve the footwork-heavy dancing style.

Gerwig has won acclaim for her take on the coming-of-age movie and the historical drama, and now she could may work her magic on the musical. In an interview with Variety, the Lady Bird and Little Women director revealed that she is currently working on a musical. While she wouldn’t reveal any further details, she did hint that the film will involve tap dancing:

“One thing I feel that the world is really missing right now is tap dancing. I’m just going to say that.”

Someone hasn’t seen Cats and witnessed the glory of Skimbleshanks, the tap-dancing Railway Cat. The sensual cat, portrayed by Steven McRae in the Tom Hooper-directed movie, tapped his way into all of our hearts — except for, apparently, Greta Gerwig. But no matter, it’s clear that Skimbleshanks is just ahead of the curve when it comes to the definite tap-dancing craze that will take over America once Gerwig works her magic.

But it’s true that tap dancing is an underrated element of classic starry Hollywood musicals. From Fred Astaire, to Ginger Rogers, and Gene Kelly, tap dancing has made for some of the most iconic musical scenes. Tap dancing has appeared occasionally in recent films like Chicago and Billy Elliot, but as musicals became more about big easily choreographed numbers, the art has started to lose its shine in major films — though we’ve seen the occasional homage on TV or even in the break-dancing Step Up movies.

We likely won’t find out what the Greta Gerwig musical is for a while, as Gerwig returns to acting in a production of Chekhov’s Three Sisters with Oscar Isaac at the New York Theatre Workshop, and co-writes a script with Noah Baumbach for the live-action Barbie movie. For now, we’ll have to be satisfied with rewatching that Skimbleshanks scene.

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