Remembrance of American Classics

It was more than just an evening of dancing and singing. It was a remembrance of the American classics.

On Oct. 18, the Illinois Central College presented its Guest Artists series “Two on Tap” at the Performing Arts Center. It starred Melissa Giattino and Ron DeStefano, who danced to tap to hit songs from vaudeville to Broadway, and there was some comedy along, too.

 “It was like going back in time and reliving some of these classic hits that we don’t get to see perform anymore,” said Lisa Johnson of East Peoria.

The night's first performance was to tap dance to the song “I Got Rhythm.” They sang and danced during their performance and, along with that, talked to the audience, doing a bit of comedy as they danced to the music.

“It was like watching Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers,” said Johnson. “They showed class.”

Through the night, we learned a bit about the two stars. They each got to perform one song and dance number from which they performed years ago.

For one, DeStefano introduced a video of Giattino in the cast of 42^nd Street performing at the Tony Awards. As the video was playing and saw the cast dancing, Giattino came out dancing along in a dark blue dress.

Another was when DeStefano only sang with no music to the tune of “You’ll Never Walk Alone” from the Broadway musical “Carousel.” Audience members were amazed and cheered for his performance.

But the night performance came to the second song near the end as Giattion and DeStefano performed the hit classic “Somewhere Over The Rainbow.” DeStefano and Giattion's voices brought the house down and had the audience on their feet for a good minute or two of cheers and applause.

To one audience member, that performance didn’t just bring her to her feet but also brought tears of joy. She said that Giattion's voice was unique when she reached that high note of the song.

She also mentioned that watching Giattino and DeStefano perform was something we don’t see anymore on television or in the movies and that they are restoring those classics.

I have to say that that performance also brought me to tears as well. This show wasn't just an act to make the audience happy but to give the audience a bit of what true American classic of songs and dance, the authentic style that we once watched back in the day but now somewhat seems no more.