DANCE REVIEW : Hines at Home as a Dancer and Singer at Cerritos Center

Onstage for the first of two weekend performances at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, Gregory Hines said he feels very much at home in the Los Angeles area, surrounded by friends, some family and memories of his hippy days living here in the ‘70s.

But after watching his 75-minute set of singing, dancing and playful schmoozing with the audience, it was hard to imagine any stage where Hines would not feel at home. He has the kind of unassuming virtuosity and over-the-footlights warmth that turns a theater into a living room and makes you want to invite him over for tea afterward. With luck, he’d dance on your coffee table.

Dealing well with the uneasy opening act spot, stand-up Brian Copeland breezed along with funny and friendly commentary. But soon, the night belonged to Hines. For those who were most familiar with him as a consummate tap dancer in movies like “White Nights” and not his Broadway successes, like “Jelly’s Last Jam,” the surprise was Hines’ voice.

Sweet and clear with just a hint of whispered emotion in ballads such as “When I Fall in Love” and “Somebody Loves You,” it soared on the beat and was punctuated with stylish turns in “Rhythm’s Gonna Get You” or “The Heart of Rock and Roll.”

Hines shed the coat of his roomy tan suit for several extended tap sections--often done in silence--on a well-miked platform. From deceptively laid-back--almost exhausted-looking--postures, he broke into a rain of tight, solid ticks, clicks and clacks. Then some more careful reeling, and a few slides and breaks before he sped up into record-breaking taps-per-second mode. If Hines were a painter, he’d be a pointillist, gathering tiny bits of tapping sounds and open spaces into a performance canvas of wonderfully unified proportions.

Ably backed by a jazzy six-member orchestra, Hines smoothly gave focus to solos by Rick Cutler on piano or Keith Loving on guitar, while he sometimes danced with backup singers Branice McKensie and Sharon Brooks. Nor was the audience neglected. Although the Cerritos staff was warned that Hines invites any tappers who had their shoes with them on-stage at the end, “What are the odds?” they must have thought.

Fair, it turns out. Hines welcomed six tappers of various ages and abilities onto his platform, astutely praising their short improvisations, jamming with them, and sometimes--as when local dancer Channing Cook Holmes burned up the stage--exaggerating their threat to him.

But it’s hard to truly threaten a triple-threat. Hines’ talents are prodigious--and going home with the feeling that he would dance on your coffee table, if only he had time, is just a bonus.