During one October performance of “Spirit: A Journey in Dance, Drums and Song,” a young, tall and lanky man was in the lobby of the Shubert Theatre, staring intently at a video monitor advertising the return engagement of the dance entertainment “Tap Dogs.”
Were it not for his thick Australian accent, Peter Holmes a Court could have been mistaken for any one of the young, affluent audience members representing the target demographic for the classic rock-infused Native American extravaganza, “Spirit.”
One thing he did not look like was a producer and entrepreneur responsible for both “Spirit” and “Tap Dogs,” now hoofing through Nov. 28 at the Shubert, and someone who came very close to buying Chicago’s Oriental Theatre earlier this year.
In actuality, Holmes a Court, 31, has already parlayed the start afforded by the wealth of his prominent international family into an increasingly powerful position in the production of commercial entertainment.
In a world dominated by a single corporation, SFX Entertainment, Holmes a Court’s small, independent Back Row Productions has staked its future on developing shows that attract young urban professionals. Rather than traditional plays, most of Holmes a Court’s current productions and future projects are conceived around dance and a percussive beat.
“Peter has figured out how to appeal to younger audience members,” says Alan Schuster, a producer who operates theaters in multiple cities, including Chicago’s Royal George Theatre. “That’s his sensibility.”
Despite operating offices in New York, Sydney and London, Back Row is a relatively young company. (It was founded in 1993.) Much of its income has been derived from several productions of the wildly successful “Tap Dogs,” a 90-minute conceptual dance show in which six macho factory workers from Australia tap up a storm amidst steel girders and blow torches.
With three productions still in progress, although with different casts, “Tap Dogs” (last seen in Chicago, on its way to New York, in January 1997) has been performed in more than 300 cities across the world.
In a savvy piece of producing that was to establish his reputation, Holmes a Court found “Tap Dogs” choreographer Dein Perry, an Australian who had returned to New South Wales to find his creative roots and work on a show that was first named “Hot Shoe Shuffle.”
“I’d watched about six minutes of that when I decided that I had to turn Dein’s work into a theatrical event for the world to see,” Holmes a Court says. “It was a mixture of theatrical presentation and a blue-collar sensibility. It was like nothing I had ever seen before.”
Since Holmes a Court is the son of a wealthy Australian businesswoman, Janet Holmes a Court, and her late husband, Robert, it’s not surprising that the blue-collar world of attitudinal Australian tappers proved unfamiliar. Under the umbrella title of Stoll Moss Theatres, Janet Holmes a Court owns 11 of London’s West End Theatres (which are now up for sale), as well as other commercial holdings through the Heytesbury Group. Robert Holmes a Court was one of Australia’s leading industrialists, famous for aggressive acquisitions.
Although Peter made a quick foray into investment banking, he quickly caught the show-biz bug. He also has refused to be limited by traditional notions of theatrical genre.
It was Back Row that first introduced British comedian Eddie Izzard to American audiences and that served as the co-producer on Jerry Seinfeld’s hit 1998 European tour (breaking box-office records at the London Palladium and elsewhere). Back Row also provided the financial backing for “Spirit,” which received a mixed critical response when it played the Shubert last month. A new disco-theme musical about Donna Summer (entitled “Ordinary Girl”) is in development. And Holmes a Court’s company is also co-producing a widely anticipated revival of “Amadeus,” which is expected on Broadway in December and likely to tour to Chicago.
Back Row is also developing the massive new Premier Theatre in Hollywood, which Holmes a Court dubs “The Radio City of the West.” An agreement has recently been reached that the Academy Awards will be held in the venue beginning in 2001 (and continuing for the next 20 years).
Holmes a Court is staking a great deal on a new dance show called “Gumboots,” a hit at last year’s Edinburgh Festival in Scotland and is scheduled to make its North American debut at the Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal next July. (It is slated for Chicago next September.)
Like “Tap Dogs” and “Spirit,” “Gumboots” represents dance melded with high-concept entertainment.
“It’s a South African dance show that comes from the tradition of gum (rubber) boots dancing,” says Holmes a Court. “The African miners used these boots to develop a common language and a common dance. It’s really all about the beauty of a cappella singing combined with thrilling rhythm and percussion.”
Business reporters first really noticed Holmes a Court’s resources and entrepreneurial spirit when he became a serious contender last year for the assets of Livent when the remnants of the bankrupt entertainment company was placed on the auction block. Even though Holmes a Court mustered a bid of $100 million, he was outbid for the remains of Garth Drabinsky’s empire by SFX.
Despite losing the bidding war, Holmes a Court says that the Livent debacle at least forced him to pay new attention to Chicago, where, he says, “we will definitely end up doing something at some stage.
“Chicago has more theaters and performances spaces of any market of its size than anywhere else in the world,” Holmes a Court says. “I am a great believer in build it and they will come.”
There are those who point to Holmes a Court’s flops such as “Fallen Angel,” a musical about Ivan Boesky that died Off-Broadway in 1994. His personal wealth also creates advantages that other small producers do not enjoy. Still, it’s clear that this maverick Australian enjoys doing battle against SFX for the disposable income of the youth of the English-speaking world.
“We’re a fast-moving boat in an ocean with supertankers,” Holmes a Court says. “We may operate on a different paradigm, but we can still do anything that the big boys do.”
