Taps and stamps form a drumroll as the curtain rises. Dozens of glittering shoes sparkle as they fly together in unison. A chorus of sequined suits accentuates the grandeur of a chorus line engaged in musical magic. If you have ever dreamed of stepping into that show stopping row of high kicks, but you never learned to step ball change, help is on the way. Dancer and choreographer Felecia Black is headed to Springfield Little Theatre to train ANYTHING GOES hopefuls how to shuffle and flap.
As soon as Chyrel Miller agreed to direct the Broadway classic ANYTHING GOES, she knew just who to call to help shape the classic tap routines. Her former student, Felecia Black, grew up in Kansas City before earning her BFA at Missouri State University. After a professional dance career in NYC, she settled with her family in Colorado. Miller coaxed Black back to the Ozarks for the production and they agreed to offer tap workshops in advance of auditions this March.
“One thing I’ve always been pretty good at is helping people to get there,” Black explained. “I think that’s one of the reasons why Chyrel wanted to bring me in, because she knows that’s a skill that I have is to get people in their shoes and making sounds.”
If setting sail on the S.S. American is on your 2026 vision board, then the first step should be brushing up your tap skills. Workshops are open to new and experienced dancers. Tap dance has a wide range of styles and Black is experienced in all of them. She has trained with some of the biggest names in the business. For anyone who feels anxious about the exact steps required for ANYTHING GOES, Black promises there will be an opportunity to learn the audition combination in advance.
“That way, people can kind of get comfortable and be able to practice before they come,” she explained. “Tap is a very specific skill set that not a lot of people have. And there are different styles of tap too. I know teachers down [in Missouri] that teach more of clogging or rhythm tap like Savion Glover, but I’m old school Broadway. I have done those other styles, and I even studied with Savion in New York. I even studied under Gregory Hines for a little while when I was young. It’s a skill set that I have, but I enjoy the Broadway tap more.”
Black and Miller previously worked together on an SLT production of THE BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS. Black remembers that she took the cast back to the very basics to get them show ready.
“I had all these young girls who had never worn heels before,” she remembered. “We spent one whole evening walking up and down stairs. That was the whole rehearsal. I wanted to teach them to walk gracefully up and down stairs. I’m hoping to get some people in [ANYTHING GOES] that have tapped before and if they haven’t, that’s fine too. We can make it work. I’m excited about it.”
There’s nothing that captures the spectacle of American theater quite like a big tap number. The precision, the percussion, and the pizazz of a cast moving as one is a timeless crowd pleaser. “I want it to be the old school Broadway. If it’s not blonde wigs and big smiles and tap shoes, I don’t usually get hired for it,” Black joked.
ANYTHING GOES director Chyrel Miller first spotted Black’s talent during her dance classes at MSU. Black was among the first students to launch the university’s musical theater program, which has since produced a litany of successful performers who have gone on to national tours, Hollywood films, and Broadway.
“I was the first Musical Theatre degree recipient. They didn’t really have a program [then],” Black reflected. “I was actually a music major studying opera at the university when I first came. Then Chyrel got ahold of me and she was like, ‘No, no no. You don’t belong here. You belong with me.’ They were kind of writing the program when I was there. I was one of the first kids, which meant I had to triple major at the time in theater, music, and dance.”
On top of her busy studies, Black added teaching at Springfield Ballet, which then met in the Landers Theatre, to her schedule. There, she became familiar with Springfield Little Theatre opportunities and began performing at SLT in addition to MSU and Tent Theatre.
“If there was a musical during the 90s, I was probably in it,” Black reflected. “I did teach some classes at Springfield Little Theatre. If they had a tap show coming up, I would teach tap to get ready for the show.”
Black starred in THE GOODBYE GIRL and listed SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN, CABARET, and the First Night Springfield productions among the many shows she appeared in. She credits former SLT Executive Director Mick Denniston with supporting her early career and helping her grow as an artist.
“Mick will always be a part of my heart. He was so generous with his time and energy with me. He and his whole family took me in when I lived there. He was an amazing man,” Black remembered. “He always, always just believed in me. He was such a big influence in my life.”
At SLT, Black was able to explore the multi-facets of crafting, producing, and performing in a show. Not only was she trained in performance, but she gained behind the scenes skills necessary for marketing a show. She remembers feeling encouraged to take big risks and learn from hands-on experience with the support of her teachers and advisors.
“Mick and Chyrel both really gave me a lot of opportunities that I wouldn’t normally have,” Black shared. “That’s the special thing about the Landers, or SLT, they make space for you. They make a creative space for you.”
To complete her degree at MSU, Black was required to present a capstone project called ‘juries’. She and classmate Craig Zuckerman felt that none of the established opportunities faithfully represented all that they had mastered as artists. She approached SLT and Mick Denniston with a vision for her presentation and received a green light to create something new.
“I was trying to be a choreographer. That’s where my passions were,” Black explained. “I [told Mick], ‘I want to choreograph something. I want to do my own show.’ He said, ‘Well, you need to get a grant, and then you can do it here.’ He let me do my juries at the Landers, which was wonderful. [Mick] and Chyrel helped me write a grant and get the money. Craig and I produced a whole show.”
The duo presented DANCE A TO Z to sold out audiences at the Landers Theatre. Beyond choreography and dance technique, Black felt that her experience at SLT prepared her for the professional world.
“The other great things about SLT that was wonderful for me was I learned how to do all the things, not just the artistic part of it,” Black said. “I was given the freedom to learn how to write a press release. I was given the freedom to learn how to find the money for what I needed to do. They helped me find that and learn how to do that. That was invaluable for me as an adult coming out of there. They just really taught me a lot about the business of the art and how important it is.”
Throughout her career, Black has been a visionary, crafting and pioneering new projects. After graduating, she formed her own dance company under the umbrella of her mother’s studio in Kansas City. She later worked professionally as a dancer and choreographer in New York.
“I did a lot of preview kind of shows where they were presenting shows to producers for Broadway,” Black detailed. “I even did one POCAHONTAS themed show. We would pitch shows to producers. I did a lot of choreography workshops for choreographers in New York at Broadway Dance Center and Steps. I worked as a working dancer in New York for several years.”
Black’s family moved frequently for her husband’s career in the military, and she later took a break from performing to support her son, Owen, who became a successful ballet dancer. As a young boy, she encouraged him to try other activities like soccer, but he naturally gravitated to the arts for athletics. When his passion persisted, Black helped support his career which ultimately led to the Houston Ballet and a busy traveling career. He has since transitioned to college where he studies electrical engineering and physics.
After decades of traveling and living around the country and even abroad, Black still holds a great reverence for SLT. Her husband even teases her that through all her professional theater experiences, she’s never found a place quite like the Landers.
“I’m really excited about it. I’m really excited to be back home, so to speak. The Landers feels like a home to me even though I was only there a few years,” she gushed. “Every time I go to Springfield, I have to stop by there because it just feels like home. It’s the place where I cut my chops and they gave me the opportunity to do that. I miss it every time I do a show.”
Sign up today for an ANYTHING GOES tap workshop to prepare your audition.
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- Felecia Black and friends at a Springfield Ballet Summer intensive.
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- Felecia Black poses with past Springfield Little Theatre Executive Director, Mick Denniston, and Director/ Choreographer, Chyrel Miller.
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- Craig Zuckerman and Felecia Black appearing in Springfield Little Theatre’s 1994 production of SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN.
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- Springfield Little Theatre’s 1994 production of SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN at The Landers Theatre.
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- Felecia Black, Summer Rankin, and Derrick Jarvis in a press photo for Springfield Little Theatre’s 1996 production of THE GOODBYE GIRL.
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- Springfield Little Theatre’s 1997 production of CABARET at The Landers Theatre.
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- Felecia Black (left) in Springfield Little Theatre’s 1997 production of CABARET with Director & Choreographer, Chyrel Miller.
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- Felecia Black in a production of THE PRODUCERS.
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- Felecia Black backstage during a production of CRAZY FOR YOU.
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- Felecia Black’s son, Owen Black.
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- Chyrel Miller and Felecia Black visiting New York City Ballet in New York City.
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- Felecia Black leads a tap workshop at Springfield Little Theatre in preperation for ANYTHING GOES auditions.
