If you can't leave Tucson to get to Broadway, bring Broadway to Tucson.
And if you live in SaddleBrooke and can't get to Tucson, bring Broadway from Tucson to SaddleBrooke.
That's the idea behind Tucson Dance Academy's performances of "Spirit of Christmas" at SaddleBrooke's DesertView Performing Arts Center.
More than 100 dancers from the academy will perform more than 20 Broadway-style dance numbers including "Grinch," "Parade of the Wooden Soldiers" and "Where Are You Christmas?"
Tammy Booth, who performed as a Radio City Music Hall Rockette in the mid-1980s, owns the academy and is directing the show along with her husband, Tom.
It's a modified version of the one the academy performed at the University of Arizona's Centennial Hall earlier this month.
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The Booths had to scale down some numbers to accommodate the 478-seat venue's small-ish stage.
"We are extremely excited," said Darbie Baker, performing arts assistant at the venue. "We have a lot of singing and a lot of musical Christmas shows, but this is just something we've really tried to find. We were really excited when they called and said they wanted to come out here."
Baker said the community has responded with enthusiasm, snapping up most of the tickets weeks before showtime.
"When we announced we were having 'Spirit of Christmas,' people would stop us in the halls and say they used to go to the TCC every year to see it," Baker said. "This shows what we're doing. This is the caliber of entertainment we want to bring to our theater. We're drawing people from around the northwest side to come here now, versus going downtown."
Tom Booth said he and his wife had to start from scratch, recalibrating performances to suit the venue, but the excitement of the challenge makes it worth the effort.
"It's a beautiful stage and a beautiful theater," he said. "We're going to have to adapt some of the numbers. Most props will fit. Like any performer, you just adapt. We're particularly good at that."
The SaddleBrooke performance makes sense because many of the academy's supporters live there, or nearby, Booth said.
"It occurred to me in the summer," he said. "I thought, 'Why not bring the show to them instead of asking them to come to Tucson?' "
Booth contacted DesertView events manager Patricia Beeks, who was open to the idea.
Baker said the Tucson Dance Academy performance fits in line with the high-quality entertainment she and Beeks seek. The well-known country/gospel group The Oak Ridge Boys will perform there next year.
"It's really picking up," Baker said.
"We are very proud of our theater and very proud of the entertainment. People are calling us now to book," instead of the other way around, she added.
IF YOU GO
• What: "Spirit of Christmas," presented by Tucson Dance Academy.
• When: 4 and 7:30 p.m. Dec. 20.
• Where: DesertView Performing Arts Center, 39900 S. Clubhouse Drive.
• General admission: $28 at the door; $24 in advance, with discounts available. The show may already be sold out.
