To represent the District on the tour, Allen chose Nathan and 13-year-old Kirov student Kaeli Ware. From each talent pool, she picked two to five dancers to star as “Brothers” and “Sisters,” as well as additional dancers to perform as ensemble members in their hometowns. In advance of the five-city revival tour for “Brothers of the Knight,” Allen held auditions in Boston, Charlotte, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Washington. Among them are frequent Savion Glover collaborator Cartier Williams and Chloe and Maud Arnold, the sisters who founded D.C. stars of the original cast have gone on to work professionally in dance. If the “Brothers of the Knight” story sounds a bit fantastical and a bit familiar, it’s based on a Brothers Grimm fairy tale called “The Twelve Dancing Princesses.” There’s an animated adaptation starring Barbie. At night, the brothers sneak off to go dancing - swing dancing, break dancing, tap dancing - and return the next morning with a pile of worn out shoes. Knight, a minister and strict single dad. “Billy,” Nathan’s character, is one of 12 sons of the Rev. When the Kennedy Center commissioned “Brothers of the Knight” from Allen in 1998, her goal was to create a multiethnic musical about kids who love to dance, even when their parents aren’t so keen on the art form. Allen is best known for playing a dance instructor on the 1980s cult-favorite television show “Fame.” In the decades since, she’s become a leader in dance and musical theater education. “I thought, ‘There is no room for me.’ ”ĭebbie Allen thought otherwise. “There were like five-bizzilian people there,” he recalled.

At the Kirov Academy in Northeast Washington, he was overwhelmed by the number kids attending the audition. Use that Nathan charm, and you’re gonna get it.’ ” “Nathan has become so unbelievably good,” Orsborn said of his 17-year-old student from Woodbridge.īefore the audition, Orsborn gave Nathan a pep talk. But then the good news took a turn for the surreal: Nathan was cast as “Billy,” the same role Orsborn played in the original 1998 Kennedy Center production of “Brothers of the Knight.” Now, 16 years later, Orsborn is heading to the Warner Theatre this weekend to see his student revive the role that helped launch his own career. The message was in all caps, which was unusual for Nathan, and it read: “DUDE! I MADE IT! THIS IS CRAZY!” Tap-dance instructor Mark Orsborn received a memorable text message when his student Nathan Beech was cast in the national tour of the musical “Brothers of the Knight.”

Brothers of the knight by debbie allen