Walk up to Carpenter Hall on the University of Oklahoma campus almost any day of the week right now and you’ll be able to hear it: Christmas music. Loud and happy. “What do I care if icicles form? I’ve got my love to keep me warm.” As you pass below the second story windows to enter the building you’ll see them: bodies leaping, gliding, and spinning by the windows spanning the room. Enter and ascend the stairs to the sound of thudding of feet, laughter, and lots of, “FABULOUS!” coming from the room. Inside the rehearsal room reside Lyn Cramer and the Mistletoes rehearsing to exhaustion for the Oklahoma City Philharmonic’s upcoming Broadway-style Christmas production, A Very Merry Pops, December 3-5. And there we also find tap dancer Alicia Clark.

Watching Clark rehearse is a joyful experience. Clark, a multi-talented sophomore musical theatre major at OU, has been taking tap lessons since she was four. She smiles, she kicks, she spins, and she taps. How does she make all those taps come from the four plates on the bottom of her shoes? The cascade of sound and rhythm that comes from her flying feet is simply astonishing. She makes it look effortless enough for any random Joe or Jane to climb in off the street and show Gene Kelley what he was doing wrong. “It takes so many parts to create an effortless tap number,” informs Clark. “You not only have to keep your feet moving with sounds but you have to add the arms and the facial expression. For me, it’s a mixture between ballet and jazz with your feet making sounds.”

Clark, a Broken Arrow native, is the new headlining tap dancer for A Very Merry Pops and as talented as she is, she has some serious tap shoes to fill. Con O’Shea-Creal, her predecessor, led for three years and was quite a popular feature in the show. Clark is also reviving O’Shea’s role after it was put on hiatus for one year. Although excited and optimistic, Alicia feels the pressure. “I watched Con do his number from the Very Merry Pops show in 2005 and was amazed by his ease and taps,” she states. “But I just have to remind myself that we are completely different performers and dancers.” And they are.

Director Lyn Cramer chose Clark for the role almost a year in advance. Clark performed a tap solo to “Shakin’ the Blue Away” for her OU audition and it gave Cramer the idea, “She danced to ‘Shakin’ The Blues Away’ which is the Ann Miller number from Easter Parade we had already used with Con. She demonstrated her talent over and over again.” Clark is quite happy with her director as well. “I love working with Lyn because she’s constantly pushing me and challenging me. The process in rehearsal is just great, having all the talented artists together and seeing the final product. It’s so rewarding.”

Tap isn’t Clark’s only love, though. She was recently seen in Lyric’s production of The Who’s Tommy and she’ll be singing with the Philharmonic Pops Chorale offstage during A Very Merry Pops. When asked about the role of her tapping in the production, “I hope that people will be able to appreciate tap and realize that it’s never gone but will live on as long as those who love to tap keep performing and those who love to watch keep coming.” And it’s performers like Clark who will keep those audiences coming back for more.