It was written by Charles Blackwell with music by Henry Krieger and lyrics by Robert Lorick.
Later that day, Emma returns home from school, angry at her parents and the world for underestimating and mistreating her ("Four Strikes Against Me").
The kids urge him to tell stories about the old days when Ginnie, Dipsey and their late father Daddy Bates performed as a vaudeville trio ("Class Act").
The performance has been designed to showcase Dipsey's dancing and choreographic talents with which he hopes to impress the producers of an out-of-town Broadway tryout ("Fabulous Feet").
Excited by his nephew's potential, Dipsey rushes the boy home to tell his parents the good news.
William interrupts, furious because Willie ran away and risked his life by going alone to New York City.
Sensing his authority slipping away due to Ginnie and Emma's protests, William lashes out and forbids Willie from tap dancing and seeing Dipsey.
Willie, heartbroken, runs out onto the terrace, and Dipsey follows him and comforts him, telling him he'll have to dance inside of himself ("Man in the Moon").
Echoing Emma's earlier sentiments, Dipsey accuses Ginnie of caring only about keeping her husband happy.
Without celebration, Ginnie takes him and Emma to Dipsey and Carole's house to wait for William and prepare for his reaction to the news.
Her speech, coupling the courtroom savvy of a seasoned professional with the vulnerability of a hurt child, is a powerful indictment against William for alienation of affection and loss of aid to dependent children.
Willie arrives and tells William that he is not taking the part in the show but still longs to be a dancer.
Directed by Vivian Matalon with musical staging and dances by Danny Daniels, it featured Hinton Battle, Samuel E. Wright, Hattie Winston, Martine Allard, and Alfonso Ribeiro as Willie.
Frank Rich, in his review for The New York Times praised the choreography and many actors' performances but saw the plot as "earnest [but] plodding" and the music forgettable.
[2] A production directed by Jerry Zaks with choreography by Danny Daniels ran at the Pantages Theatre, Los Angeles, California, in September 1985 as part of a tour.