Melinda Sullivan's Tap TV Mashup

May 11, 2015

If you count yourself among the “Mad Men”-obsessed, this is probably an emotional week for you. On the one hand, you’re stoked for Sunday’s series finale, and you’ve already started planning your 1960s-inspired menu for the big event. (Ambrosia salad and shrimp cocktail, anyone?) But parting is such sweet sorrow, and you might not be ready to say “goodbye.”

“Game of Thrones” fans need not feel such nostalgia; as long as George R.R. Martin keeps writing those books (which, albeit, is not a certitude…), there will be plenty more Sunday night suspense for them. (Disclaimer: Said fans should definitely be 17+!) But considering the fact that almost all the good characters have bit the dust, it’s not all smiles and giggles for “Thrones” fans either.

So how do you console the melancholy TV viewers of America? Give ’em what they love: music, tap dance and PUPPIES! Syncopated Lady (and 2012 Capezio A.C.E. Award-winner) Melinda Sullivan teamed up with jazz chamber ensemble Rozalia, fellow percussionist Aaron Serfaty and her dog Wobbles to create a “Mad Men”/ “Game of Thrones” mashup, “Mad Game.”

I can’t.

Notice how I said, “fellow percussionist”? That’s because this video really emphasizes the role of tapper-as-musician. Sullivan dons a head set, just like the rest of the performers, and the video doesn’t only focus on her or her feet. It also focuses on Serfaty’s hands, on pianist Nikos Syropoulos’ fingers and on the bows of the cellists and violinist. That means that it’s often just the crystal clear sounds of Sullivan’s taps, accenting the appropriately epic combo of iconic theme songs, that let us know she’s still there, tappin’ away. Check it out!