Benjamin Dutton is the lead dancer, comedian, singer, and versatile musician. His wife Brande dances with him on stage and helps with technical support, marketing, and the delicious Dutton fudge. Backstage Brande keeps every thing running smoothly and moves sets around like Wonder Woman. Together Benjamin and Brande are also in charge of sales and marketing for the Arizona theater. Together they have four boys. Benjamin says his mother started him on clogging rather than putting him on energy and hoped that someday he would have a son like him. As Benjamin puts it, “I have four and they’re all taking dancing!”
Benjamin Jr. is 11 years old and loves gymnastics. He is a responsible babysitter, enjoys his many friends and has taken a shining to magic and science. 10-year-old Isaac is a very sweet natured boy who has great faith and gratitude – an outcome of his miraculous healing from brain surgery and cure from epilepsy. Christian is 8 years old and very athletic, swimming like a fish. He enjoys reading with Grandma and is always a willing helper. Luke is the youngest at age six and is known as “the boss”. He always has something to say in a cute and dramatic fashion. A natural comedian like his father, Luke is very willing to boss around every member of the family.
A fantastic dancer known as “Mr. Rubber Legs” and “Energy Man”, some people liken him to the early dancing and pratfall style of Dick van Dyke. Benjamin also plays cello, mandolin, violin, guitar, drums, and bass. Able to turn a commercial message into a comedic routine, Benjamin has created his alter ego and identical twin cousin Julio, who has his own Facebook following. Benjamin writes Julio’s lines, perfected his horn suit, and even designed Julio’s “stretchy-pants”.
Family activities include swimming together, vacation travel, watching the boys’ sports teams play, and eating sushi. Benjamin’s energy always seemed to get him in trouble from a young age. Once he was trying to impress a group of girls with the high splits in the air, when the inseam of his new pants split from knee to knee. Another time he was late getting on stage due to a bathroom break. Mom told him to get out of the bathroom and on to the stage immediately or he would have to tear down the stage set alone. He ran on to stage and began clogging as a long piece of toilet paper worked itself out of his pant leg and floated around the stage. Other incidents include Julio’s wig falling off his head, a shoe flipping off his foot into the audience, and a twirling violin that flew out of his hands into the crowd. A book could be written about Benjamin’s misadventures.
