Movin' Out (musical)

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Movin' Out
Image:Movin' Out 002.jpg
Original Broadway Poster
Music Billy Joel
Lyrics Billy Joel
Productions 2002 Broadway
2004 U.S. Tour
2006 West End

Movin' Out is a jukebox musical featuring the songs of Billy Joel.

Conceived by Twyla Tharp, the musical tells the story of a generation of American youth growing up on Long Island during the 1960s and their experiences with the Vietnam War. The principal characters are drawn from those who appeared in various Joel tunes: high school sweethearts Brenda and Eddie ("Scenes from an Italian Restaurant"), James ("James"), Judy ("Why Judy Why"), and Tony (Anthony in "Movin' Out"). The show is unusual in that, unlike the traditional musical, it essentially is a series of dances linked by a thin plot, and none of the dancers sing. All the vocals are performed by a pianist and band suspended on a platform above the stage while the dancers act out the narrative sans dialogue, making the show, in essence, a rock ballet.

After twenty-eight previews, the Broadway production, directed and choreographed by Tharp, opened on October 24, 2002 at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, where it ran for 1303 performances. The cast included Michael Cavanaugh, Wade Preston, John Selya, Keith Roberts, Elizabeth Parkinson, Ashley Tuttle, Benjamin Bowman, and Scott Wise.

The first National Tour of Movin' Out ran for three years, opening on January 27, 2004 and ending on January 21, 2007 after 1,111 performances. The tour also played to generally excellent reviews and full houses in 82 U.S. cities, and also had lengthy stints in both Canada and Tokyo, Japan. It featured numerous dancers from the original Broadway production, who rotated in and out as schedules allowed. Darren Holden was the primary Piano Man for the entire run of the Tour, joined by Matt Wilson (2004), James Fox (2005) and Matthew Friedman (2006).

The West End production opened on April 10, 2006, at London's Apollo Victoria Theatre where, despite receiving mostly solid reviews, it ran for less than two months. James Fox and Darren Reeves were featured in the cast. Situated across from Victoria Station, away from the city's hub of theatre activity, and with more than 2500 seats, the Apollo Victoria was in a poor location and far-too-large for the production. The show was marketed as a traditional musical rather than the dance production it is, and Joel had not had any major hits in the UK for several years, so he wasn't a major draw for mainstream audiences.

A second National Tour opened in Atlantic City on June 14, 2007.

Contents

[edit] Song list

Act I

Act II
  • "Invention in C Minor" - Eddie and Ensemble
  • "Angry Young Man" - Eddie and Ensemble
  • "Big Shot" - Tony, Brenda and Ensemble
  • "Big Man on Mulberry Street" - Tony, Brenda and Ensemble
  • "Captain Jack" - Eddie and Ensemble
  • "An Innocent Man" - Eddie and Ensemble
  • "Pressure" - Judy, Eddie and Ensemble
  • "Goodnight Saigon" - Eddie, Judy, James, Tony and Ensemble
  • "Air (Dublinesque)" - Brenda
  • "Shameless" - Brenda and Tony
  • "James" - Judy and Eddie
  • "The River of Dreams" / "Keeping the Faith" / "Only the Good Die Young" - Eddie and Ensemble
  • "I've Loved These Days" - Tony, Brenda, Eddie and Ensemble
  • "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" (Reprise) - Full Company[1]

[edit] Awards and nominations

[edit] 2003 Tony Award nomination

[edit] 2003 Theatre World Award

  • John Selya (WINNER)

[edit] 2003 Drama Desk Award nominations

  • Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Musical - Produced by James L. Nederlander, Hal Luftig, Scott E. Nederlander, Terry Allen Kramer, Clear Channel Entertainment, Emanuel Azenberg
  • Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical - John Selya
  • Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical - Elizabeth Parkinson
  • Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Choreography - Twyla Tharp (WINNER)
  • Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical - Twyla Tharp
  • Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lighting Design - Lighting Design by Donald Holder

[edit] 2003 Astaire Awards

  • Astaire Award for Best Choreographer - Twyla Tharp (WINNER)
  • Astaire Award for Best Male Dancer - John Selya (WINNER)
  • Astaire Award for Best Female Dancer - Elizabeth Parkinson (WINNER)

[edit] References

  1. ^ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named ibdb

[edit] External links

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