Billy Joel and Twyla Tharp's 'Movin' Out'

kurinuku · **Posted:** Sat Sep 04, 2004 1:58 am

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A moving experience

by KATHLEEN ALLEN
The Arizona Daily Star
September 2, 2004

Twyla Tharp had a few questions for Billy Joel. Whatever happened to Brenda and Eddie in his song "Scenes From an Italian Restaurant," she wanted to know. And Anthony from the grocery store in "Movin' Out" - what was his fate?

They were questions she had as she pondered creating "Movin' Out," ...

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Stuart Sweeney · **Posted:** Fri Sep 10, 2004 10:11 pm

Rock 'n' roll ballet has audience cheering
By CHUCK GRAHAM for The Tucson Citizen

One thing for sure. The world's first rock 'n' roll ballet, "Movin' Out," works a lot better than the first rock 'n' roll opera (that was "Tommy," by The Who). "Movin' Out" is condensed energy portraying a sweep of boomer youth across 20 years of American pop culture, from 1965 to 1985.
Even people who claim to hate Billy Joel's music can easily get caught up in the dramatic choreography of Twyla Tharp, in the rock concert-style lighting she uses and the dancers' skimpy costumes.

From a purely aesthetic standpoint, Tharp's convoluted, ever-twisting style of movement projects emotion much greater than the sum of its parts. At times using a split-stage technique that compares stateside life with the war in Vietnam, the abstract nature of dance becomes the greatest strength of "Movin' Out."

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kurinuku · **Posted:** Tue Sep 21, 2004 7:35 am

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Twyla Tharp challenges dancers and audiences alike with 'Movin' Out'

by EVAN HENERSON
The U Stage

Tharp — who has been rumored to be pondering a dance musical set to the songs of Bob Dylan — doesn't simply pingpong the question back to you; she smashes it.

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kurinuku · **Posted:** Fri Nov 19, 2004 1:10 am

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Movin' Out's Twyla Tharp Among Eight Awarded 2004 National Medal of Arts

By ERNIO HERNANDEZ
the Playbill via yahoo

Twyla Tharp, the Tony Award-winning creator of the war story dance musical Movin' Out, was among the eight recipients of the 2004 National Medal of Arts, presented Nov. 17 at the White House.

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kurinuku · **Posted:** Sat Jan 08, 2005 3:29 am

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A New York state of dance

by DONNA HARTMAN
the Bradenton Herald

"I think some people come expecting a Billy Joel concert," she said. "At first, they don't know what to expect, but, by the third number, there's this breakthrough moment. The music is loud and gorgeous and the dancing is gorgeous and passionate. It's not a quiet, pointe shoe, tutu ballet."

"Movin' Out" and "Mamma Mia!" (a musical set to songs by Abba) started a trend of rock 'n roll musicals that Holden finds encouraging. He cited the musicals, "Tonight's the Night," based on the music of Rod Stewart, playing in London's West End, and "Good Vibrations," based on music by the Beach Boys, which recently opened on Broadway.

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Azlan · **Posted:** Sat Jan 08, 2005 11:25 am

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A New York state of dance

Billy Joel and Twyla Tharp join together for 'Movin' Out,' a music/ dance collaboration of unspoken passion

DONNA HARTMAN
Bradenton Herald

The lights went on on Broadway for Billy Joel and Twyla Tharp two years ago.<a href=http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/entertainment/10585634.htm target=_blank>more</a>

kurinuku · **Posted:** Fri Feb 11, 2005 3:49 am

Quote:

When show gets movin', it rocks out

by TONY BROWN
the Cleveland Plain Dealer

It was completely reworked during the Chicago tryout before the fall 2002 Broadway opening, but Act 1 still tells a worn-out story - young Americans (in this case, from Joel's native Long Island) whose lives are changed by Vietnam.

Tharp expresses this extended exposition through overly simple half-mime, on-the-beat choreography that only rarely rises above the pedestrian.

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kurinuku · **Posted:** Tue Mar 15, 2005 4:40 am

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Scenes of ‘Piano Man’ musical

by AMY STUMPFL
the Nashville City Paper

Both Holden and Wilson are quick to share stories about Joel’s down-to-earth nature and sense of humor.

“Billy ribs me about my accent,” Holden said. “The first time I met him, he came to the show and told me I was doing a great job but that I needed to watch the accent a little. The next morning I received a package from him with the first season of The Sopranos on DVD and a note telling me to listen to Tony Soprano — now that’s an accent!”

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LMCtech · **Posted:** Wed Jun 15, 2005 3:08 pm

From the SJ Mercury News.

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Bring in the dance, bring in the song

GENRE-BENDING SHOWS MIX THEATER, MUSIC AND SOME FANCY FOOTWORK

By Karen D'Souza

Mercury News

She's got a way about her. I don't know what it is, but Twyla Tharp certainly earned a place in musical theater lore with ``Movin' Out.'' Not only did the avant-garde dance icon forge a Broadway smash out of Billy Joel's hit songs but she did it even after an infamously bad out-of-town tryout in Chicago.

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LMCtech · **Posted:** Thu Jun 16, 2005 12:23 pm

A review from the SJ Mercury News.

Quote:

Billy Joel revue succeeds with brawn, not brains

By Karen D'Souza

Mercury News

``Movin' Out'' -- trucked into the Center for the Performing Arts bythe American Musical Theatre of San Jose -- does suck the audience in with sheer audio nostalgia. Tharp uses the hum recognition of such songs as ``She's Got a Way'' and ``We Didn't Start the Fire'' to chart the story of high school chums who lose their innocence in the age of Vietnam.

And the choreographer speaks volumes in body language. We get to know Brenda (the statuesque Holly Cruikshank) and Eddie (the gymnastic Brendan King), the prom king and queen, through back flips and swinging hips, not dialogue. Their movements pop with the pent-up hormonal rush of adolescence, the joy of bodies in motion, the ecstasy of sinews unleashed.

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kurinuku · **Posted:** Mon Oct 24, 2005 10:45 am

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Frenetic dance moves 'Out'
By TOM STRINI for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The 11 dancers, fireballs all, threw themselves into choreography bristling with violent twists, torso contractions and jerking limbs. The partnering is often rugged, sometimes brutal, and always charged with sexual contact. This cast gives Tharp the fearless physicality choreographers dream of.

published: October 12, 2005

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Cassandra · **Posted:** Thu Dec 08, 2005 9:13 am

Movin' Out is about to cross the Atlantic it seems. A full-page advertisement in tonight's Evening Standard announces a 17-week London season for this musical from 28th March 2006 at the Apollo Victoria Theatre.

Stuart Sweeney · **Posted:** Sun Dec 11, 2005 7:12 am

As we are likely to get an avalanche of reviews from London, I have decided to start a new topic for the UK run:

http://www.ballet-dance.com/forum/viewt ... 296#171296

Stuart Sweeney · **Posted:** Sun Dec 11, 2005 7:13 am

As we are likely to get an avalanche of reviews from London, I have decided to start a new topic for the UK run:

http://www.ballet-dance.com/forum/viewt ... 296#171296

ncgnet · **Joined:** Sun Oct 27, 2002 12:01 am **Posts:** 1845

From Joan Anderman in the Boston Globe:

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Tharp puts Joel tunes to good use
Chances are most of the people who flocked to the Opera House for the opening night of “Movin’ Out” thought that they were going to see that Billy Joel musical. How wrong they were. “Movin’ Out” is the Twyla Tharp show -- an improbably marvelous showcase for her choreography and a testament to her powers of invention.

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