The encore production of Movin’ Out,
which is playing Raleigh Memorial Auditorium Jan. 2-7 as part of
Broadway Series South’s
fabulous 2006-07 season, features a terrific troupe of dancers who
quickly kick this Tony Award®-winning rock-and-roll dance extravaganza
into overdrive. Based on the songs of Billy Joel and directed and choreographed
by 2003 Tony and Drama Desk award winner and 2004 National Medal of
the Arts recipient Twyla Tharp, Movin’ Out is a hard-rocking
musical spectacular that requires two sets of performers for three
of its five principal roles, as well as two pianist/lead vocalists
to bring a New York state of mind to the show’s strenuous score.
Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, Movin’ Out stars
Brendan King as Eddie, Holly Cruikshank as Brenda, and David Gomez
as Tony—plus Matthew Dibble as James and Laura Feig as Judy.
Darren Holden will be the show’s piano man and lead vocalist
at those shows, and Joshua Bergasse will play Long Island police Sergeant
O’Leary and a U.S. Army Drill Sergeant at all performances.
Wednesday and Friday night, Saturday afternoon, and Sunday night,
the show stars Ron Todorowski as Eddie, Dylis Croman as Brenda, and
Keith Roberts as Tony, with Dibble, Feig, and Bergasse repeating their
roles and James Fox stepping in as pianist and lead vocalist.
On opening night this past Tuesday, Brendan King was a veritable human
dynamo—a primo gymnast as well as a dancer nonpareil—as
Eddie; tall, lovely, and impossibly leggy Holly Cruikshank was a regular
ball of fire—with or without that sexy red dress—as Brenda;
and David Gomez tripped the light fantastic—as well as demonstrated
his dramatic chops—as Tony, whose government-paid tour of Southeast
Asia left him with a bad case of post-traumatic stress syndrome. Matthew
Dibble and especially Laura Feig tugged at the audience’s heartstrings
with their stirring performances as star-crossed Hicksville, Long Island
high-school lovers James and Judy, whose epic romance was yet another
casualty of the Vietnam War; and Joshua Bergasse provided a couple
of crisp comic characterizations as the affable Sergeant O’Leary
and a no-nonsense Drill Sergeant, whipping new recruits into shape.
From its vivacious opening number—Billy Joel’s mega-hit “It’s
Still Rock and Roll to Me” to its surprise encore rendition of “New
York State of Mind,” Tuesday’s high-octane performance Movin’ Out was
one highlight after another, with Brendan King stealing the show with
his incendiary dancing and acrobat moves in “Angry Young Man,” “Captain
Jack,” “Innocent Man,” and “Only the Good Die
Young”; Holly Cruikshank sparkling like the Hope Diamond in “Uptown
Girl” and “Air (Dublinseque),” among other numbers;
David Gomez delighting the first-nighters during his dance duets with
Cruikshank on “She’s Got a Way,” “Big Shot,” “Big
Man on Mulberry Street,” and “Shameless”; and Laura
Feig haunting stage (after the loss of James) in several poignant,
beautifully danced segments.
Piano pyrotechnics and searing vocals by Darren Holden and exuberant
accompaniment and stinging solos by The Movin’ Out Band, which
includes Denny Blake (guitar), Greg Smith (bass), Michael Sorrentino
(drums), John Isley (saxophone/percussion), band director Bryan Steele
(saxophone), Jason Aspinwall (trumpet), Mark Miller (trombone), and
Matthew Friedman (synthesizer), really kept Memorial Auditorium rocking
Tuesday night; and award-winning director and choreographer Twyla Tharp’s
magnificent mixture of ballet, jazz, and interpretive dance moves also
helped earn Movin’ Out a hearty standing ovation—and
helped make this high-energy show even better the second time around.
Broadway Series South presents Movin’ Out (Billy
Joel musical arr. by former GSO Music Director Stuart Malina) Tuesday-Friday,
Jan. 2-5, at 8 p.m.; Saturday, Jan. 6, at 2 and 8 p.m.; and Sunday,
Jan. 7, at 2 and 7 p.m. in Raleigh Memorial Auditorium in the Progress
Energy Center for the Performing Arts, 1 E. South St., Raleigh, North
Carolina. $30-$85. Progress Energy Box Office: 919/831-6060. Group
Rates (for groups of 10 or more): 919/857-4565 or group@raleighconvention.com.
Broadway Series South: http://www.broadwayseriessouth.com/.
Internet Broadway Database: http://www.ibdb.com/Show.asp?id=11031.
Tour Site:
http://movingout.uvision.net/tour/ [inactive 2/07].
Billy Joel (Columbia Records): http://www.billyjoel.com/.
Twyla Tharp: http://www.twylatharp.org/ [inactive 2/07].
Holly Cruikshank: http://www.hollycruikshank.com/ [inactive 5/07].
Darren Holden: http://www.darrenholden.com.
James Fox: http://james-fox.moonfruit.com/.
