Musings of a Virgin

Just came home from watching Movin' Out. What RENT did to mordernize musicals, Movin' Out does for dance shows. Its simply amazing! And you can tell the difference right off the bat! Its been quite a while since I've seen the theater so packed! And this is on a Tuesday evening, I also noticed many of the younger hipper crowd attending. If you didn't know, this musical showcases 24 of Billy Joel's hits and using the songs and dance, tracks the lives of 5 friends over 2 decades.

The plot using music is flimsy, but the dancing is amazing! And this is from someone who is not very big on dance. The music is good, after all Billy Joel has had a few winners. But like I said the dance is what really pulls you in especially in Act 2. And its short, slightly less than 2 hours which is good because they don't drag things out.

As you can see from the programs above, the principal dancers have to be alternated because the dance is so taxing. That should give you an idea of how energetic the show is. Many if not all of them are from ballet backgrounds but this has no semblance to swan lake and I love watching the dancers in modern clothes.

As you can see, the entire cast is YOUNG and PRETTY! The main star of the whole show is the character of Eddie. He's got the young tourtured rebel theme going for him. Brendan King was my Eddie, and don't let his terrible picture fool you, he might not stand out much when he first appears on stage but by Act 2 and definately the end, you'll be 1/2 in love with him. (I was ). The whole cast was good looking, I'm sure this is by design, but then again don't all dancers have to be fit?

What would have made the show even better was if it had a stronger singer. James Fox (the main singer on this tour) is pretty good but he's no Michael Cavanaugh the original piano man in Movin' Out. Check out the broadway CD and you'll see what I mean.

If you even have a passing interest in musicals or dance or Billy Joel you owe it to yourself to see this show. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed it or when I last enjoyed a musical so much. Heck I'm even thinking about getting another ticket and watching it again. Sigh... gotta go check ye ole bank account.


Heh heh heh, final 2 pics are for fun. I never noticed how much like gymnists dancers are. I would say that 1/2 the things the dancers did rivaled what a gymnist could do on floor exercises. Loved it!

Brendan King is sooo fabulous and he's quite muscular for a dancer. Almost all the ovations were reserved for him. I'll admit that his role of Eddie does have the best routines, but then again, you gotta have talent to do what he did. If anyone finds pics of him SHARE!!! SHARE!!

Holly Cruikshank is drop dead gorgeous. Even I have to admit that. She's tall, you can see the ab muscles on that gal and her face! I tell you, when she appeared in the bikini costume, I heard several men nearby going DAMN!!! And these guys had dates wtih them

John Carroll is HOT HOT HOT. He appears in the very first scene and my binoculars were glued to him. His body is perfect! Tight, muscular, amazing!!! The fact that he wore the tightest shirts and jeans is definately not a coincidence. So it speaks even more for Brendan King that my attention was slowly pulled away from Mr. Hot Bod.

Corbin Popp - was not at my show. But I noticed something very strange about his bio. He graduated with a BS in biochemistry and a minor in physics!!!! Everyone else has a bio about what shows they appeared in and graduating from Juilliard, this guy's bio reads like a grad student. He was even a Fulbright scholar!!! Talk about wasting his education. Anyway I thought that was super strange.

Links:
Official Movin' Out Site

Posted by emyln on Tuesday, August 09, 2005 at 8:41 PM | Permalink