Dazzling dancing can't lift show enough

Dazzling dancing can't lift show enough
Buffalo News - NY, United States
... It's all a riot in the first act, which begins with "Scenes From an Italian Restaurant" and continues through a variety of Billy Joel hits, from a tantalizing ...

 Choreographer Twyla Tharp didn't get to be where she is by being nice to young dancers. Watching the members of the "Movin' Out" troupe going through their paces, your heart goes out to them.

Tharp, as a dance teacher friend of mine points out, deals a lot in different levels. You're up, then you're down. Pick the ballerina up, lift her high, throw her on the floor, lift her up again, turn her around and around, upside down, right side up. Jump down, turn around. It's incredibly challenging, and it never lets up. By the end of the night, these poor dancers have to be feeling beat up.

As a physical spectacle, "Movin' Out" is fantastic, like watching the Olympics.

As a show, it's somewhat less.

It's all a riot in the first act, which begins with "Scenes From an Italian Restaurant" and continues through a variety of Billy Joel hits, from a tantalizing glimpse of "For the Longest Time," which was on the radio for the longest time, to the saucy "Uptown Girl," the sweet "She's Got a Way" and, finally, "The Stranger."

The lighting, which begins with a great '70s black light, is adept and engaging. The band, led by Broadway singer and pianist Wade Preston, is situated on a platform high overhead. Preston has that Billy Joel sound down pat. Heck, he even looks like him.

The dancers dazzle. Forget trying to keep them straight; it's impossible to figure out who's Brenda and Eddie (of "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" fame), and what's supposed to be going on in the characters' lives.

Laura Feig, arguably the best dancer in the company, does a beautiful pas de deux with Eric Otto to "Just the Way You Are." Replace the '80s rock outfits with tights and tutus, and you'd have "Swan Lake." The choreography is that classical. By the second act, though, things are wearing a little thin.

Here's when, gradually, you realize you're not going to hear any of those sweet, slow Billy Joel songs that used to tug at your heart, like "Why, Judy, Why," "Vienna" or "Through the Long Night." Even "Piano Man," for Pete's sake, would have been a welcome change of pace from the long deafening barrage that made up Act II.

We veered from a throbbing "Big Shot" to "Pressure," which was as easy on the ears as the title suggests, to "Shameless" and "Keeping the Faith." A very sleazy, scantily clad "Captain Jack" was in there, too. They were too chicken to include that salacious line about "your sister's out, she's on a date," etc., but still, don't take the kids.

The dancing, too, was too much of a good thing. Don't get me wrong - it was all extremely top quality. Brendan King, who danced the loosely defined character of Eddie, was especially absorbing, with his acrobatic feats, including flips and handstands. But you could hit the restroom without worrying you'd miss anything. You'd seen it all.

Considering the work and stamina that went into "Movin' Out," it's too bad there wasn't any one moment that put things over the top, a moment we could take home and replay in our minds.

Sure, the show got a standing ovation. But along the way, applause was sparse and tepid. It's a shame, because Joel and Tharp, at least on paper, make a good team. With a little more thought, this show probably could have been great. As it was, it was a simple good time along the lines of "Mamma Mia," the hit tribute to Abba - except it was, I'm afraid, a bit more pretentious. Forgive me for saying so. Honesty is such a lonely word.