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Key Change: Broadway and National Tour Piano Men of Movin' Out to Trade Places
By Ernio Hernandez
28 Jan 2005
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Michael Cavanaugh
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Movin' Out's Broadway lead vocalist Michael Cavanaugh and national tour frontman Darren Holden will swap piano gigs in the Billy Joel-Twyla Tharp musical in February, according to Holden's publicist.
Holden, who was understudy to Cavanaugh and has performed with the touring show for more than a year, will rejoin the Broadway cast at the Richard Rodgers Theatre for 10 performances, Feb. 9-20. His Tony Award-nominated counterpart Cavanaugh joins the tour to play his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio at the Palace Theatre from Feb. 8.
The national tour for Movin' Out, the new Broadway musical collaboration between pop legend Billy Joel and choreographer Twyla Tharp launched from Detroit's Fisher Theatre, Jan. 26, 2004.
Producers of the Broadway run — James L. Nederlander, Hal Luftig, Scott E. Nederlander, Terry Allen Kramer, Clear Channel Entertainment and Emanuel Azenberg — also present the tour.
The bookless show, currently residing at Broadway's Richard Rodgers Theatre, uses Joel's song lyrics and Tharp's choreography to tell the story of five friends and lovers across three decades through love, war and loss. There is no dialogue and all songs are performed by the pianist-singer, who sings non-stop and heads an on-stage band during the show.
Following a tryout at Chicago's Shubert Theatre, the show officially opened on The Great White Way Oct. 24, 2002 following previews since Sept. 30. The new show took home the Tony Awards for Best Choreography (Tharp) and Orchestrations (Joel and Stuart Malina).
The songlist includes many of Joel's hit songs and even interpolates some of his classical work. "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me" functions as a sort of overture, introducing the characters. The story kicks off with "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" and moves through other songs as the popular "We Didn't Start the Fire," "Big Shot," "Uptown Girl" and "Captain Jack," as well as more obscure early work like "James," "Summer, Highland Falls," and "Angry Young Man." As a final curtain coda, Cavanaugh belts out the apropos "New York State of Mind."
For more information on the Broadway and national tour stagings of Movin' Out, visit www.movinoutonbroadway.com.
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