Tharp's Sinatra-Themed Come Fly With Me Aiming for Broadway in 2010

By Adam Hetrick
November 18, 2009

Twyla Tharp's Frank Sinatra-inspired dance piece Come Fly With Me is aiming to arrive on Broadway in spring 2010, according to a casting notice.

Come Fly With Me played its world premiere engagement at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta this past September, where it received encouraging reviews, including a nod from the New York Times.

With the blessing of Frank Sinatra Enterprises and the Sinatra family, Come Fly With Me features original masters of Sinatra's voice, which are backed by a live on-stage band. The Alliance Theatre production previously stated that producers were planning a 2010 American tour, with Broadway also on the horizon.

The casting notice says Alliance principal cast members will re-create their roles for the upcoming Broadway production. The principal cast included a host of Movin' Out veterans including Tony nominees Keith Roberts and John Selya, Karine Plantadit and Rika Okamoto, as well as newcomer Holley Farmer, Matthew Dibble, Charlie Neshyba-Hodges (Tharp's The Times They Are A Changin') and Laura Mead.

Come Fly With Me also featured ensemble members Alexander Brady, Carolyn Doherty, Heather Hamilton, Ashley Tuttle, Todd Burnsed, Eric Otto, Justin Peck, Kristine Bendul, Jodi Melnick, Joel Prouty, Matt Rivera and John Sorensen-Jolink.

Producers are currently looking for a second principal cast who will be guaranteed two performances per week in the Broadway production. Rehearsals are slated to begin in January 2010. Her Way, LLC produces.

Come Fly With Me, according to Alliance press notes, "follows four couples over the course of one night falling in and out of love." Songs included are "Let’s Fall In Love," "Witchcraft," "Summer Wind," "Body & Soul," "It’s All Right with Me," "Take Five," "That’s Life," "Nice ‘n’ Easy" and "My Way." Jazz artist Dee Daniels was featured at the piano, providing occasional vocals and “the female point of view.”

The Alliance production had set design by James Youmans (West Side Story), lighting by Donald Holder (The Lion King, Movin’ Out), costumes by Katherine Roth and music supervision by Sam Lutfiyya (Movin’ Out).

In a previous statement about the world premiere, Nancy Sinatra said, "Twyla Tharp is America's dance laureate, a genius who understands among other things: discipline, music, dance, relationships, emotions and the human body. Somehow she reaches through the chaos of our lives and, with the help of Frank Sinatra's voice, shows us that everything is going to be all right. Having watched her in this process of creating - inventing - from the smallest detail in pre-production: the casting, set, lighting, clothes and the choice of songs, to the final show we are about to enjoy, I can say she is hands on and in charge. This is one hell of a show. We can all be grateful for the works that she shares with us and I often think, wistfully, about the wonders in her brilliant, beautiful mind that we may never get to see."