Last night I went to see “Movin’ Out” – that Billy Joel musical at the memorial auditorium in Raleigh. Overall I was disappointed, it was a ballet more than a musical, the story not told in words but by dance, which was difficult to interpret. (I pretty much agree with everything said here.) Unless you’re a huge Billy Joel fan or a modern dance aficionado, I’d save the moolah on this one. At least we paid downtown Raleigh and not downtown New York City prices. ding!
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January 7th, 2005 at 10:42 am
Bummer! I feel Joanna and Julie would have very different reviews!
January 7th, 2005 at 12:14 pm
Yes, this show was definitely made with Billy Joel fans in mind. I am sure Joanna and Julie would have loved every minute! hahaha.
What bothered me was that they didn’t spend very much time on characterization – and because nobody talked or sung on their own, it made things difficult. There should have been a song/dance sequence to visit each character, so we knew what each person was about, you know? The symbolism/choreography in the first 6 scenes or so was not good enough to do that. After that, it became more clear what was going on – a war to “We didn’t start the fire” and a mourning sequence where everyone wore black. I wish I would have known to study up ahead of time! haha.
The guy that was “Billy Joel” and the band were awesome though. On broadway the band performed “New York state of mind” after the encore, but for ours they changed it to “Raleigh state of mind..” lol. Specialness!