The new Broadway musical, COME FLY AWAY, conceived, choreographed, and directed by Tony Award-winner Twyla Tharp and featuring vocals by Frank Sinatra, is now on tour and making it's rounds on the West Coast. The show made its Los Angeles premiere at the Pantages Theatre for a limited 2 week engagement on October 25, where it will ran through November 6, 2011 and just completed its run in San Diego last night, November 13. The show next plays Santa Barbara tonight, November 14 before heading to Washington.
BroadwayWorld correspondant Audra Stafford caught up with COME FLY AWAY cast member (and San Diego native) Marceea Moreno for what it's like touring with the production.
The score of COME FLY AWAY combines classic and newly discovered vocal performances from the Sinatra archives along with signature arrangements by Nelson Riddle, Billy May, Quincy Jones as well as brand new charts for this fresh innovative musical.
COME FLY AWAY follows four couples as they fall in and out of love during one song and dance filled evening at a crowded nightclub. Blending the legendary vocals of Frank Sinatra with a live on-stage big band and 15 of the world's finest dancers, COME FLY AWAY weaves an unparalleled hit parade of classics, including "Fly Me To The Moon," "My Way," and "That's Life," into a soaring musical fantasy of romance and seduction.
COME FLY AWAY is the next and most elaborate chapter in one of the most fruitful collaborations in contemporary dance. Twyla Tharp's creative relationship with the music of Frank Sinatra began in 1976 with the premiere of Once More Frank, a duet created for the American Ballet Theatre, performed by Ms. Tharp and Mikhail Baryshnikov. The collaboration continued with Nine Sinatra Songs, Ms. Tharp's acclaimed piece for fourteen dancers which had its world premiere with Twyla Tharp Dance in 1982, and was followed by Sinatra Suite, a duet featuring Mr. Baryshnikov and Elaine Kudo, which had its world premiere in 1984 with American Ballet Theatre at the Kennedy Center. Citing it as one of the purest expressions of his body of work, Mr. Sinatra requested that Sinatra Suite be performed when he received his Kennedy Center Honors Award.
COME FLY AWAY features scenic design by James Youmans, costume design by Katherine Roth, lighting design by Donald Holder, and sound design by Peter McBoyle. Additional arrangements and orchestrations are by Dave Pierce and Don Sebesky.
For more information on COME FLY AWAY and tour dates, visit www.ComeFlyAway.com.
