Come Fly Away (3/11) - let's compare thighs...

I don’t know if I’d call it a Broadway musical - more like a dance concert on steroids - but Trish and I caught Come Fly Away the other night - the new Twyla Tharp / Frank Sinatra collaboration. Can you collaborate with someone who’s been dead for over a decade? I guess it’s a mute point.

If you’re heading to the theatre thinking you’re in for a full-blown Frankie musical a la Jersey Boys, you will surely be disappointed. The show is a series of character-driven dances, each using a Sinatra classic. The shoestring plot revolves around three main couples. They all first meet at a club, then eventually strip down to bare chests and bras and finally all throw on formal wear for a rousing and inspirational “My Way.” No, it doesn’t really make much sense, but who cares? The athletic and often gravity-defying choreography was enough to hold my interest for two hours. Granted, a stronger, more fleshed-out plot would definitely provide a depth to the material that is currently lacking, but Tharp’s inventive lifts and always showy (in a good way) choreography are the selling points here.

More impressive is the cast of dancers, whose technique is filtered through solid, though mainly two dimensional, characterizations. I, of course, want to give a shout out to the “older” couple (my age! LOL), John Selya and Holley Farmer, whose dancing is marked by graceful restraint and efficiency. The “young” couple, Laura Mead and Charlie Neshyba-Hodges, dance with a combination of athleticism and power that is tempered by an endearing sense of humor. Not to mention that Neshyba-Hodges could give Cheyenne a run for his money in the hunky thighs category - I’m just saying. Karine Plantadit and Keith Roberts, as the “tumultuous” couple, imbued “That’s Life” with an animalistic sexuality that made the middle-aged woman next to me gasp in surprise (or maybe excitement?). The implied sexual tension between these two was far more interesting than the blatant humping taking place during much of the second act.

Of course, having now shown her penchant and success with character-driven dance begs the question - when will Ms. Tharp be asked to choreograph a book musical (a la Fosse, Robbins or De Mille)? Or maybe she has been asked and has simply declined? If the latter, what a waste, considering the mostly meaningless, albeit showy, choreography we’ve been seeing on Broadway stages as of late.



Best gams on Broadway? Cheyenne (top, reigning champion) or Charlie Neshyba-Hodges (newly of Come Fly Away). Let the games begin!