'Come Fly With Away' puts Sinatra in the spotlight
American choreographer Twyla Tharp has mixed high art with pop culture throughout her groundbreaking dance career, often finding great success by combining genres and forms that might normally clash.
Take, for instance, her 2003 musical “Movin' Out,” a serious evening-length ballet about Vietnam veterans and their loved ones set to the pop songs of Billy Joel. It's not exactly the kind of show you'd expect to see on Broadway, but “Movin' Out” defied the odds to be a smash hit that ran for more than three years.
The 70-year-old Tharp's most recent Broadway output is her 2010 dance musical revue “Come Fly Away,” set to the standards of late singer Frank Sinatra. The musical is an outgrowth of her previous iconic pieces “Nine Sinatra Songs” in 1982 and “Sinatra Suite” in 1983, and makes its Chicago debut in a national tour playing at the Bank of America Theatre from Tuesday, Jan. 10, through Sunday, Jan. 22.
In the company is dancer Ron Todorowski, who in the past 10 years has appeared in two other Tharp-choreographed Broadway musicals: the aforementioned “Movin' Out” and the circus-themed 2006 flop “The Times Are a Changin'” set to music of Bob Dylan.
“Twyla is such a creative person first and foremost, and I think she's always, even now, looking for different ways of expressing and working on her craft,” Todorowski said, citing Tharp's push to create works for Broadway in addition to her regular work for dance companies. “The Billy Joel musical just came at a time when she was ready to experiment in a new genre.”
“Come Fly Away” — originally developed with the Alliance Theatre Company in Atlanta — is set in a nightclub with an onstage big band and plenty of flirty and amorous couples. Todorowski says four relationships are at the center of the show.
But the draw for many is the chance to hear the iconic voice of “ol' blue eyes” and enjoy his seductively distinctive stamp on a series of beloved song standards.
“Frank Sinatra's voice is heard throughout the entire show and it's synced up with the live band in a very dramatic way,” Todorowski said, noting how the vocal click track of Sinatra sets the tone and timing for nearly all of the proceedings.
The show's six-month run in New York was shorter than anticipated. So Tharp did some tinkering and tightening, most notably removing the intermission for an 80-minute Las Vegas production that was retitled there as “Sinatra: Dance With Me.” Those changes have been incorporated into the tour of “Come Fly Away.”
“It's still a very physically demanding show,” Todorowski said, adding that he feels the show flows better now than it did on Broadway.
Still in “Come Fly Away” is one moment that baffled many commenters on Broadway Internet chat sites. That's when the majority of the male dancers start removing their clothing.
“Like most things that unfold in a nightclub where there's evening festivities, so to speak, people get a little more comfortable and a little more racy,” Todorowski said with a laugh. “The men are flexing their muscles for the women and for themselves and feeling pretty good.”
But aside from the beauty and physicality of the dancers on display, Todorowski says one of the major draws of “Come Fly Away” is its universality, which will serve it well even as it travels to Japan.
“The other great thing about a show like this where the language is told through choreography and dance is you don't have to speak English,” Todorowski says. “You can really follow this internationally relatable story.”
“Come Fly Away”
<b>Location:</b> Bank of America Theatre, 18 W. Monroe St, Chicago. (800) 775-2000 or broadwayinchicago.com
<b>Showtimes:</b> Tuesday, Jan. 10, through Sunday, Jan. 22; 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday (also Sunday, Jan. 15), 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday (also Wednesday, Jan. 18)
<b>Tickets:</b> $32-$95