#1
Posted: 3/19/06 at 8:40pm
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Movin’ Out
3/12/06
Hippodrome Theatre
I knew almost nothing about this show before seeing it. I knew it was based on Billy Joel’s hit songs; however, I am not familiar with him either. When I saw the show, I realized it wasn’t a traditional musical, or even jukebox musical, but a modern ballet dancing piece. Since I am fascinated with choreography, I wasn’t disappointed.
I have to say the story and the music weren’t that impressive at all. The story is kind of simple and predictable. Five good friends’ life experience during Vietnam War, what a cliché! Well, to create a plot based on someone’s several decades’ hit songs, what kind of story could we expect? The music basically is forgettable. I hardly notice what the lyrics are. It is a perfect choice for me when I exercise in Gym. The scene is very simple. They put this dark iron shelf as background and the band was located on second floor which includes one piano, one drum, one guitar, one bass, two saxophones, one trumpet, and one trombone. The pianist is the lead singer(Oh man he is so good.) and other members are choir. The actors are not singers but all dancers. The choreography is good, of course. However, what I love the most is the cast. There are two casts performing in different days each week. This is the strongest dancing ensemble I ever saw on tour. Many of them came directly from Broadway after the show closed there. Specially, two lead dancers I saw in this performance, Rasta Thomas (Eddie) and Laurie Kanyok (Brenda), are simply incredible.
“In early 60’s, Eddie, James and Tony are good friends. Eddie and Brenda, the king and queen of the prom, are finished, while James and Judy vow to love forever and are ready to get married.” I felt indifferent at the beginning. Everything is so familiar. The group dance is fun to watch but not innovative enough, more like Grease. James and Tony are good boys while Eddie is the “bad” one. The duo between Judy and James (Just the way you are) is neat and that is all.
However, the next song “Uptown girls”, when Brenda suddenly turned from a cute girl into a mature, independent woman, everything becomes electrified. She is sexy, passionate, strong-willed, dazzlingly beautiful and full of life. In “Uptown girls”, she wears a red dress, attracts everyman’s attention, and makes Tony fall into her charm hopelessly. During the war, when Tony went to Vietnam with Eddie and James, she became a hippy, cold, corrupted, yet dangerously attractive. (We didn’t start the fire) After Tony returning from war, they find out that they cannot connect with each other as before. Brenda is angry and frustrated. As revenge, she flirts with other men in a bar, wearing nothing but underwear. (Big man on Mulberry street) That scene is one of the hottest moments of the show. When she dances, her body is a piece of art. Her skill is amazing. She does all these kinds of difficult stretch and jump, not only easily, but with elegance and passion.
The other two principle dancers are Tony and Judy. Both of them are performed by understudies in the performance I saw. Judy is played by an Asian girl, Lynda Sing. She has that kind of pure, gentle, kind and fragile look which fits the role very well. At beginning, she danced with James. After James died in Vietnam War, she grieves for him. Later, in Eddie’s mind, she guides him to face his nightmare and self-destruction.
Tony is played by Michael Snipe Jr. Most of Tony’s dance is duo with Brenda. Thus he is more like a supporter for Brenda and outshined by her charisma. However, I still think he could be a lot better than he is. Maybe because he is understudying the role, he acted very cautiously, almost like lack of self-confidence. Also, he plays the role as being very “good” and “innocent”, but I felt this way make the role much blander and less attractive. Especially during “Shameless”, it seems the choreography changed a little bit. It is more difficult technically yet less provocative artistically. From the short clip I saw in previous cast, in this scene, when Brenda and Tony finally reconcile, Brenda and Tony should ignite their fire. They are wild. They madly want each other. But here, Tony acted so carefully, almost like a dancer in classic ballet. Thus, I don’t feel the passion between him and Brenda. It is rather elegant instead of passionate. His skill and strength is very impressive. I believe he will be better and better.
Finally, I want to talk about Rasta Thomas’s Eddie. Let me say, I was totally blown away. That energy, strength, skill and passion is unbelievable. His dance combines classic ballet, modern dance, and even martial art. Contrary to the traditional male ballet dancer’s elegant way, his style is rough, powerful, wild and muscular. And, oh boy, that man can act.
In Act I, Eddie was the cool, arrogant, typical backstreet boy. He used to date Brenda. After Brenda fell in love with Tony, he was a little upset but later accepted the loss and reconciled with Tony with James’s help. Then he, James and Tony went to the war. During the war, James was like the big brother and team leader as always. Eddie was devastated by the war and went crazy. During the action, James was killed and Eddie couldn’t face Lucy and forgive himself.
The Act II is almost all about Eddie’s psychological experience. “Invention in C Minor”, “Angry Young Man”, “Captain Jack”, “An Innocent Man”, “Pressure”, “Goodnight Saigon”, through one song following the other, he burned the stage with this incredible energy. He went through all the confusion, anger, pain, self-destruction, then faced his own nightmare, and finally redeemed himself and made peace inside. “Goodnight Saigon” is the most moving part. He recalled the scene when James died, carrying his body (who is bigger than him) in one shoulder walking around the stage like carrying nothing. After giving the body to Tony, he kept dancing. I cannot describe the emotion, the power and the beauty in language. He nailed every parts.
The ending is kind of bland comparing to Eddie's self-discovery. But after watching such an amazing performance from Rasta, I can overlook anything.
I watched the show twice and had a great time. After their final performance, I met Rasta, Laurie, Michael and Lynda at stage door. Rasta is from my area. He will do Movin’ Out tour in Japan. I wish him good luck and tell him I will see his new project in future.
Movin’ Out
3/12/06
Hippodrome Theatre
I knew almost nothing about this show before seeing it. I knew it was based on Billy Joel’s hit songs; however, I am not familiar with him either. When I saw the show, I realized it wasn’t a traditional musical, or even jukebox musical, but a modern ballet dancing piece. Since I am fascinated with choreography, I wasn’t disappointed.
I have to say the story and the music weren’t that impressive at all. The story is kind of simple and predictable. Five good friends’ life experience during Vietnam War, what a cliché! Well, to create a plot based on someone’s several decades’ hit songs, what kind of story could we expect? The music basically is forgettable. I hardly notice what the lyrics are. It is a perfect choice for me when I exercise in Gym. The scene is very simple. They put this dark iron shelf as background and the band was located on second floor which includes one piano, one drum, one guitar, one bass, two saxophones, one trumpet, and one trombone. The pianist is the lead singer(Oh man he is so good.) and other members are choir. The actors are not singers but all dancers. The choreography is good, of course. However, what I love the most is the cast. There are two casts performing in different days each week. This is the strongest dancing ensemble I ever saw on tour. Many of them came directly from Broadway after the show closed there. Specially, two lead dancers I saw in this performance, Rasta Thomas (Eddie) and Laurie Kanyok (Brenda), are simply incredible.
“In early 60’s, Eddie, James and Tony are good friends. Eddie and Brenda, the king and queen of the prom, are finished, while James and Judy vow to love forever and are ready to get married.” I felt indifferent at the beginning. Everything is so familiar. The group dance is fun to watch but not innovative enough, more like Grease. James and Tony are good boys while Eddie is the “bad” one. The duo between Judy and James (Just the way you are) is neat and that is all.
However, the next song “Uptown girls”, when Brenda suddenly turned from a cute girl into a mature, independent woman, everything becomes electrified. She is sexy, passionate, strong-willed, dazzlingly beautiful and full of life. In “Uptown girls”, she wears a red dress, attracts everyman’s attention, and makes Tony fall into her charm hopelessly. During the war, when Tony went to Vietnam with Eddie and James, she became a hippy, cold, corrupted, yet dangerously attractive. (We didn’t start the fire) After Tony returning from war, they find out that they cannot connect with each other as before. Brenda is angry and frustrated. As revenge, she flirts with other men in a bar, wearing nothing but underwear. (Big man on Mulberry street) That scene is one of the hottest moments of the show. When she dances, her body is a piece of art. Her skill is amazing. She does all these kinds of difficult stretch and jump, not only easily, but with elegance and passion.
The other two principle dancers are Tony and Judy. Both of them are performed by understudies in the performance I saw. Judy is played by an Asian girl, Lynda Sing. She has that kind of pure, gentle, kind and fragile look which fits the role very well. At beginning, she danced with James. After James died in Vietnam War, she grieves for him. Later, in Eddie’s mind, she guides him to face his nightmare and self-destruction.
Tony is played by Michael Snipe Jr. Most of Tony’s dance is duo with Brenda. Thus he is more like a supporter for Brenda and outshined by her charisma. However, I still think he could be a lot better than he is. Maybe because he is understudying the role, he acted very cautiously, almost like lack of self-confidence. Also, he plays the role as being very “good” and “innocent”, but I felt this way make the role much blander and less attractive. Especially during “Shameless”, it seems the choreography changed a little bit. It is more difficult technically yet less provocative artistically. From the short clip I saw in previous cast, in this scene, when Brenda and Tony finally reconcile, Brenda and Tony should ignite their fire. They are wild. They madly want each other. But here, Tony acted so carefully, almost like a dancer in classic ballet. Thus, I don’t feel the passion between him and Brenda. It is rather elegant instead of passionate. His skill and strength is very impressive. I believe he will be better and better.
Finally, I want to talk about Rasta Thomas’s Eddie. Let me say, I was totally blown away. That energy, strength, skill and passion is unbelievable. His dance combines classic ballet, modern dance, and even martial art. Contrary to the traditional male ballet dancer’s elegant way, his style is rough, powerful, wild and muscular. And, oh boy, that man can act.
In Act I, Eddie was the cool, arrogant, typical backstreet boy. He used to date Brenda. After Brenda fell in love with Tony, he was a little upset but later accepted the loss and reconciled with Tony with James’s help. Then he, James and Tony went to the war. During the war, James was like the big brother and team leader as always. Eddie was devastated by the war and went crazy. During the action, James was killed and Eddie couldn’t face Lucy and forgive himself.
The Act II is almost all about Eddie’s psychological experience. “Invention in C Minor”, “Angry Young Man”, “Captain Jack”, “An Innocent Man”, “Pressure”, “Goodnight Saigon”, through one song following the other, he burned the stage with this incredible energy. He went through all the confusion, anger, pain, self-destruction, then faced his own nightmare, and finally redeemed himself and made peace inside. “Goodnight Saigon” is the most moving part. He recalled the scene when James died, carrying his body (who is bigger than him) in one shoulder walking around the stage like carrying nothing. After giving the body to Tony, he kept dancing. I cannot describe the emotion, the power and the beauty in language. He nailed every parts.
The ending is kind of bland comparing to Eddie's self-discovery. But after watching such an amazing performance from Rasta, I can overlook anything.
I watched the show twice and had a great time. After their final performance, I met Rasta, Laurie, Michael and Lynda at stage door. Rasta is from my area. He will do Movin’ Out tour in Japan. I wish him good luck and tell him I will see his new project in future.
Updated On: 3/19/06 at 08:40 PM
