Review: Movin’ Out
It sounds impossible, pretentious and kind of stupid when you explain it in a sentence: a story told with no dialogue (through interpretive dance!) of the Vietnam war’s effect on America, set to the songs of Billy Joel. But one vocalist and one dancer make it something worth seeing.
From our vantage point in the second row, we had an excellent view of vocalist/piano man Darren Holden – he is fantastic. He should become a huge star. His voice is a combination of technical perfection and passionate fire. Wonderful.
Ron Todorowski defies gravity as Eddie. He’s amazing, and did most of his whirling dirvish moves in blue jeans.
The show has many more wins than losses but it’s very “Broadway” and if that’s not your thing, even a note-perfect trip through the musical catalogue of Billy Joel may not be enough to sustain your interest. It wasn’t for the couple in row one, directly ahead of us. After the intermission, they were gone, giving my pal Karen and me a front row view! However, you totally “get it” even though hardly a word is spoken. And when Holden launches into Shameless, if you’ve got any appreciation for the difficulty and beauty of a great song well sung, you’ll get shivers. We could see backstage where the TR-6 was parked and some of the performers were helped through costume changes. It was nothing too revealing, but how could you not look? It’s stuff you’re not supposed to see.
I’ve never been too comfortable recommending a show to someone when I’ve seen it for free and they’ll have to shell out some bucks for it. That changes things, and tastes vary widely. But if Joel’s The Stranger is from your coming-of-age era, as it is mine, Movin’ Out might be worth a little wear and tear on your debit card.
