Movin' Out, But Not Soon Enough

Movin' Out, But Not Soon Enough
by Martell

Last night, my wife took me to see Movin' Out at the Pantages Theater. A couple of years back, we saw Mamma Mia and both thoroughly enjoyed it, and considering that we like Billy Joel's music better than ABBA's, I was certain we would enjoy this even more. Or so I thought.

Movin' Out was nothing like Mamma Mia, which was probably the biggest source of disappointment. I was expecting to see a musical--maybe even a fun one--with Billy Joel songs intertwined in the plot. (You know, kind of like a normal musical, but with songs I've actually heard before!) What I got was an hour and 50 minutes of modern dance.

Don't get me wrong--the choreography was very well done. Twyla Tharp has been doing this for roughly four decades, so this should come as no surprise. But make no mistake: this is not a musical. The actors do not sing. The actors do not speak. Outside of pantomime, the actors do not act. This is dance, and that's all.

Now, if I had been expecting an updated version of Swan Lake, I probably would have been delightfully surprised, but I was expecting something closer to Piano Man: The Musical. I had no idea what was about to hit me, and that was my problem. So, for those of you thinking about seeing this show, now you know. In fact, if anyone out there has a significant other who has been trying to drag you to the ballet or opera or some other "cultured" event, you may want to use this opportunity to get him or her (okay, probably her) off your back for a while. Consider it my gift to you.

As for the music, overall it was good. The singer/pianist sounded enough like Billy Joel to avoid being a distraction (though he did take some unnecessary stylistic liberties with a few of the songs). Interestingly, the band was located on a catwalk, about 30 feet above the back of the stage. This turned out to be a fantastic idea, as it left the entire stage open for the performers, yet still kept the band involved as a part of the performance. This was much better than if they had been confined to the orchestra pit, as I was able to entertain myself by watching them when the show got boring. Incidentally, I watched the band a lot. Don't tell my wife.

Perhaps the biggest problem with Movin' Out was the lack of a point. I don't mean like some deep revelation or cosmic truth; I mean any point at all. The show was essentially a random collage of dance routines, haphazardly tied together by the scenery and costumes. The most appropriate analogy I could think of was that it was kind of like reading Slaughterhouse-Five with half the pages missing. The "plot" frenetically jumped from one time in the past to another, there were war references scattered throughout the work, there was just enough change of pace to keep one mildly interested, yet, in the end, the story was almost impossible to follow. (On second thought, perhaps it was more like reading Slaughterhouse-Five with none of the pages missing...)

Never read Vonnegut? Okay, for the non-bookworms out there, here's a different analogy: Do you remember stereograms? Sure you do, you just don't know that's what they're called. They were those weird art prints that came out in the early 90's--the ones that appeared to be a random pattern of colored squares, but if you relaxed your focus in just the right way, a 3-D picture of a whale or something would appear. Remember those things? Well, Movin' Out is just like that. If you blur your vision a little, everything makes sense for a second or two, but after a while, it hardly seems worth the effort.

Martell can be reached at martell@babblog.com.