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276 | Twyla’s New Musical Flies, But . . . Blog post, October 6, 2009, dancemagazine.com What a ride Come Fly with Me is! It’s great to see Twyla Tharp return to Frank Sinatra; she gives his songs such zing. The women are luscious, totally in charge of their sexuality. This piece, which just opened at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, is midway between Nine Sinatra Songs and Movin’ Out in terms of narrative. Instead of a series of duets as in the former, Fly keeps circling back to four couples, tracking the changes in each relationship. And instead of a full plot as in Movin’ Out, it uses Sinatra’s lyrics mostly for mood, not to create an arc. What knocks me out more than the good fit between music and dance, more than the dazzling choreography, is how Twyla has created roles that celebrate the individuality of each dancer. Charlie Neshyba-Hodges, as a lowly busboy, ushers us all into this glamorous joint with a nearly-nothing shrug. Of course (some of us know) he will set off technical fireworks later on. But his character—a shy, self-effacing guy in love—is perfect for him. And Laura Mead makes a wonderful partner to his innocence. Karine Plantadit’s charisma almost blots out everything else when she’s onstage. You get used to her being the life of the party, and the party goes on. She’s sexy in an all-out, devil-may-care way—she’ll dance with anyone— while paying attention to every leap and dive and twist. But she has always been larger than life onstage. The big news is Holley Farmer, who has been transformed from a Cunningham dancer into an elegant femme fatale, just as sexy as Plantadit, but in an entirely different way—languid and classy and utterly beguiling. She’s classy because she is so queenly, but she’s also classy because she wants just one guy: John Selya. And Selya plays it hard-boiled, more like a gambler from Guys and Dolls (which was the last musical he was in) than like the sensitive Eddie from Movin’ Out (a role he originated). In fact, he acts downright pimp-like at times. Only in his solo, to “The September of My Years,” does he reveal more depth. As terrific as the women are, part of me is wistful for that time in the early seventies when Twyla’s women were strong, gutsy, and independent. Most of her female characters since Movin’ Out have been more or less seductive, sometimes feisty, but always defined by men. Okay, I know it’s a different time now, what with tv shows like Sex in the City declaring women’s right to obsess about men, but was the feminist movement just a blip in the seven- From 2007 to 2012 | 277 ties? Do all great female dancers have to ooze and sass around men? Or is this just how you get to Broadway? Even so, when/if Come Fly with Me comes to Broadway, I’ll have a great time seeing it there like everybody else. Postscript: When the musical came to Broadway the following March, the title was changed to Come Fly Away. After a year and half, it went on the road for another year and a half. ...

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