Movin' Out

Possibly one of the rules of blogging, (are there 'rules'? I bet there are somewhere), is that you shouldn't do it when you're really tired, which I am, as I've just worked a 12 hour day, and come home to find my kitchen overrun with ants!

However late it is, I can't resist checking round various sites on the computer, but it was perhaps more of a shock than it should have been to read that Movin' Out is indeed moving out of the Apollo Victoria theatre, on 22 May. For any new readers, I was there on opening night for this show, which uses the songs of Billy Joel to tell the story of a group of young Americans through the 60's, Vietnam and it's aftermath, through the medium of dance.

Right from the start of the run, I've been aware that it's a 'hard sell' - it's a hybrid of dance show/songbook/musical - and it's difficult to know where it's audience is in this country. Billy Joel's music doesn't tell the stories of our lives in the way that it does for the Americans.

Shortly after I saw it I wrote the following:

It's an interesting idea - to take a set of Billy Joel songs, written over a number of years, and with no narrative connection, and to put them together to form the 'book' of a musical/dance piece. Does it work? well, yes, in parts. The strongest sections are those where the emotional theme of the song was the strongest, ...the weakest were where the song itself had a strong narrative, and the dancing did not seem to express this - at best this seemed disjointed, and at worst confusing for the audience... How will it go down in London? I'm not sure - I think many who go to see it will find it much harder to get to grips with than they think - it is, primarily a ballet, but a ballet accompanied by popular songs. It looks at the 60's and 70's American generation who were affected by Vietnam and the fallout after it, and I'm not sure what resonance this really has for a British audience.

Sadly my worries have been born out by poor audience figures. I've noticed discounted ticket offers have been around for a few weeks, and still the theatre was often only half full, and I know how disheartening that it for performers. I'm also really gutted for James*, as he's put his heart and soul into this production - his 'dream job' effectively - and I think we all felt so proud to see him there on opening night, singing his heart out. I read that he'll be re-joining the American tour of the show, which whilst good for him, is sad for us as we lose him to the US once again.

I haven't got much else to say really, so maybe this is the best way to end. (the photo at the top should have been here, but it wouldn't work!)

*For anyone who has been on another planet - James Fox, one time TV Reality show contestant, UK Eurovision representative 2004, Judas, and all round star