Come Fly Away at the Marquis from 1 Mar


The new Broadway musical, Come Fly Away, conceived, choreographed, and directed by Tony Award-winner Twyla Tharp and featuring vocals by Frank Sinatra, will open this spring at the Marquis Theatre on 25 Mar 2010, following previews from 1 Mar.

Come Fly Away (then named 'Come Fly With Me') played its world premiere engagement at Atlanta's Alliance Theatre from 15 Sep - 11 Dec 2009.

Critics praised the world premiere production. "You can't question the inventiveness and vitality of Tharp's choreography — a quirky-sophisticated amalgamation of soaring ballet and earthy modern form — or the powerhouse technique of her superb performers. I have never seen a more charismatic, more expressive group of dancers in my life." (Atlanta Journal-Constitution); "Tharp's new show is vibrant, engaging and, at times, thrilling." (Variety); "exhilarating" (New York Times).

Come Fly Away, the new musical from director/choreographer Twyla Tharp, follows four couples as they fall in and out of love during one song and dance filled evening at a crowded nightclub.

Blending the vocals of Frank Sinatra with a live on stage 19-piece big band and 15 of dancers, Come Fly Away weaves Sinatra classics, including "Fly Me To The Moon," "My Way," and "That's Life" into a musical fantasy of romance and seduction.

The show's score combines classic and newly discovered vocal performances from the Sinatra archives along with signature arrangements (Nelson Riddle, Billy May, Quincy Jones) as well as brand new charts.

Twyla Tharp's creative relationship with the music of Frank Sinatra began in 1976 with the premiere of 'Once More Frank,' a duet created for the American Ballet Theatre, performed by Tharp and Mikhail Baryshnikov. The collaboration continued with 'Nine Sinatra Songs,' Tharp's piece for fourteen dancers which had its world premiere with 'Twyla Tharp Dance' in 1982, and was followed by 'Sinatra Suite,' a duet featuring Baryshnikov and Elaine Kudo, which had its world premiere in 1984 with American Ballet Theatre at the Kennedy Center.

Citing it as one of the purest expressions of his body of work, Sinatra requested that 'Sinatra Suite' be performed when he received his Kennedy Center Honors Award.

Complete casting and producing team will be announced shortly.

Come Fly Away features scenic design by James Youmans, costume design by Katherine Roth, lighting design by Donald Holder and sound design by Peter McBoyle. Music supervision is by the late Sam Lutfiyya and Patrick Vaccariello. Additional arrangements and orchestrations are by Dave Pierce and Don Sebesky.

Tharp won a Tony Award for Best Choreography - and was nominated for Best Director - for her Billy Joel-themed danciical 'Movin' Out,' which ran on Broadway from Sep 2002 - Dec 2005 playing a total of 1331 performances. Her last show to bow on Broadway, the Bob Dylan themed musical, 'The Times They Are A-Changin'' ran for only 63 performances - 35 of which were previews.

Twyla Tharp

Originally published on

Subscribe to our newsletter to unlock exclusive New York theatre updates!

Special offers, reviews and release dates for the best shows in town.

You can unsubscribe at any time. Privacy Policy