Dancers display skills amidst little thrills in Tharp’s ‘Come Fly Away’

Full disclosure: I know next to nothing about dance. That being said, Twyla Tharp’s newest dance-musical, “Come Fly Away,” seems to be aimed at the dance-illiterate. The producers decided to open the show on a street renowned for its dialogue over it choreography—Broadway. Sadly, this glitz and glam extravaganza would feel more at home where artistic credibility goes to die—Las Vegas.

The Sin City is known for importing Broadway favorites, focusing on spectacle as opposed to story. Though the characters in “Come Fly Away” all bare names, this is merely a superficial attempt at masking the complete lack of both complex characters and any semblance of a story. Instead, audiences at the Marquis Theater are being treated to a nearly nonexistent story of four different couples falling in love on a cruise ship. Though usual cruise-ship denizens (read: the elderly) may find aesthetic pleasure in the dances set to some of their most cherished tunes, those craving a more artistically satisfying evening will leave tragically unfulfilled.

Twyla Tharp, the world-famous choreographer, isn’t the main attraction, much as she wasn’t with her last Broadway hit—the Billy Joel tuned “Movin’ Out.” Just as that show introduced the piano man to a new generation, so too should “Come Fly Away” introduce the young to the ultimate crooner—Frank Sinatra. After 50 or so years, Old Blue Eyes still has the power to transport his audiences to a world better than the one outside the theater: Where love hurts, yet those who partake always leave with a smile on their face and a skip in their step. With their soothing melodies and beyond-classic sound, Sinatra’s songs—16 of which are sprinkled throughout the evening—lend themselves surprisingly well to choreography. Yet as talented as the dancers may be (the fact that they’re doing this six nights a week is a testament to their fortitude), after about the sixth number, the dances start meshing into one.

Speaking of repetition, “Come Fly Away” further demonstrates a common theme appearing on Broadway this season—the pointless second act. For better or for worse, the 90-minute show is becoming more popular on the Great White Way. As such, those musicals that try to stretch their length out to two acts are now being especially scrutinized for superfluous material. Act two of “Come Fly Away” feels like a complete rehash of act one—fun dances by true talents within a show lacking a story and, most importantly, a heart.