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The buzzworthy national tour of the Broadway musical "Come Fly Away," conceived, choreographed and directed by Tony Award-winner Twyla Tharp and by special arrangement with the Frank Sinatra Family and Frank Sinatra Enterprises, will be presented at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts from October 11-16.
"Come Fly Away" follows four couples as they fall in and out of love during one song- and dance-filled evening at a crowded nightclub. Blending the legendary vocals of Frank Sinatra with a live on-stage big band and 14 of the world's finest dancers, "Come Fly Away" weaves an unparalleled hit parade of classics, including "Fly Me To The Moon," "My Way," and "That's Life," into a soaring musical fantasy of romance and seduction.
The show's score combines classic and newly discovered live vocal performances from the Sinatra archives. Along with Sinatra's signature arrangements by Nelson Riddle, Billy May and Quincy Jones; this fresh, innovative musical also features additional arrangements and orchestrations by Dave Pierce.
"‘Come Fly Away' exudes elegance, grandeur and romance all told through the grace of the dancers and the energy of the musicians," says Patricia A. Mitchell, Ordway's president and CEO. "Come Fly Away is a perfect way to launch the Ordway's 2011-2012 Theater Season."After each evening performance of "Come Fly Away," we'll be swinging in the magical Marzitelli Foyer with the smooth-as-silk piano stylings of Lori Dokken. Patrons are invited to stick around after the show, purchase a cocktail from our bar and extend a joyous evening at the Ordway."Come Fly Away," premiered at the ALLIANCE THEATRE in Atlanta, Ga. in September 2009 and opened on Broadway in March 2010. 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 acclaimed piece for 14 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. Sinatra requested that "Sinatra Suite" be performed when he received his Kennedy Center Honors Award, citing it as one of the purest expressions of his body of work.
