Come Fly Away … with the new Broadway musical inspired by Frank Sinatra tunes – it’s anticipated for a New York opening in early spring. Rumors have been confirmed that Twyla Tharp, the respected dance choreographer and director, will be heading this project which combines her powerful dance moves with Frank’s lovely vocals. The musical had its world premiere at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta under a different title, “Come Fly With Me.“ (No official reason is mentioned for the name change, but we suspect it has something to do with decreasing confusion with Ol’ Blue Eyes’ classic song number.)

Take a peek under the curtain...

Produced in special arrangement with Frank Sinatra Enterprises and the Sinatra Family, Come Fly Away tells the story of four couples as they fall in and out of love with each other throughout the course of one evening in a crowded nightclub. Tharp aspires to take audiences on a journey to feel the essence of Sinatra’s music beyond his smooth-as-silk vocals. She incorporates the story of many couples she’s known into the show’s narrative, as well as some of Sinatra’s best work.

Songs included in the musical are classics like “Witchcraft,” “Let’s Fall in Love,” “Fly Me to the Moon,” and “My Way.” A 19-piece live big band will be present on stage to bring life to the nightclub as well as provide the music to Sinatra’s vocals. The show will incorporate original recordings of Sinatra’s voice; some of the material comes newly discovered from the archives of the Sinatra family.

Though Sinatra’s songs are sung primarily from a man’s point of view, Tharp shares what is going through a woman’s mind by giving equal voice to both sexes in the narrative. There is a female vocalist who will sing several numbers with the band to assert female independence and offer the female perspective.

Tharp is hoping to create a scrapbook for audiences and remind them of memories from their love lives. From those that worked, failed, evolved into friendship and everything in between.

She’s had plenty of experience bringing Sinatra’s music to the stage with her past experiences with shows “Once More Frank,” “Nine Sinatra Songs” and “Sinatra Suite.”

No official word on casting yet, but previews will begin on Broadway starting March 1st.

The show will open at the Marquis Theatre in New York on March 25th, so we’ll keep you updated with news as it develops.

In the meantime, enjoy one of our favorite numbers from Ol’ Blue Eyes himself:

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It’s been a long time coming, but “Memphis” the musical has finally made its way onto Broadway. After touring off Broadway around the country since the 2003-04 season, the musical opened in New York on October 19, 2009 and audiences are loving it.

The story revolves around the birth of rock n’ roll and racism in the South. It’s an original story – one not based on a movie, play. The idea for the musical developed from the imagination of George W. George who based the concept on stories of white DJs in the 1950s South who used to cause controversy by playing black music on their radio stations. (George W. George is the veteran Broadway producer of 1960s fame from shows like “Any Wednesday” and “My Dinner With Andre.”)

A love story unfolds in the smoky underground clubs of Memphis in the segregated 1950s. A young white DJ named Huey Calhoun can’t help loving rhythm and blues which he plays for mainstream white audiences and stirs up controversy. His passion for soul music is embodied in a vibrant African-American singer named Felicia Farrell with whom he falls deeply in love. Though the path for this interracial couple is riddled with obstacles, eventually the combination of his drive and her talent lead to the explosion of rock ‘n roll during this era. It’s an imaginative story about how love can change music forever and speaks to the significant cultural revolution that rock n’ roll was.

Memphis has closed every show to audiences standing on their feet. The music in the performance is inspiring to everyone and strikes a chord with Americans since rock n’ roll is such a big part of our musical history and culture. It’s something profound that unites us as a society.

Additionally, the musical carries extra heart since the two leads Chad Kimball (playing DJ Huey) and Montego Glover (as singer Felicia) are part of the musical’s original cast in pre-Broadway productions. They’ve never played leading roles on Broadway before but they’re wow-ing the crowds.

Watch the clip below of one of the musical numbers called “Music of My Soul.” It’s written by David Bryan (the keyboardist from Bon Jovi). Interestingly, it started as a humble  sample from Bryan in the early days of drafting the musical that made it into the final production. Chad Kimball sings it with Bryan accompanying on piano:

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Earlier in October, Andrew Lloyd Webber unveiled his global press launch of The Phantom of the Opera’s upcoming sequel called… Love Never Dies.

The launch took place in London’s West End where Webber gave a little introduction on how this idea for a sequel came about. He also introduced the much anticipated two leads for the original cast of Love Never Dies: The Phantom will be played by the dark and handsome Ramin Karimloo (who’s currently playing the Phantom in London’s West End production) and the role of Christine will be portrayed by Sierra Boggess (who played the part of Miss Daae in the Las Vegas production of Phantom). The launch wrapped up with a sneak video performance of one song by the Phantom in the sequel called, “Till I Hear You Sing” performed by Karimloo. (We’ve included the video for you to enjoy below the article.)

We’re hotly anticipating this spectacular sequel to the major Broadway hit… but there’s also an underlying sense of worry and wringing of the hands. The Broadway nation loves The Phantom; there’s no denying that. It’s all at once the most uplifting, beautiful and saddest story ever told. Yes, there was a cliffhanger at the end of the musical leaving audiences wondering what exactly became of the Phantom – but I’m sure audiences could have lived in suspense indefinitely. It was such a powerful story that tied up in a nice satisfying package.

Hence, our grim concern on what Love Never Dies means for us and how things will all play out. Frankly I can only think of one moderately successful musical sequel production. That would be The Talk of New York which was the follow-up to George M. Cohan’s Forty-Five Minutes from Broadway. The actor Victor Moore played Kid Burns in both productions and the sequel remained popular for 20 weeks or so.

This sequel’s success is the exception to the rule. Otherwise, Broadway is littered with epic sequel failures – many of which were so poor performing that they closed within weeks. William Gibson’s The Miracle Worker was a moving play about Helen Keller and her teacher, Annie Sullivan. Gibson’s sequel, Monday After the Miracle, depicted what happened to Keller and Sullivan 20 years later. Apparently no one wanted to know.

Similarly, Bring Back Birdie which is the sequel to the 1960s fun hit Bye Bye Birdie hit a wall. This musical ended after only four sad performances. We can also refer to Annie 2 and others to see that this musical sequel business is very risky and often-times turns out for the worse.

Nonetheless, Webber’s confidence in his Phantom continuation story inspires us. We’re holding onto our optimistic hopes that this sequel will buck the trend and reach phenomenal heights. We’re eagerly anticipating the world premier in London at the Adelphi Theatre on March 9, 2010. The second production will open in New York on November 11, 2010 and then move to Australia in 2011.

Webber shares that Love Never Dies will involve all the original characters we fell in love with in The Phantom; the only new addition will be Christine and Raoul’s young son. The story is set 10 years after the Phantom’s mysterious disappearance from the Paris Opera House. We learn that he is alive and well living overseas in the fairgrounds of Coney Island in America with Madame Giry and her daughter Meg. He’s risen to prosperity amongst the freaks and oddities around Coney Island and has become somewhat of a mogul. Though he should be content with this new life where he can live above ground as opposed to below, as the title suggests the Phantom still clings to his eternal love for Christine. He lives waiting only to be reunited with her and plots to make this happen.

Taking 18 months to complete, this sequel story is obviously centered on obsession, passion and intrigue. Webber is extremely happy with the casting for the production and describes the romantic tension between the two leads, Karimloo and Boggess, as so intense it’s at times “unbearable.”

From the audience perspective, we wonder exactly what’s in store for our favorite characters? Apparently it will be similar to a Beauty and the Beast story with many twists. Could this mean that our beast will finally win the beauty’s love? Time will tell.

Please enjoy the video of the “Till I Hear You Sing” song number from Love Never Dies:

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1. Love Never Dies: Updates from the cast We’ve been periodically checking up on the progress of Love...
2. The “new” title song from “Love Never Dies” The title song for the upcoming Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Love...

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