With her dance valentine to the music of Frank Sinatra that premiered in Atlanta in 2009 and launches its national tour Tuesday night at the Fox Theatre, one might reasonably expect to find Twyla Tharp acting like she's, as Old Blue Eyes would sing it, A-number-one, top of the list, king of the hill.
In other words, wouldn't Tharp, after "Come Fly Away's" successful Broadway and Las Vegas runs, be ready to turn over preparation for the 27-city tour to trusted lieutenants so she could concentrate on new challenges, such as her untitled full-evening ballet co-commissioned by Atlanta Ballet that will premiere here in fall 2012?
But the intense, no-nonsense choreographer scoffed at the notion over the phone from New York. We caught up with her for a few moments as she prepared to move rehearsals from the city that never sleeps to Atlanta, where, amid two-a-days last week, it didn't sound like she would get much shut-eye.
Tharp answered questions as if she were piloting a plane about to taxi the runway, a glimpse of the drive that powers her even at age 70.
Q: Some folks might be surprised how hands-on you are with the national tour, nearly two years after the world premiere.
A: Well, yeah. I enjoy working with talent, folks I've worked with before. And they're a terrific group of dancers, so why wouldn't I want to be in the room? ... It's all one stream of activity.
Q: Was the Alliance Theatre's role in helping you prepare for the world premiere a full creative partnership, a facilities rental deal or somewhere in between?
A: They were very, very, very supportive and they are a partner in it and for details, you can speak to them. I don't do contracts, I do rehearsals.
Q: Starting in 1976, this is your fourth work set to Frank Sinatra's music, which you've described as emotional "arias." Do you view these as one evolving creative expression or each piece as separate?
A: No, no, no. It's the Sinatra saga, right?
Q: Has "Come Fly Away" changed a lot, or is it true to what people saw at the Alliance?
A: True is not a relevant word. It has certainly continued to evolve and what's true about it in my opinion is that it's become stronger, clearer, more simple with each revision. I think that folks coming back might be interested, especially those who saw it originally, to think about the changes that have been made, which are quite extreme, and how that impacts. And the simple and most obvious one is that there's no longer an intermission [it's now an 80-minute single act]. And what does that do to the structure of it? The female vocalist is gone. What does that mean? There's a different opening, a different closing. There are three new songs in it. I find it to be much tighter and cleaner. That's why we continue to work.
Q: Even though the show was being aimed toward Broadway from the start, did you have a sense during the initial Atlanta run that it would be so well received and lead to a national tour?
A: Well, my intention is always to do the very best that I can. But what's made of that commercially or in the larger world is not really something I have control over. All I can do is the best that I can do.
Q: But are you pleased that it's gone as well as it has?
A: I don't make those judgments, OK? I have a very long career. I have a broad spectrum of work. For me, it's always about doing, like I keep saying, the best I can do on what I'm working on and thinking forward into the future and how things fit together. I'm on top of my 50th anniversary of work, which is 2015, and to me work ... is about evolving one's options, [increasing the] depth. That's what my job is.
Q: So how is your work on the Atlanta Ballet commission coming along?
A: Very positively. It's a wonderful working situation and I think we're all very, very enthusiastic about the materials [the dance is inspired by children's stories of Scottish author George MacDonald, set to Franz Schubert music] at hand -- the company, the new score, the scenic elements that are going to be worked in.
On accessatlanta.com: A look what's familiar, new in "Come Fly Away."
THEATER PREVIEW
"Come Fly Away"
8 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 1:30 and 7 p.m. Sunday. Fox Theatre, 660 Peachtree St., Atlanta. Tickets, $25-$65 (plus ticketing fees), at 1-800-745-3000, www.theaterofthestars.com.
"COME FLY AWAY": FAMILIAR AND NEW
Choreographer Twyla Tharp said "Come Fly Away" has "passed through a number of incarnations" since its world premiere at the Alliance Theatre in September 2009. The national tour production launching in Atlanta Tuesday night features 27 Frank Sinatra songs (three of them new, noted below with an asterisk, replacing seven from the original production), 14 dancers and 14 musicians onstage.
Two principal dancers from the Atlanta world premiere, Matthew Stockwell Dibble and John Selya, remain. Principal dancers remaining from the Broadway premiere, along with Dibble and Selya, are Cody Green, Laurie Kanyok, Marielys Molina and Ron Todorowski.
Originally a two-hour show with intermission, "Come Fly Away" is now an 80-minute single act.
The national tour song list:
“Stardust”
* “Luck Be a Lady”
“Let’s Fall in Love”
“Fly Me to the Moon”
“I’ve Got a Crush on You”
“Body and Soul”
* “Here’s to the Losers”
“You Make Me Feel So Young”
“Witchcraft”
* “Yes Sir, That’s My Baby”
“Learnin’ the Blues”
“That’s Life”
“Makin’ Whoopee”
“I Like to Lead When I Dance”
“Jumpin’ at the Woodside”
“Saturday Night is the Loneliest Night of the Week”
“I’m Gonna Live ‘Til I Die”
“Pick Yourself Up”
“Let’s Face the Music and Dance”
“Teach Me Tonight”
“Take Five”
“Lean Baby”
“Makin’ Whoopee” (reprise)
“One for My Baby”
“The Way You Look Tonight/My Funny Valentine”
“My Way”
“New York, New York”
