"Movin' Out," set in a working-class neighborhood in Hicksville, Long Island, vaguely centers on Eddie (a technically adept but emotionally flat John Selya) - distinguished only by his pseudo-macho greaser mannerisms and black leather jacket. His best friend is Tony (the exquisite Keith Roberts decked out in a curly blonde wig like the Prom King in "Carrie") - a grocery-store clerk and general stud. The third guy turns out to be the squeaky-clean James (Benjamin G. Bowman), recently engaged to his white-gloved sweetheart Judy.

Conflict brews when Eddie loses his sexy and troubled wife Brenda to Tony. Early scenes in which a knock-kneed female ensemble member in dorky glasses drools over Tony are not only stupid and offensive - they’re pointless and go nowhere.

Suddenly, the three guys march off to Vietnam and - lo and behold! - James gets killed in action (due mainly to Eddie's irresponsible behavior). Judy then becomes a recurring stock figure of the grieving war widow; Tony and Eddie feud; and both men suffer from post-war trauma. Tony and Brenda take drugs and fight; Eddie wallows in depraved behavior (including one abysmally laughable bondage-sex club sequence). A deux ex machina in the form of James' angelic spirit (clad in a jogging suit) unites all these tortured figures into a bright and hopeful future.

This scant and implausible narrative is most evident in the blunt titles of each scene: "Tony and Brenda Get Together"; "Eddie Knows"; "Off To War"; "Coming Home"; "Eddie Rages," "Eddie Gets High;" and so on. Oddly, though, drugs and war seem to be glamorized for rugged and raunchy dramatic effect. Tharp has no intention of delving into the complexities of these ever-relevant issues. And the outstanding dancers (including Chicago’s own Ron De Jesus, longtime ensemble member of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago) are given nothing more compelling or challenging to do than bump and grind, push each other around and writhe through imaginary drug trips.

The women (Nicole Kidman-look-a-like Elizabeth Parkinson as Brenda and ballerina Ashley Tuttle as the revered Judy) don’t get anymore cardboard than these. To the strains of "She's Got a Way," a parallel scene posits Brenda as a lap dancer in a Long Island dive bar being pawed by a drunken businessman, and Tony giving in to a Vietnamese prostitute at a Saigon bar. More hooker segments follow, quickly trailed by the "halo" scenes featuring the immaculate Judy and her various grief and/or drug-induced doppelgangers conjured by Eddie (almost as if Judy, not James, has died).

This tiresome, insincere affair makes me wonder about the future of original music theater. Billy Joel, who attended opening night, must regret having his name not only associated with – but also the main draw of - what appears to be a whimsical vanity production for Twyla Tharp. Audiences should stay home and pop in their Billy Joel CDs - at least they know they won’t be disappointed.

It's lunchtime at the Grillroom and Michael Cavanaugh is in a bit of a rush. On a short break from rehearsals of "Movin' Out," he's just crossed the street from the Shubert Theatre, where he has been appearing six times a week, performing selected works by Billy Joel. Wearing a black shirt and pants, he shuffles into the booth.

The last thing he wants to talk about is exactly what is on everyone's mind - the negative reviews "Movin' Out" received after it opened July 19th, 2002.

"I don't want to go there. I don't read reviews or talk about them," Cavanaugh says. "What I will say is the mood of the company is still pretty high and tickets are still selling pretty well in New York."

He adds, "I know at the end of every show we've done, we've had screaming people giving us a standing ovation, and that's a great feeling."

Polite and down to earth, he seems oblivious to the inevitable onslaught of media attention that comes from appearing in a Broadway-bound show, including critics' reviews. Though he comes across as a Midwestern guy in his 20s getting his first big break, the married father of one son is still savvy enough not to reveal his age. With the recording industry's youth-oriented obsession, it's hard to blame the guy. If you were working toward securing a record contract, you'd be less than forthcoming about your age, too.

The world of Broadway is admittedly different from what Cavanaugh is used to. Not to say he's a stranger to performing. He isn't. Still, Vegas showrooms and traditional theaters don't have a lot in common. Cavanaugh admits to being a bit green when it comes to musicals.

"I didn't know what to expect. I'm new to theater. I've been a rock and roll guy all my life," he says.

You'd probably expect nothing less from a musician whose previous exposure to musical theater included more traditional fare such as "42nd Street" and "The King and I" and not a single rock musical.

"I've never seen 'Tommy' or 'Mama Mia!' So I don't know much about it. I know how to perform the way I perform and fortunately, that's what they were looking for."

There's a lot riding on his performance in particular. With no other dialogue spoken during the show other than Joel's lyrics, Cavanaugh is essentially the narrator of the piece. He says he focuses on diction and not much else.

"I was nervous the first couple of previews," he says. "Not about my abilities; I was worried I'd lose focus. If I let it flow out naturally, I'm fine. If I try to get two verses ahead of myself, I'm a goner."

It's a show Cavanaugh says he has been preparing for all his life. As a boy growing up in Cleveland, he wanted to play drums. His parents bought a piano instead and at the age of 7½ he had learned his first song by ear. It was Joel's "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me."

"I was a terrible student. I'd come to a piano lesson and they'd expect me to play Beethoven, and I hadn't worked on it at all because I'd been playing rock and roll instead," Cavanaugh says.

The years of practicing the Beatles and not Beethoven have paid off. Much of the praise for the show - from audiences and critics alike - have been directed toward Cavanaugh, who in the course of 20 or so songs manages to embody in his performances all of the voice and emotion of Joel.

"I try to approach each song as Billy would," Cavanaugh says. "I don't impersonate him. I try to get at his point of view in the song, his attitude."

Still, he shies away from anything that might put more focus on him than on the rest of the cast. "I'm just a part of this whole thing, but I appreciate [the good reviews]."

As for what changes lie in store for the musical before it reaches New York, Cavanaugh again was tight-lipped. As far as he knows, the show is frozen and any changes won't necessarily impact him.

"I think the show is smart and intelligent," he says. "For [choreographer and director] Twyla [Tharp] to take a bunch of songs that weren't written for a one purpose and turn them into one purpose is amazing. I can't think of anything that should change."

"It's time to change our ways," wrote Billy Joel in the song "I've Loved These Days," heard late in the New York-bound musical "Movin' Out."

Good advice, for any show in the throes of an out-of-town tryout.

Director/choreographer Twyla Tharp has taken that Joel lyric to heart. The Chicago Shubert Theatre engagement of "Movin' Out" opened to mixed reviews July 19th, 2002 following several weeks of previews. Since then, Tharp and company have gone back to rework the show, which features Tharp's choreography set to songs from the Joel canon.

For weeks Tharp's ensemble performed the old show at night while rehearsing the revisions during the day, in classic tryout tradition. The first round of changes went into the August 13th, 2002 performance. New versions of various scenes were added through Tuesday's performance.

"It's not frozen," Tharp said, "but it's getting to be JELL-O. There won't be any more changes in Chicago." The local run ends September 1st, 2002.

Judging from Tuesday's performance, Tharp's extensive revisions - focusing on Act 1 and its problems of narrative clarity - have made for a clearer, more satisfying show. Tharp focuses more directly on her primary characters and their travails in Vietnam and back home in America, across 20 years and three decades.

The improvements in the formerly chaotic introductory sequence, set to "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant," are striking. Now audiences know who the key players are, without a scorecard. The choreography is less tied to the lyrics of each Joel song, and the kinetic payoffs of Act 2, fueled by "Prelude/Angry Young Man" and "Only The Good Die Young," are easier to enjoy.

"The guiding principle," Tharp said, "was this: If it's confusing, cut it out." In many sequences, she said, "We simply had too many elements. I guess the word is 'overload.'"

After the reworked opening sequence, "Movin' Out" no longer segues into "I Go To Extremes," which was danced by John Selya and Elizabeth Parkinson. That number has been cut. The title number, originally featuring Keith Roberts and members of the female corps, now features the male principals.

When the action shifts to Vietnam ("We Didn't Start The Fire"), the character of Eddie is no longer partly responsible for the death of James. The "Fire" segment formerly consisting of Brenda's marijuana-induced hallucination is now far less silly and focuses on the other principal females as well. Overall the importance of Ashley Tuttle's Judy, angry war widow, has been heightened by Tharp's revisions.

And the dueling sexual exhibitionism of "She's Got A Way" has given way to a more nuanced depiction of post-traumatic loneliness. Now, Tharp said, "it's not so simplistic."

The revisions haven't smoothed out all the bumps. But Tharp's changes may give the show a better chance at Broadway success. Tuesday's audience seemed to like the revised "Movin' Out," responding politely to Act 1 and enthusiastically to the often exhilarating second act.

"It's been hard, I'll be honest," Tharp said of the work being done to the show's "first draft." "But we're grateful for Chicago and the audiences."

The show begins previews at New York City's Richard Rodgers Theatre September 30th, 2002 for an October 24th, 2002 opening.

"Judging from Tuesday's performance, Tharp's extensive revisions - focusing on Act I and its problems of narrative clarity - have made for a clearer, more satisfying show," Phillips wrote in his review, in the Tribune's August 22nd, 2002 editions. "Tharp focuses more directly on her primary characters and their travails in Vietnam and back home in America, across 20 years and three decades."

Phillips called Act II "exhilarating." And while he wrote the changes "haven't smoothed out all the bumps," he says they may give the musical a better chance to succeed on Broadway.

"Movin' Out" begins previews September 30th, 2002 at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on Broadway, with an October 24th, 2002 opening.

"It is ludicrous to say I am purchasing a condo in a Trump building for my daughter, who is just entering her junior year of high school," says Joel. "Any apartment I consider buying is for myself. If my daughter is good, she can stay over sometime."