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"'Movin' Out' With Dance, Joel Tunes"
By: Kyle Lawson
(September 4th, 2005)

"Movin' Out." The Billy Joel song, right? The one about working stiffs in dead-end jobs. "It seems such a waste of time if that's what it's all about," the singer complains in the chorus. "If that's movin' up, then I'm movin' out."

Joel's gutsy take on blue-collar America made him one of the nation's pop icons until his semi-retirement several years ago. It also inspired a long-running Broadway musical that paired his songs with the choreography of Twyla Tharp, an icon of the dance world who, like Joel, is much happier when she's partying on the edge.

The all-dance, no-dialogue show, which won Tony Awards for Joel and Tharp, arrives at Gammage Auditorium this week, with Fountain Hills' Holly Cruikshank in a leading role and Tamara Dyke Compton, another Valley talent, in the ensemble.

"Movin' Out" is the story of five friends who come of age against the tumultuous backdrop of the Vietnam War and its aftermath. Tharp uses more than 25 of Joel's tunes, ranging from the beat-heavy "Uptown Girl" to the plaintive "An Innocent Man," to follow these people through first love, breakups and tragedy.

It's all tied together by the young "Piano Man," a character representing Joel who also serves the narrative as an ironic Greek chorus.

Heady stuff, and not for every taste, but accessible enough to prompt the New York Times' Ben Brantley, no great lover of musicals, to call it "a shimmering portrait of an American generation."

Recently, we caught up with Cruikshank in Los Angeles, where she was taking a break from the tour and filming motion-transfers for one of the characters in a new film, "Foodfight!," along with Charlie Sheen, Hilary Duff, and others.


Question: Motion transfers?

Answer: It's the technique that was used in Polar Express. They hook all these things to your body and you go through the motions and the information is fed right into the computer. I'm playing a Cruella de Vil type of character. It's a lot of work, but a lot of fun, too.


Question: The last time we saw you at Gammage, it was in another dance role, "The Girl In The Yellow Dress" in "Contact."

Answer: I left that show to take over the role of Brenda in "Movin' Out." This new show is probably the hardest thing I've ever done but it was something I couldn't resist. I have always loved Billy Joel's music and I've always wanted to work with Twyla Tharp.


Question: Brenda and her boyfriend Eddie are featured in Joel's song, "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant." It's a rough relationship, with lots of twists and turns. Is it that way for Brenda in the musical?

Answer: Yes, but there are some changes. She and Eddie are still the prom king and queen at the beginning but, instead of marrying like they do in the song, they break up and she falls for Anthony (who's mentioned in the song, "Movin' Out"). She and Tony don't have an easy time of it, especially after Tony comes home from Vietnam. It's hard for them to reconnect.


Question: There is no dialogue. Is that tough?

Answer: At first, we actually rehearsed the show using dialogue, then we did it with nothing but dance. I think that helped us understand the characters better. Once I really understood Brenda's emotions, it was easier to translate them into movement.


Question: You grew up in Fountain Hills, where your father publishes the local newspaper. Why aren't we seeing your byline in the Fountain Hills Times instead of on the Gammage marquee?

Answer: It was always dance for me. I took classes with Mary Moe Adams and at Ballet Arizona. I wanted to be a ballet dancer and after I graduated from the North Carolina School of the Arts, I went to New York and auditioned for everybody. No one wanted me. I was too tall. I was devastated. I considered coming home but someone I suggested I audition for Tommy Tune, who was casting The Will Rogers Follies. Tommy is 6 feet, 7 inches. Suddenly, my height didn't matter. After that, I just kept going from show to show - "Hello, Dolly!" with Carol Channing; "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum" with Nathan Lane and, later, Whoopi Goldberg; "Fosse" and, then, "Contact."


Question: Now you're making your way into films. In addition to "Foodfight!," you have a part in "The Producers." Is that the future for you?

Answer: A film career isn't something you can predict. My home base will always be theatre. I've been so lucky. I've always left a show to do another show.


Question: What advice do you have for young dancers who want to pursue a career on the stage?

Answer: Never stop learning. There's a lot of competition out there and there's always going to be someone who can do it better. I still go to dance class five days a week, and I take acting and voice lessons. The more you know and the more you can do, the better chance you have of being noticed.


"Billy Joel Launches Music Education Initiative"
The Billy Joel Endowment Fund To Provide Seed Money, Scholarships & Endowments To A Variety Of East Coast Colleges, Universities & Music Schools

(September 8th, 2005)

As part of his long-term commitment to music education, Billy Joel has recently launched an ongoing initiative to provide gifts of seed money, musical scholarships, and endowments to a variety of East Coast colleges, universities, and music schools. Awards, scholarships and endowments granted by the Billy Joel Endowment Fund will be announced at the discretion of the individual institutions.

A longtime advocate for music education, Joel first began holding "Master Class" sessions on college campuses more than 20 years ago, giving sessions at colleges across the country and around the world. In addition, he has held classes as a benefit for the STAR Foundation (Standing for Truth About Radiation) and to establish the Rosalind Joel Scholarship for the Performing Arts at City College in New York City.

Having sold more than 100 million records over the past quarter century, Billy Joel ranks as one of most popular recording artists and respected entertainers in the world. He has had 33 Top 40 hits and 23 Grammy nominations since signing his first solo recording contract in 1972. Joel entered the charts for the first time in 1974 with his signature "Piano Man" single and album. "Fantasies & Delusions: Music for Solo Piano," an album of Billy Joel's classical piano pieces released in October 2001, spent 18 weeks at #1 on the Top Classical Albums chart. "Movin' Out," Broadway's dance musical conceived, choreographed and directed by Twyla Tharp and based on 30 classic songs by Billy Joel, opened on Broadway to critical and popular acclaim. In 2003, Billy Joel won his first Tony Award for Best Orchestrations.

Joel's "Face 2 Face" Tours with Sir Elton John broke box office records around the world. Billboard heralded "Face 2 Face" as "...the most successful touring package of all time." In 1990, he was presented with a Grammy Legend Award. Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1992, Joel was presented with the Johnny Mercer Award, the organization's highest honor, in 2001. In 1999 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and has received the Recording Industry Association of America Diamond Award.

Joel has earned three Awards For Cable Excellence and has received numerous ASCAP and BMI awards including the ASCAP Founders Award and the BMI Career Achievement Award and, in 1994, was given the 1994 Billboard Century Award. Among his many other awards and honors, Billy Joel has been given a Doctor of Humane Letters from Fairfield University (1991), a Honorary Doctorate from Berklee College of Music (1993), and a Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Hofstra University (1997), and a Doctor of Music from Southampton College (2000). For his accomplishments as a musician and as a humanitarian, Billy Joel was honored as the 2002 MusiCares Person of The Year by the MusiCares Foundation and the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences.

On September 20th, 2004, Billy Joel received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, California, adding a new milestone to his extraordinary career.


"Billy Joel Gives $320,000 To Syracuse University Music"
By: Nancy Buczek
(September 19th, 2005)

Four future Syracuse University graduate students will be able to claim they have a connection to entertainer Billy Joel. If they're lucky, they may get to rub elbows with the six-time Grammy winner.

Syracuse University plans to announce today that its Setnor School of Music in the College of Visual and Performing Arts will receive a $320,000 gift from Joel as part of his music education initiative.

Syracuse University officials will use the money to establish four Billy Joel Fellowships in Composition and hope to enroll the first two students next fall, said Carole Brzozowski, the college's dean.

Joel chose seven East Coast schools, including prominent ones such as The Juilliard School in Manhattan, to receive seed money, musical scholarships and endowments to develop future composers. A Syracuse University alumnus who wishes to remain anonymous helped facilitate the Syracuse University grant, Brzozowski said.

The money will cover full tuition for the two-year master's program, provide some support money for each student and, at the end of their studies, possibly help pay for either a high-level album with their music or a concert of their work in a prominent place, Brzozowski said.

It's unknown now if the Joel Fellows will get to meet their namesake.

"We haven't been able to get that nailed down. He has said he wants to be active in relation to the programs at the schools, but what exactly that means, we're not sure," Brzozowski said. "My hope is he would have some active interaction."


"Local Music Institutions Sing Billy Joel's Praises"
By: Heather Eng
(September 22nd, 2005)

He may be in a "New York State of Mind," but Billy Joel has given two Boston music institutions something to sing about.

As part of the "Piano Man"'s commitment to music education, the Billy Joel Endowment Fund has awarded both the New England Conservatory and the Boston Symphony Orchestra grants of $300,000 each.

Other grant recipients include the Eastman School of Music, Syracuse University, the State University of New York at Purchase, and New York University.

The New England Conservatory will use the funds to establish the Billy Joel Performance Outreach Endowment, a program that will enable about 20 students to give 40 free community concerts a year for the elderly, inner-city youth and schoolchildren.

The Boston Symphony Orchestra will use Joel's gift to restore piano practice rooms in Tanglewood's Tappan Manor House. These rooms are used by fellows of the Tanglewood Music Center, the Boston Symphony Orchestra's residency program for pre-professional musicians.

"(Joel) made a series of grants and he decided one of the critical areas he wanted to focus on was the music school," said Mark Volpe, managing director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. "They really make a difference in terms of musicians."

"It's a very generous grant and it will make a difference. He is the 'Piano Man.' This made sense to him."


"Billy Joel Pledges Millions To Music Schools"
By: Ben Mattison
(September 23rd, 2005)

Pop star Billy Joel has made a series of major donations to colleges, universities, and music schools, including the New England Conservatory in Boston, Massachussets, and the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. NEC received a gift of $300,000 to support its Performance Outreach Fellowship Ensembles program, which helps students stage community concerts. Joel gave the Eastman School $320,000 to endow a scholarship fund. The first beneficiary of the fund is 33 year-old Russell Scarbrough, who is working toward a doctorate in jazz and contemporary media at the school.

Joel also gave $320,000 to Syracuse University's College of Visual and Performing Arts. The money will be used to create fellowships in composition, providing tuition and a stipend to four graduate students for two years at a time.

According to press reports, New York University, the Juilliard School, the State University of New York, and the Boston Symphony's Tanglewood Music Center are also receiving grants from Joel.

Joel, a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, has sold more than 100 million copies of such albums as "Piano Man," "The Stranger," and "An Innocent Man." An album of his classical compositions, "Fantasies & Delusions," was released in 2001. He collaborated with choreographer Twyla Tharp on the 2002 musical "Movin' Out," which is set to his songs, and won a Tony Award for the show's orchestrations.


"Songs of Billy Joel Fuel 'Movin' Out'"
By: Keith Cohen
(September 30th, 2005)

American pop icon Billy Joel might have become a powerful and prominent German-Jewish industrialist following in his paternal grandfather's footsteps if not for the Nazi edict requiring "Aryanization" of all Jewish businesses.

Instead, the distinguished rock and roller found fame and fortune in the music business. More than two dozen of his hit songs are featured in the national touring company's Kansas City engagement of the Tony Award-winning, dance-heavy musical "Movin' Out," which opens this year's Theatre League slate at the Music Hall October 4th, 2005 - October 5th, 2005.

Singer/songwriter Joel's Jewish roots are the subject of the 2001 documentary film "The Joel Files," which traces his Jewish ancestry back to 16th Century Nuremberg. His grandfather, Karl, owned the second-largest textile mail-order business in Germany. Like many well-to-do Jewish owners of a thriving business, he was forced to divest himself to save the lives of his immediate family. Billy Joel's father, Howard, was imprisoned by the Nazis at Dachau during the war, and, after his release, moved to America to begin a new life in New York. This new life included adopting a new faith for his son. Young Billy was raised in a predominantly Catholic neighborhood within the Long Island suburb of Levittown and frequently attended mass and confession. Howard Joel was a classically trained and self-disciplined pianist. His musical influence was instrumental in Billy's development, starting with piano lessons at age 4. He left the family when Billy was just 7. The father was always a mystery to his son. "I didn't really know my father well when I was growing up, and by the time I met him again, he didn't really want to talk about his German roots," said Billy Joel in a 2003 article published in The Record of Bergen County, New Jersey.

In a 2002 Playbill article, Tharp said to Joel: "I don't know if you're Italian, Jewish, Irish or what."

Joel replied: "My family's Jewish, my friends are Italian and every woman who ever broke my heart was Irish."

Which brings us to the present, in which Joel's songs are set to reverberate in Kansas City. This new musical was conceived, choreographed and directed by Twyla Tharp. She is a member of the dance world's aristocracy and heads up a cutting-edge dance company. "Movin' Out" tells the story of lifelong friends through two turbulent decades that change them and the world around them forever. Their lives remain intertwined through high school romance, breakups, Vietnam, the high life and hitting bottom. In "Movin' Out," Joel's songs mesh with Tharp's dance, employing barely a word of dialogue in its two hours.

The music includes chart-toppers like "An Innocent Man," "Just The Way You Are," "Big Shot," "She's Got A Way" and "Uptown Girl." The show's raft of positive reviews mention excellence in melding passion with athleticism. Joel insisted that the pit band be a real rock band. He has compared the experience to watching a child grow into a larger, wholly independent entity. The Broadway run is scheduled to end December 11th, 2005 after over 1,300 performances. And Joel is now even talking about writing an entirely original Broadway musical of his own.