Come Fly Away announces cast

Casting has been announced for the new Broadway musical Come Fly Away, conceived, choreographed, and directed by Tony Award-winner Twyla Tharp and featuring vocals by Frank Sinatra. The musical opens at the Marquis Theatre on 25 Mar 2010, following previews from 1 Mar.

Come Fly Away will star Matthew Dibble, Holley Farmer, Laura Mead, Charlie Neshyba-Hodges, Rika Okamoto, Karine Plantadit, Keith Roberts and John Selya, all of whom were in last fall's acclaimed world premiere production at Atlanta's Alliance Theatre.

Come Fly Away reunites Tharp with several original cast members from her Tony Award-winning musical 'Movin' Out,' including Alexander Brady, Rika Okamoto and Karine Plantadit, as well as Tony nominees Keith Roberts, John Selya and Ashley Tuttle.

The company also includes: Kristine Bendul, Colin Bradbury, Alexander Brady, Todd Burnsed, Jeremy Cox, Carolyn Doherty, Amanda Edge, Cody Green, Heather Hamilton, Laurie Kanyok, Meredith Miles, Marielys Molina, Eric Otto, Justin Peck, Joel Prouty and Ron Todorowski.

Come Fly Away (then named 'Come Fly With Me') played its world premiere engagement at Atlanta's Alliance Theatre from 15 Sep - 11 Dec 2009.

Critics praised the world premiere production. "You can't question the inventiveness and vitality of Tharp's choreography — a quirky-sophisticated amalgamation of soaring ballet and earthy modern form — or the powerhouse technique of her superb performers. I have never seen a more charismatic, more expressive group of dancers in my life." (Atlanta Journal-Constitution); "Tharp's new show is vibrant, engaging and, at times, thrilling." (Variety); "exhilarating" (New York Times).

Come Fly Away, the new musical from director/choreographer Twyla Tharp, follows four couples as they fall in and out of love during one song and dance filled evening at a crowded nightclub.

Blending the vocals of Frank Sinatra with a live on stage 19-piece big band and 15 of dancers, Come Fly Away weaves Sinatra classics, including "Fly Me To The Moon," "My Way," and "That's Life" into a musical fantasy of romance and seduction.

The show's score combines classic and newly discovered vocal performances from the Sinatra archives along with signature arrangements (Nelson Riddle, Billy May, Quincy Jones) as well as brand new charts.

Twyla 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 piece for fourteen 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.

Citing it as one of the purest expressions of his body of work, Sinatra requested that 'Sinatra Suite' be performed when he received his Kennedy Center Honors Award.

Come Fly Away features scenic design by James Youmans, costume design by Katherine Roth, lighting design by Donald Holder and sound design by Peter McBoyle. Music supervision is by the late Sam Lutfiyya and Patrick Vaccariello. Additional arrangements and orchestrations are by Dave Pierce and Don Sebesky.

Tharp won a Tony Award for Best Choreography - and was nominated for Best Director - for her Billy Joel-themed dancical 'Movin' Out,' which ran on Broadway from Sep 2002 - Dec 2005 playing a total of 1331 performances. Her last show to bow on Broadway, the Bob Dylan themed musical, 'The Times They Are A-Changin'' ran for only 63 performances - 35 of which were previews.