NY Times Theatre and Dance Critics 'Spar' on COME FLY AWAY Reviews

'Come Fly Away', Twyla Tharp's new artistic creation set to the music of the legendary Frank Sinatra, is at the heart of a 'spar' of sorts between two New York Times critics.

NY Times theater critic Charles Isherwood gave the show favorable reviews hailing it as "a major new work of pop dance theater." The paper's chief dance critic, Alastair Macaulay, on the other hand called the choreography "less sensational than sensationalistic...this is intimacy perverted into exhibitionism." 

The New York Times asked both critics to expand on their thoughts in the NY Arts Beat Blog. Read an excerpt of their conversation below. 

CHARLES ISHERWOOD: "Alastair, I'm sorry you found so little to enjoy in the show, particularly since there's more dancing in it than there has been in probably the last five seasons of Broadway musicals! But I fear a lot of what you object to in "Come Fly Away" is what makes it viable as a Broadway production. Twyla Tharp needed to consider the perceptions of audiences who are not necessarily sophisticated viewers of dance. In fact by the standards of dancing on Broadway, "Come Fly Away" is very accomplished indeed, and if it seeks to entertain rather than show off Ms. Tharp's gifts at their most subtle, that's only to be expected. I think it's exciting that a choreographer of her stature continues to tackle the challenge of bringing pure dance shows to Broadway. Nobody else is doing it, and it's probable that even Ms. Tharp wouldn't have the chance if it weren't for the jukebox musical phenomenon."

Can you think of a contemporary choreographer whose work would be able to hold its own on a Broadway stage today?

From ALASTAIR MACAULAY (in response to Isherwood above): "Charles, Let's establish a few things first in case readers misunderstand us. You go to a great deal of dance, perhaps more than any theater critic of the present day; and I go to a great deal of theater. (I'm writing this in London, where, between dance performances, I'm catching up with many of the same theater performances you saw here two week ago. And we've given each other recommendations by email about this. ) You're not just a connoisseur of what works on Broadway, and I'm not just a highbrow balletomane. So I imagiNe You can answer the question you're asking perfectly well."

To read the rest of the conversation, click here.

COME FLY AWAY follows four couples as they fall in and out of love during one song and dance filled evening at a crowded nightclub. Blending the legendary vocals of Frank Sinatra with a live on stage 19-piece big band and 15 of the world's finest dancers, COME FLY AWAY weaves an unparalleled hit parade of classics, including "Fly Me To The Moon," "My Way," and "That's Life" into a soaring 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 for this fresh innovative musical.

COME FLY AWAY is the next and most elaborate chapter in one of the most fruitful collaborations in contemporary dance. 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 Ms. Tharp and Mikhail Baryshnikov. The collaboration continued with Nine Sinatra Songs, Ms. Tharp's acclaimed piece for fourteen dancers which had its world premiere with Twyla Tharp Dance in 1982, and was followed by Sinatra Suite, a duet featuring Mr. 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, Mr. Sinatra requested that Sinatra Suite be performed when he received his Kennedy Center Honors Award.

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