Tharp's COME FLY AWAY Featuring Sinatra Vocals to Open at Marquis in March

The new Broadway musical, COME FLY AWAY, conceived, choreographed, and directed by Tony Award-winner Twyla Tharp and featuring vocals by Frank Sinatra, will open this spring at the Marquis Theatre (1535 Broadway). Previews will begin on Monday, March 1, 2010 with an opening night slated for Thursday, March 25. COME FLY AWAY played its sold-out, critically lauded world premiere engagement at Atlanta's ALLIANCE THEATRE this fall.

COME FLY AWAY, the new musical from visionary 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 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.

Complete casting and producing team will be announced shortly.

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.

Twyla Tharp. Since graduating from college in 1963, Twyla Tharp has choreographed more than one hundred thirty-five dances, five Hollywood movies, directed and/or choreographed four Broadway shows, written three books and received one Tony Award, two Emmy Awards, nineteen honorary doctorates, the Vietnam Veterans of America President's Award, the 2004 National Medal of the Arts and many grants including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellowship. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and an Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 1965 Ms. Tharp founded her dance company, Twyla Tharp Dance. In addition to choreographing for her own company, she has choreographed for many other companies including: American Ballet Theatre, The Paris Opera Ballet, The Royal Ballet, New York City Ballet, The Boston Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance and The Martha Graham Dance Company. Ms. Tharp's work first appeared on Broadway in 1980 with When We Were Very Young, followed in 1981 by her collaboration with David Byrne on The catherine Wheel at the Winter Garden. Her 1985 production of Singin' In The Rain played at the Gershwin and was followed by an extensive national tour. In 2002, Ms. Tharp's award-winning dance musical Movin' Out, set to the music and lyrics of Billy Joel, premiered at the Richard Rodgers and ran for three years. A national tour opened in 2004 and also ran for three years. For Movin' Out Ms. Tharp received the 2003 Tony Award, the 2003 Astaire Award, the Drama League Award for Sustained Achievement in Musical Theater; and both the Drama Desk Award and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Choreography. For the London production Ms. Tharp won Best Choreography (Musical Theatre) Award of the UK's Critics' Circle National Dance Awards 2006. In 2006 Ms. Tharp worked with Bob Dylan's music and lyrics to create The Times They Are A-Changin' which played at the Brooks Atkinson. In film Ms. Tharp has collaborated with director Milos Forman on Hair in 1978, Ragtime in 1980, and Amadeus in 1984, with Taylor Hackford on White Nights in 1985 and with James Brooks on I'll Do Anything in 1994. Her television credits include choreographing "Sue's Leg" for the inaugural episode of PBS' "Dance In America;" co-producing and directing "Making Television Dance," which won the Chicago International Film Festival Award; and directing "The catherine Wheel" for BBC Television. Ms. Tharp co-directed the television special "Baryshnikov By Tharp," which won two Emmy Awards as well as the Director's Guild of America Award for Outstanding Director Achievement. In 1992 Ms. Tharp wrote her autobiography Push Comes To Shove. Her second book, The Creative Habit: Learn it and Use it for Life, was published in October, 2003, and she recently released The Collaborative Habit: Life Lessons for Working Together. Today Ms. Tharp continues to create and to lecture around the world.

Frank Sinatra. Sinatra is an American icon and one of the most recognizable and admired artists of the 20th and 21st Centuries, with a catalogue of music that is a soundtrack for our lives. Long acclaimed as the world's greatest performer of popular music, he is the artist who set the standard for all others to follow. More than a singer-he was an actor, recording artist, cabaret and concert star, radio and television personality, and, on occasion, producer, director, and conductor. A beloved entertainer for six decades, Sinatra earned three Oscars, three Golden Globes, including the Cecil B. DeMille Award, ten personal Grammys (and a total of 20 for his albums), an Emmy, a Peabody, and the Kennedy Center Honors Award. A generous charitable contributor, he was honored with the prestigious Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In addition, Sinatra was awarded the Presidential Medal Of Honor and the CongressionAl Gold Medal, Congress' highest civilian award. Besides recording nearly 1,500 songs released on scores of records, he has starred in some 60 motion pictures. Frank Sinatra has been called the most popular entertainer of the 20th century.

About Frank Sinatra Enterprises (FSE)
Frank Sinatra Enterprises (FSE) is a joint venture between the Sinatra family and Warner Music Group (NYSE: WMG). FSE owns Sinatra's recordings from the Reprise era as well as a treasure trove of films, television specials and unreleased footage, photos and audio recordings, which collectively represent one of the foremost bodies of artistic work of the modern era. FSE also owns and manages Sinatra's name and likeness rights and represents the artist's rights to the Columbia and Capitol catalogues. FSE pursues innovative new product and venture opportunities with respect to the legendary entertainer's name and likeness, as well as Sinatra's audio and visual recordings.

COME FLY AWAY will be performed at the Marquis Theatre (1535 Broadway) on the following schedule from March 1 - March 27: Monday - Saturday at 8pm, Wednesday and Saturday at 2pm.

Beginning March 30, 2010, the performance schedule will be: Tuesday - Saturday at 8pm, Wednesday and Saturday at 2pm, and Sunday at 3pm.

Tickets, ranging in price from $66.50 - $126.50, can be purchased via www.TicketMaster.com or by calling 212-307-4100.

For groups of 20 or more, please contact Nederlander Group Sales at 212.840.3890 or 800.714.8452 www.nederlandergroupsales.com.