Last night, my husband and I went to the Golden Gate Theater to see Movin' Out, a musical based on Billy Joel's songs and choreographed by the marvelous Twyla Tharp (whom I've been calling Twyla Twarp for the longest time). This was a birthday gift of hubby because he knows I absolutely love Billy Joel. He bought the tickets months ago and I made sure we got front seats, even though I know Billy Joel won't be there.

I don't know when my one-sided love affair with Mr. Joel started. I just remember back in high school, a friend of mine was going to the States for a vacation and asked us, her girlfriends, what we wanted from there. Everyone went for either Duran Duran or Spandau Ballet posters, I wanted Billy Joel. Of course I became the brunt of many jokes because of that, but I didn't care. I love him, buggy eyes and all, and his wonderful, soulful songs even more.

Even now that he's gotten himself into a lot of stupid mishaps, making him regular fodder for those late night show monologues, I still adore him. It has never been romantic. I didn't even hate Christie Brinkley when she was with him, like I did Nicole Kidman for preventing Tom from meeting and falling in love with me. I am just in awe of his great talent and really really love his songs. I'll take him over the more-adulated Sting anytime.

The dancing was excellent, as I expected. I absorbed all the colors and lively movement excitedly, but silently. One thing I promised my husband, to convince him to go to a musical, is that I will not sing along. I kept this promise all night, but I must admit there were times when it was difficult, especially when "Uptown Girl" blared on the speakers - even some of the audience members couldn't resist!

The highlight of my night was when the singer sang "This Night", my most favorite Billy Joel song, which I didn't expect to hear because it wasn't one of his big hits. Heck it wasn't even included in his Greatest Hits cd I got a while back. I intentionally didn't pore through the Playbill before the show because I wanted to be surprised. And indeed I was. Even if the show ended after that song, which was about halfway through Act I, I would've been a happy camper.

The only heart-tugging moment I had was when the singer sang "An Innocent Man", which made me miss my dad. My dad loved that song, which was unusual because my mom and dad usually liked songs from their era, which meant Perry Como, Nat King Cole et. al. I'm sure he got to know it from my endless playing of the cd (or maybe casette tape back then) An Innocent Man in my room or the family car. It came to a point where we would both sing along to it over and over, much to my brother's irritation. Years later when our roles were switched and I was doing the driving and he was my passenger, the song came on the radio and we just looked at each other and smiled.

I tried to focus back on the story to enjoy the rest of the show, which I did. After the show my husband got me the cd for the original Broadway play, and we both smiled when we saw that we didn't get a ticket for the unsafe parking we did next to a Stop sign. During the ride home Black Eyed Peas was on, but in my mind all I could hear was my daddy and me singing along to "An Innocent Man".

I know you don't want to hear what I say
I know you're gonna keep turning away
But I've been there and if I can survive
I can keep you alive
I'm not above going through it again
I've not above being cool for a while
If you're cruel to me I'll understand

Vangie Fuhrman got cold on 8.19.2004 6:39 PM. |