#83: Movin’ Out

August 31, 2025
  • Performances: 1,303.
  • Open / Close: October 24, 2002 – December 11, 2005
  • Theater: Richard Rodgers Theatre.
  • Tony Awards: As mentioned in the podcast, all of the principles in this show were nominated; that included John Selya and Elizabeth Parkinson in the Leading categories, Michael Cavanaugh, Keith Roberts and Ashley Tuttle in the Featured categories. It was the first time that non-speaking actors had been nominated in these categories. None of them won but Twyla Tharp won for Best Choreography and Billy Joel and Stuart Malina won for Best Orchestrations. The show garnered 10 noms in all.
  • Fun Fact: For whatever reason, this show did not translate across the pond. The West End production, which opened in April of 2006, ran for less than 2 months.

Podcast

This episode of the podcast kicked off season 3 of “Chasing Phantom” and, if this episode is any indication, it’s going to be the best season yet.

Tony Award nominee and Astaire Award-winning performer Elizabeth Parkinson joins me for a deep dive on the dance-musical “Movin’ Out.” Our conversation not only covers all sorts of insider information on the development of that show, but also ranges into topics like managing life as an artist, the challenges dancers in particular face, and why being on Broadway doesn’t always define success.

Like I do from all of my guests, I learn a lot from Elizabeth and I I hope you do too!

Here it is: the whole show! I wish it was a little better quality and included clear close-ups but still, it’s great to be able to see it all!
This opening night coverage includes a few close-ups to get a better sense of what happens on stage. There’s a nice snippet of Elizabeth being interviewed which is cool.
The Tony Awards made the most of the knock-on celebrity of Billy Joel starting off the 2003 show with him playing in Times Square. The clip goes directly into a “Movin’ Out” performance from the cast which really showcases the athleticism of the choreography. If you just want to see the dancing, there’s a clip of that at the bottom of this page.
One of my favorite moments in this interview is right at the beginning where Twyla looks like she has no patience for even having to do the interview! Ms. Tharp does NOT suffer fools!
More high-quality video of the show in this clip as well as interesting bits of conversation with Twyla and Billy.
I think this video takes up after the first video I posted, showing Billy Joel come on stage to perform with the “Movin’ On” band.
This is just the dance part of the Tony Award performance.