Moving perilously close to Billy Joel-meets-The IceCapades, the all-dance musical Movin' Out wants to use Joel's tunes to tell the story of America's loss of innocence from the 1950s to the 80s. But the results, in the hands of accomplished but repetitive director/choreographer Twyla Tharp, dwell too often on dances of youthful courtship and only come to life in scenes where the Vietnam War and its psychological aftermath affect the characters. (Not that the characters are particularly distinctive, but at least the generic feelings of tragedy and loss resonate stronger here than the generic feelings of puppy love.) One gets the feeling Tharp really wanted to create major dances of just two Joel songs—"Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" and "Goodnight Saigon." She succeeded, but the other 90 minutes are filler.
