Victor Herbert / Movin’ Out

On this day in classical music: Victor Herbert’s operetta “Naughty Marietta” was given its premiere in Syracuse, N.Y. in 1910. The Irish-born composer, cellist and conductor composed two operas, works for orchestra, solo piano and cello. He is best known, however, for his operettas, the most famous of which is “Naughty Marietta.” Herbert led the Pittsburgh Symphony from 1898 to 1904 and was a founding member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) in 1914. “Naughty Marietta” features some of Herbert’s most attractive music, from “It Never Can Be Love” and “’Neath the Southern Moon” to “I’m Falling in Love With Someone” and the “Italian Street Song.” Listen to Beverly Sills perform the coloratura classic “Italian Street Song.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gkr3IBYg-D4

On this day in the musical theatre:“Movin’ Out” opened on Broadway in 2002. Featuring music by Billy Joel and choreography by Twyla Tharp, “Movin’ Out” is a series of dances that tell the story of 1960s-era youth and their experiences with the Vietnam War. Joel’s songs were performed by an on-stage pianist which created a musical foundation for Tharp’s dances. “Movin’ Out” played for more than three years on Broadway and then toured the U.S. Watch the orignal Broadway cast perform “River of Dreams,” “Keeping the Faith” and “Only the Good Die Young” at the 2003 Tony Awards. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jf6_A-wZiKk

Musical musings: As a dance critic, I am perfectly willing to call “Movin’ Out” a show, and a terrific one at that, despite its thin-soup plot about coming of age in the Vietnam era. What the production is not is a musical, newfangled or otherwise, just because it is produced on Broadway. There is no dialogue, the dancers don’t sing and the lyrics are sometimes irrelevant to the dancing. (Tharp) knows that music is transformed by dance. At the end, the same disco drive propels the dancing at an exultant high school reunion. All good ballets used to have an apotheosis. This one does too. – Anna Kisselgoff in The New York Times

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