Editor’s note: “Movin’ Out returns to the Buell Theatre June 13-18. Here is John Moore’s advance interview with the show’s “Piano Man,” Darren Holden. It was first published May 23, 2004.
When native Irishman Darren Holden found out native Long Islander Billy Joel was about to watch him perform as the Piano Man for the first time in the Broadway musical “Movin’ Out,” he felt a little like Ralphie Cifaretto must have felt just before Tony Soprano stuffed his head in a bowling bag.
“He freaked me out, totally,” Holden said.
Afterward, the real Piano Man made the Irish imposter an offer he couldn’t refuse.
“He suggested that I watch ‘The Sopranos,”‘ Holden said with a laugh. “He said I had to watch it because my Irish accent was creeping in. So I was sent off to watch ‘The Sopranos’ to get that East Coast sort of ‘New Yawky’ thing down.”
Joel, a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer-songwriter whose tumultuous life story could easily be fodder for theatrical treatment, was in truth so supportive of his newest alter ego that he had surprised him on stage moments before the curtain was to go up.
“It was my third show in New York, and I was really, really nervous, as you can imagine,” Holden said. “I was still trying to get my feet on the ground, and then there he was. All I said was, ‘Jeez, tell me you’re not here to watch me.’ And he said, ‘OK, I’m not here to watch you.’ But I knew he was. Somehow I got through it, and he was pretty cool about it afterward.”
Holden, a popular 31-year-old country-rock singer from County Kilkenny, seems an unlikely choice to portray a younger Joel in the unlikely ongoing Broadway hit, which is now a national touring production opening in Denver on Tuesday. But that pairing is no more anachronistic than the musical itself, which combines a sweaty, dialogue-free Twyla Tharp ballet with 28 Joel tunes performed by Holden and a 10-piece band.
“When I first heard about it, I did kind of wonder, especially with the no-dialogue part, how the heck they were going to put dancing to all these songs,” Holden said. “There is loads of material, but is there enough to create one story?
“The first time I saw it, it took me four songs to realize what was going on. I was just sitting there going, ‘Oh, I don’t know about this.’ But then suddenly, it just hit me. It dawned on me what the story was, and after that it just kind of happens. I think that’s the reaction a lot of people have.”
Holden learned that “Movin’ Out” was casting for an eventual national tour last year, when he was the lead vocalist in “Riverdance” on Broadway.
“They had everything in place barring the Piano Man,” Holden said. “They had scoped everywhere – L.A., New York, Florida and Chicago. But they just couldn’t find anybody.”
The difficulty in casting a rock musical from a pool of singers trained for the musical theater is they are often simply the worst performers to sing rock. They are too well-trained for their own good.
“I guess that’s why they had such a hard time finding somebody,” he said. “From what I gather, a lot of people were coming in having done musicals like ‘Showboat’ and singing with this big vibrato, which just doesn’t work – it can’t work. This is rock ‘n’
roll, and it’s gotta be in your face.”
Holden did not come from a musical-theater background. From the age of 16, his bands were playing rock, country, pop and even dance music throughout the United Kingdom. “I was never someone that would go, ‘Oh, I really want to be in “Phantom of the Opera,” ‘ or something like that,” he said. “I always wanted to be singing rock ‘n’ roll.”
He was coerced into auditioning for “Movin’ Out” last June and was offered the job the same day. “I played two songs from the show and they said, ‘Why don’t you take some time off, on us, go back to Ireland and chill out, and come back and start working on Broadway in August?’ And so that’s what I did.”
For six months, he was the understudy to Tony-nominated Michael Cavanaugh before launching the tour in January. But even though both shows are directed and choreographed by Tharp, Holden has never received direct instruction from her.
“Twyla just wants whoever is playing the Piano Man role to give it what they’ve got but not really go over the top and take away from the dancing in any way,” he said.
Holden has been warmly received by critics, who often describe him, like Cavanaugh, as not just a younger version of Joel but a better singer, which embarrasses him “because Billy is legendary,” said Holden, who is far more concerned with winning Joel’s often skeptical fans.
While “Movin’ Out” has done wonders for ballet’s cool quotient, many Joel fans enter with a sense of indignation and violation in just thinking their hero’s music has been intermingled with such an incongruous and elitist art form. The initial resistance from some, Holden said, is palpable – especially from those who are made to attend against their will.
“When the curtain goes up, you can look out into the audience and see all these poor guys sitting there with their arms folded,” Holden said. “You just know they have been dragged away from ESPN by some woman, and they just don’t want to be there.
“But then they see the show and they absolutely love it. Major Billy fans come up to me all the time and say, ‘You are not imitating Billy, and you are not destroying his music. I did not expect this at all.’ It really is cool to get that reaction.”
It’s not so cool to be asked about Joel’s ongoing legal troubles, which include plowing his car into a 93-year-old woman’s house last month. It was his third accident in three years.”It’s so awkward,” Holden said. “It’s unfortunate that it’s that kind of publicity he’s getting right now.”
But bad publicity has never turned Joel into a wallflower. “He’s just the kind of guy where I don’t think the press affects him in any way,” Holden said. “I think if it did, he would have sorted all (his problems) out by now and gotten himself back on track. He
really enjoys his success, and I don’t think he gives a toss whatever is written about him. He’s done it all. He’s not really going to suffer in any way, I don’t think.”
About a month into Holden’s Broadway gig, Joel jumped on the stage near the end of a performance and joined in on the encore, “New York State of Mind,” then played four more songs for a delirious audience.
“The atmosphere was crazy, and I have to say it was one of the highlights of my life so far,” Holden said. “Having grown up and listened to him for years, you never dream you’re going to ever leave Ireland and come to New York and be on stage with that
man.”
Joel has shown up in several cities on the national tour, Holden said, “and Denver being one of the major stops on the tour, I wouldn’t be surprised if he shows up on opening night.”
Theater critic John Moore can be reached at 303-820-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com.
