July • 2006 IMSC students take a back seat - Irish American News

July 2006 IRISH AMERICAN NEWS 35
Darren Holden in “Movin’ Out”
By Mike Danahey
As the lyrics go, you’re all
alone, you’ll have to answer to
your own. Yeah, that’s “Pressure,”
and for Darren Holden it meant
Darren Holden. photo: Joan Marcus
performing in front of Billy Joel,
the man who penned the aforementioned
words (and the music
that goes with them) – on Broadway,
no less, with the Piano Man
sitting in the third row.
It was Holden’s third night taking
over as the bandleader, singing and
tickling the ivories in “Movin’ Out,”
the Tony-winning musical that uses
Joel’s songs played live by a band and
the choreography of Twyla Tharp to
tell its tale.
Actually, Joel “jumped on the
bandstand just before the curtain
went up” to introduce himself, said
Holden.
Things turned out OK, though, as
Holden has been with the production
for more than two-and-a-half years,
most of that time on the road with a
tour that stops in Chicago at the Auditorium
Theatre, 50 East Congress
Parkway of Roosevelt University
from June 28 until July 9.
The County Kilkenny native still
sees Joel every few months or so,
with Joel checking up on the show
and occasionally joining Holden onstage
for an impromptu encore.
Holden has been getting good notices
for his interpretations of Joel’s
hits: “I knew from the beginning that
if I was going to do this, I was not going
to imitate Billy Joel. That would
get boring fast,” Holden said.
In fact, Joel advised him, “don’t
be a clone or do karaoke versions
of the songs,” Holden recalled. It
turned out the dancers appreciated
his approach, keeping them on their
toes and performances fresh, too,
Holden agreed.
Joel also introduced Holden to
musicians from his own band who
appear on Holden’s new album,
“Roadworks” (available online at
www.darrenholden.com), which is
set to be released on the indie label,
JRH, sometime during the show’s
run in Chicago.
The “Movin’ Out” stage band
backs up Holden on his disc, too,
but don’t expect a Joel-ish eff ort.
Holden, who travels with his family,
wrote original pop-rock numbers
“on the road in hotels,” while on
the tour with the production and
took advantage of the latest portable
technology to record it.
Holden has been at the music game
since he was 16 and playing with his
fi rst band, the country-tinged Tweed,
which seemed a natural fi t growing
up in a house hearing Glen Campbell
and Johnny Cash on the radio.
By 1995, Holden was on the
road opening for the Irish boy band,
Boyzone. From that experience with
glossy pop Holden “quickly realized
that it wasn’t what I wanted to do
with my life,” and, with a couple hits
in Ireland under his belt, he wound
up taking two years off from the
music business.
By 1998, Holden returned and
was touring and/or working with
the likes of Paul Young, Peter Andre,
Belinda Carlisle, country artist
Rodney Crowell and R&B hip-hop
artist Montell Jordan.
His debut album, “Suddenly,”
came out that year and three of its
tunes hit the Irish Top 20. Shortly
thereafter he wound up in “Riverdance,”
on tour and on the Great
White Way.
The Michael Flatley vehicle led
to Holden meeting producer/writer
Don DiNicola, with whom he collaborate
on a country-infl uenced
album, “Live & Learn,” which again
spawned several hits back in Ireland.
Actually, Holden has had songs
on the charts in several countries,
including making the Top 20 in Finland
and the Top 30 in Indonesia.
After leaving “Riverdance,”
Holden landed an audition for
“Movin’ Out,” and “within an
hour I had the job,” he said.
Holden said he’s been a lifelong
fan of the New Yorker’s music, which
when he was a kid, “you couldn’t
really escape... I enjoy that whole
piano-based thing with rock and roll,
from Little Richard to Elton John.
And with Joel there is an extra quality
to the songwriting. I dug it all.”
As for Ireland, how it infl uences
his music and career, “I grew up
listening to the ballads, so I guess
that’s in there naturally,” he said. And
Ireland keeps him grounded, too.
“I could call home and say I just
sold a million albums, and they would
say, ‘Hey, did you know the neighbor
down the block died,” he said.
Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Refl ect Up?
The charming Broadway hit, will open Thursday, July 13 at
8 p.m. at Theatre at the Center, 1040 Ridge Road, Munster,
Indiana and close August 13. Featuring a hysterical and
heartwarming score Do Black Patent Shoes Really Refl ect
Up?, directed by Bill Pullinsi, is a bittersweet journey
of friendships old and new.
This funny coming-of-age show explores the
trials and tribulations of attending
catholic school in the 1950s.
The story follows eight students
who are childhood
best friends experiencing
confession for the fi rst
time, teenage lovers
attending their senior
prom, and fi nally adults
embarking on diff erent
paths in life. Stars are
Ryan Gardner as Eddie
Ryan, Amy Olsen as the
Secretary, Meg Miller as Becky, Ann McMann as Sister
Helen and Iris Lieberman as Sister Lee.
The Center for Visual and Performing Arts, 1040 Ridge
Road, Munster, Indiana located off I-80/94, just 35 minutes
from downtown Chicago.
Wednesdays at 2:00 p.m. ($32.00), Thursday matinees
are at 2:00 p.m. ($32.00)
with performances at 7:30
p.m. ($32.00) on July 27
and August 2; Fridays
at 8:00 p.m. ($35.00);
Saturdays at 8:00
p.m. ($35.00); and
Sundays at 2:30 p.m.
($32.00). Tickets
at 219.836.3255
or Tickets.com at
800.511.1552. www.
theatreatthecenter.
org.