Sharp-eared Billy Joel purists in the Broadway audience for Movin' Out will note a significant change to the lyrics of the classic song "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant."

In the version of "Scenes" heard at the Richard Rodgers Theater, characters Brenda and Eddie have "had it already" by the summer of "'65." In Joel's original, it's the "summer of '75."

Why the change? Joel acolyte Michael Cavanaugh, who leads the show's 10-member band, said choreographer Twyla Tharp made the alteration because the characters in the show are older than the ones in Joel's song.

"It's weird when everybody first hears it, but now I'm used to it," Cavanaugh acknowledged.

Tharp confirmed Cavanaugh's story: "I had to pull the lyrics back 10 years in order to accommodate the notion of the youth, and later the maturity, of the characters."

All of which sits "just fine" with the guy who wrote the songs.

Said Joel: "The lyrics aren't written in stone, and I think it makes the story work better, so why not?"