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The Times They Are a-Changin' (musical)

January 01, 1970

The Times They Are a-Changin' was a 2006 dance musical featuring the songs of Bob Dylan, conceived, directed and choreographed by Twyla Tharp.

The Times They Are a-Changin'
MusicBob Dylan
LyricsBob Dylan
Productions2006 San Diego
2006 Broadway

The show takes place in a setting described as "somewhere between awake and asleep,"[1] a dreamlike circus environment in which a coming-of-age conflict between a tyrannical circus master, Captain Ahrab, his idealistic son, Coyote, and a circus performer, Cleo, is told among a choreographed world of clowns, contortionists and Big Tops.

Premiering in San Diego in February 2006,[2] the show eventually moved to Broadway, opening on October 26, 2006. The show received uniformly negative reviews, and closed on November 19, 2006 after 35 previews and 28 performances.

Background edit

In 2002, Twyla Tharp brought to Broadway a dance musical based on the songs of Billy Joel, Movin' Out, which was a commercial success and ran for more than three years.

The idea for a dance musical based on Dylan's work was initiated by the artist himself, who contacted Tharp suggesting the collaboration; however, Dylan had no creative input on the eventual production.[3]

Tharp spent a year on research for the production, as well as another year-and-a-half on casting, rehearsing and workshopping.[4]

The show was described in its Broadway Playbill as "A tale of fathers and sons, of men and women, of leaders and followers, of immobility and change," which "uses prophecy, parable, metaphor, accusation and confession—like the Dylan songs which comprise it—to confront us with images and ideas of who we are, and who it is possible to be.”[5]

Despite the show's categorization as a "dance musical," Tharp did not consider it so: the show's website called it instead "an original action-adventure fable conceived by Ms. Tharp."[5]

Production history edit

The show debuted at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, California on February 9, 2006 running through March 2006.[6][7]

The show premiered on Broadway at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre on October 26, 2006. Sets and costumes were by Santo Loquasto, and lighting by Donald Holder. The cast featured John Selya, Michael Arden, Neil Haskell, Thom Sesma, and Lisa Brescia.

Original cast edit

2006 Broadway production

  • Coyote - Michael Arden
  • Captain Ahrab - Thom Sesma
  • Cleo - Lisa Brescia
  • Ensemble - Lisa Gajda, Neil Haskell, Jason McDole, Charlie Neshyba-Hodges, Jonathan Nosan, John Selya, Ron Todorowski[8]

Production team edit

2006 Broadway production

  • Twyla Tharp - Conceiver, Director, Choreographer
  • Santo Loquasto - Scenic and costume design
  • Donald Holder - Lighting design
  • Peter Hylenski - Sound design
  • Michael Dansicker and Bob Dylan - Orchestrations
  • Henry Aronson - Music director[8]

Musical numbers edit

The show was performed without an intermission

  • "The Times They Are A-Changin'"
  • "Highway 61 Revisited"
  • "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right"
  • "Just Like a Woman"
  • "Like a Rolling Stone"
  • "Everything is Broken"
  • "Desolation Row"
  • "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35"
  • "Mr. Tambourine Man"
  • "Man Gave Names to All the Animals"
  • "Masters of War"
  • "Blowin' in the Wind"
  • "Please, Mrs. Henry"
  • "On a Night Like This"
  • "Lay, Lady, Lay"
  • "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight"
  • "Simple Twist of Fate"
  • "Summer Days"
  • "Gotta Serve Somebody"
  • "Not Dark Yet"
  • "Knockin' on Heaven's Door"
  • "Maggie's Farm"
  • "I Believe In You"
  • "Dignity"
  • "Forever Young"[9]

Reception edit

The show received uniformly negative reviews on Broadway, criticizing it generally for its "addled,"[10] "inscrutable,"[11] yet also "wearyingly familiar"[12] setting and plot; its circus-inspired staging; and its "prosaic,"[13] "literal-minded"[10] staging of Dylan's songs.

Ben Brantley of the New York Times called the show the worst thus far of the decade's spate of jukebox musicals, writing that it gave Dylan's work a "systematic steamrolling[.]" He criticized the show for taking the "metaphoric images" of Dylan's work, "which float miragelike when heard in song," and "[nailing them] down with literal visual equivalents" - and therefore, "even as the dancers seem to fly, Mr. Dylan's lyrics are hammered, one by one, into the ground."[14]

David Rooney of Variety wrote that "Tharp [...] has no idea how to make the songs dynamic, either planting the singers in declamatory deadlock or having them stride about aimlessly while assorted clowns skip, tumble, flip and bounce on the trampoline surfaces of Santo Loquasto's junkyard set," so that "even when the songs do summon some emotional intensity, all the awkward, hokey buffoonery going on in the background (in unfortunate Leigh Bowery-esque costumes and makeup) smothers it." He also criticized the show's "[h]o-hum," "generic father-son plot."[13]

Frank Scheck of the Hollywood Reporter wrote that the show "plays like an overconceived concert, with Tharp's choreography, as vibrant and physical as it is here, lacking the variety of her earlier work";[15] Scott Brown of Entertainment Weekly called the production "utterly wrongheaded," with Tharp demonstrating that "she clearly has no choreographic bond with [Dylan's] music";[11] Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone wrote that "[i]t's hard to describe the show without making it sound like a stoned nightmare," and that "the Broadway belters have no feel for Dylan's meter or melodies; they just ham up the songs with dumb touches like Ahrab grinding his hips as he sings, 'She makes love just like a woman!'";[16] Terry Teachout of The Wall Street Journal called the show "so bad that it makes you forget how good the songs are," with "prettified singing" that was "all wrong," and wrote that "if you went to see this show knowing nothing about [Tharp], you'd go home assuming that she was a pretentious buffoon."[10]

The show closed on November 19, 2006 after 35 previews and 28 performances, and was a financial flop.

Tharp later (as described by the New York Times) expressed regret that she "did not stick closely enough to her instincts in its creation[.]"[17]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "The Times They Are A-Changin' – Broadway Musical – Original | IBDB". www.ibdb.com. Retrieved 2019-06-11.
  2. ^ Hernandez, Ernio (2006-02-09). ""Come Writers and Critics": Tharp-Dylan Musical The Times They Are A-Changin' Opens". playbill.com. Retrieved 2022-03-08.
  3. ^ Witchel, Alex (October 22, 2006). "To Dance Beneath the Diamond Sky". The New York Times. Retrieved June 10, 2019.
  4. ^ Tharp, Twyla; Kornbluth, Jesse (2009). The Collaborative Habit. United States of America: Simon & Schuster. pp. 50–51. ISBN 978-1-4165-7650-1.
  5. ^ a b Rosen, Jody (2006-10-27). "Positively 47th Street: Twyla Tharp brings Bob Dylan to Broadway". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 2019-06-11.
  6. ^ Listing at The Old Globe theoldglobe.org, retrieved February 25, 2010
  7. ^ Allen, Morgan.PHOTO CALL: Dylan and Tharp Proclaim The Times They Are A-Changin’ with San Diego Premiere playbill.com, February 2, 2006
  8. ^ a b "The Times They Are A-Changin' Broadway @ Brooks Atkinson Theatre - Tickets and Discounts". Playbill. Retrieved 2019-06-11.
  9. ^ Hernandez, Ernio (November 8, 2006). "Circus Leaves Town: Bob Dylan-Twyla Tharp Musical The Times They Are A Changin' to Close". Playbill. Retrieved 2019-06-11.
  10. ^ a b c Teachout, Terry. "Stuck Inside the Theater With the Broadway Blues Again". WSJ. Retrieved 2019-06-11.
  11. ^ a b Brown, Scott. "The Times They Are A-Changin'". EW.com. Retrieved 2019-06-11.
  12. ^ McCarter, Jeremy (October 26, 2006). "The Times They Are A-Changin' - Emergence-See! -- New York Magazine". New York Magazine. Retrieved 2019-06-11.
  13. ^ a b Rooney, David (2006-10-27). "The Times They Are A-Changin'". Variety. Retrieved 2019-06-11.
  14. ^ Brantley, Ben (2006-10-27). "The Times They Are A-Changin' - Theater - Review". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-06-11.
  15. ^ Scheck, Frank (27 October 2006). "Theater review: 'Times They Are A-Changin'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2019-06-11.
  16. ^ Sheffield, Rob (2006-11-30). "Bob Dylan Musical: The Times They Are A-Endin'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2019-06-11.
  17. ^ Kourlas, Gia (2010-03-05). "Twyla Tharp Returns to Broadway With 'Come Fly Away'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-06-11.

External links edit

  • Internet Broadway Database listing
  • Broadway.com listing

January 01, 1970
times, they, changin, musical, times, they, changin, 2006, dance, musical, featuring, songs, dylan, conceived, directed, choreographed, twyla, tharp, times, they, changin, musicbob, dylanlyricsbob, dylanproductions2006, diego, 2006, broadway, show, takes, plac. The Times They Are a Changin was a 2006 dance musical featuring the songs of Bob Dylan conceived directed and choreographed by Twyla Tharp The Times They Are a Changin MusicBob DylanLyricsBob DylanProductions2006 San Diego 2006 Broadway The show takes place in a setting described as somewhere between awake and asleep 1 a dreamlike circus environment in which a coming of age conflict between a tyrannical circus master Captain Ahrab his idealistic son Coyote and a circus performer Cleo is told among a choreographed world of clowns contortionists and Big Tops Premiering in San Diego in February 2006 2 the show eventually moved to Broadway opening on October 26 2006 The show received uniformly negative reviews and closed on November 19 2006 after 35 previews and 28 performances Contents 1 Background 2 Production history 3 Original cast 4 Production team 5 Musical numbers 6 Reception 7 See also 8 References 9 External linksBackground editIn 2002 Twyla Tharp brought to Broadway a dance musical based on the songs of Billy Joel Movin Out which was a commercial success and ran for more than three years The idea for a dance musical based on Dylan s work was initiated by the artist himself who contacted Tharp suggesting the collaboration however Dylan had no creative input on the eventual production 3 Tharp spent a year on research for the production as well as another year and a half on casting rehearsing and workshopping 4 The show was described in its Broadway Playbill as A tale of fathers and sons of men and women of leaders and followers of immobility and change which uses prophecy parable metaphor accusation and confession like the Dylan songs which comprise it to confront us with images and ideas of who we are and who it is possible to be 5 Despite the show s categorization as a dance musical Tharp did not consider it so the show s website called it instead an original action adventure fable conceived by Ms Tharp 5 Production history editThe show debuted at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego California on February 9 2006 running through March 2006 6 7 The show premiered on Broadway at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre on October 26 2006 Sets and costumes were by Santo Loquasto and lighting by Donald Holder The cast featured John Selya Michael Arden Neil Haskell Thom Sesma and Lisa Brescia Original cast edit2006 Broadway production Coyote Michael Arden Captain Ahrab Thom Sesma Cleo Lisa Brescia Ensemble Lisa Gajda Neil Haskell Jason McDole Charlie Neshyba Hodges Jonathan Nosan John Selya Ron Todorowski 8 Production team edit2006 Broadway production Twyla Tharp Conceiver Director Choreographer Santo Loquasto Scenic and costume design Donald Holder Lighting design Peter Hylenski Sound design Michael Dansicker and Bob Dylan Orchestrations Henry Aronson Music director 8 Musical numbers editThe show was performed without an intermission The Times They Are A Changin Highway 61 Revisited Don t Think Twice It s All Right Just Like a Woman Like a Rolling Stone Everything is Broken Desolation Row Rainy Day Women 12 amp 35 Mr Tambourine Man Man Gave Names to All the Animals Masters of War Blowin in the Wind Please Mrs Henry On a Night Like This Lay Lady Lay I ll Be Your Baby Tonight Simple Twist of Fate Summer Days Gotta Serve Somebody Not Dark Yet Knockin on Heaven s Door Maggie s Farm I Believe In You Dignity Forever Young 9 Reception editThe show received uniformly negative reviews on Broadway criticizing it generally for its addled 10 inscrutable 11 yet also wearyingly familiar 12 setting and plot its circus inspired staging and its prosaic 13 literal minded 10 staging of Dylan s songs Ben Brantley of the New York Times called the show the worst thus far of the decade s spate of jukebox musicals writing that it gave Dylan s work a systematic steamrolling He criticized the show for taking the metaphoric images of Dylan s work which float miragelike when heard in song and nailing them down with literal visual equivalents and therefore even as the dancers seem to fly Mr Dylan s lyrics are hammered one by one into the ground 14 David Rooney of Variety wrote that Tharp has no idea how to make the songs dynamic either planting the singers in declamatory deadlock or having them stride about aimlessly while assorted clowns skip tumble flip and bounce on the trampoline surfaces of Santo Loquasto s junkyard set so that even when the songs do summon some emotional intensity all the awkward hokey buffoonery going on in the background in unfortunate Leigh Bowery esque costumes and makeup smothers it He also criticized the show s h o hum generic father son plot 13 Frank Scheck of the Hollywood Reporter wrote that the show plays like an overconceived concert with Tharp s choreography as vibrant and physical as it is here lacking the variety of her earlier work 15 Scott Brown of Entertainment Weekly called the production utterly wrongheaded with Tharp demonstrating that she clearly has no choreographic bond with Dylan s music 11 Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone wrote that i t s hard to describe the show without making it sound like a stoned nightmare and that the Broadway belters have no feel for Dylan s meter or melodies they just ham up the songs with dumb touches like Ahrab grinding his hips as he sings She makes love just like a woman 16 Terry Teachout of The Wall Street Journal called the show so bad that it makes you forget how good the songs are with prettified singing that was all wrong and wrote that if you went to see this show knowing nothing about Tharp you d go home assuming that she was a pretentious buffoon 10 The show closed on November 19 2006 after 35 previews and 28 performances and was a financial flop Tharp later as described by the New York Times expressed regret that she did not stick closely enough to her instincts in its creation 17 See also editThe Times They Are a Changin The album and music of Bob DylanReferences edit The Times They Are A Changin Broadway Musical Original IBDB www ibdb com Retrieved 2019 06 11 Hernandez Ernio 2006 02 09 Come Writers and Critics Tharp Dylan Musical The Times They Are A Changin Opens playbill com Retrieved 2022 03 08 Witchel Alex October 22 2006 To Dance Beneath the Diamond Sky The New York Times Retrieved June 10 2019 Tharp Twyla Kornbluth Jesse 2009 The Collaborative Habit United States of America Simon amp Schuster pp 50 51 ISBN 978 1 4165 7650 1 a b Rosen Jody 2006 10 27 Positively 47th Street Twyla Tharp brings Bob Dylan to Broadway Slate Magazine Retrieved 2019 06 11 Listing at The Old Globe theoldglobe org retrieved February 25 2010 Allen Morgan PHOTO CALL Dylan and Tharp Proclaim The Times They Are A Changin with San Diego Premiere playbill com February 2 2006 a b The Times They Are A Changin Broadway Brooks Atkinson Theatre Tickets and Discounts Playbill Retrieved 2019 06 11 Hernandez Ernio November 8 2006 Circus Leaves Town Bob Dylan Twyla Tharp Musical The Times They Are A Changin to Close Playbill Retrieved 2019 06 11 a b c Teachout Terry Stuck Inside the Theater With the Broadway Blues Again WSJ Retrieved 2019 06 11 a b Brown Scott The Times They Are A Changin EW com Retrieved 2019 06 11 McCarter Jeremy October 26 2006 The Times They Are A Changin Emergence See New York Magazine New York Magazine Retrieved 2019 06 11 a b Rooney David 2006 10 27 The Times They Are A Changin Variety Retrieved 2019 06 11 Brantley Ben 2006 10 27 The Times They Are A Changin Theater Review The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved 2019 06 11 Scheck Frank 27 October 2006 Theater review Times They Are A Changin The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved 2019 06 11 Sheffield Rob 2006 11 30 Bob Dylan Musical The Times They Are A Endin Rolling Stone Retrieved 2019 06 11 Kourlas Gia 2010 03 05 Twyla Tharp Returns to Broadway With Come Fly Away The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved 2019 06 11 External links editInternet Broadway Database listing Broadway com listing Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Times They Are a Changin 27 musical amp oldid 1215522975, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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