Bob Dylan Musical Hounded By Critics

New York theatre critics are pounding The Times They Are A-Changin', a new Broadway musical based around famed choreographer Twyla Tharp's re-interpretation of Bob Dylan's song catalog. Tharp previously worked her dance magic on the Billy Joel songbook, turning it into the Tony-winning Movin' Out, which was a mainstay on the Great White Way for three years.

"How bad could it be?" asked the Wall Street Journal's Terry Teachout. "Now I know: The Times They Are A-Changin' is so bad that it makes you forget how good the songs are."

From the lyrics of some of Dylan's best-known songs, Tharp molded a performance piece about a struggling circus. The result is a "heart-rending episode," according to Ben Brantley of the New York Times, who called Tharp a genius, but said she "goes down in flames."

The New Yorker's Joan Acocella took umbrage with Tharp's "silly plot" and cartoonish characters, and went on to wonder whether the Dylan-Tharp partnership was doomed from conception. "Her idea of teen rebellion is hot rods and hormones, jitterbug and juvie, the world of 'Rock Around the Clock,'" Acocella wrote. "Dylan belongs to the real sixties, to sit-ins and drugs and apocalypticism."

Dylan, however, remains a champion of his interpreter. He had initially approached Tharp about doing the show, and he stands by his decision.

"I have no talent for flattery whatsoever," he said. "But Twyla Tharp's artistry knocks me out. Her production…is the best presentation of my songs I have ever seen or heard on any stage."

Thanks for the info to ArtistDirect.com.

Comments

[bobthemonkey14]

I guess I'd have to see it for myself...critics can be real *******s sometimes...

[korn-nut]

agreed... ^^

[Encore_God]

A struggling circus is certainly an interesting direction to take the music in...

["Tele" Steve]

I saw a clip of this on YouTube...or some other site I can't remember. Anyway, it really is as bad as they say. It's a travesty. All the meaning is taken out of the songs because they're sung in that bouncy, flashy, cheesy, Broadway style. I'm surprised Dylan actually likes the interpretation. However, I've been surprised before about how his fans seem to have more conviction about stuff like this than he does nowadays.

[Overaid]

That's sad, that choregraphy is as bad as Bob Dylan's songs are good. From coregraphy to tragedy.

[Travis Tricky]

"Tharp molded a performance piece about a struggling circus"

An Elvis movie, "Roustabout" had the same principle, except now it`s Dylan ... I dunno. I seen adverts on TV and it did look terrible.

[Guitar_Poet]

thats gonna suck if its really bad, but hey i guess it was Dylan's idea, and if he likes it... well, cant say much then.

[wingedgopher]

from what ive seen of clips its pretty lame

[SixStrings]

son of a...i just wrote a song called the circus is a- changin'...oh well there goes my road to stardom...no but really i love bob dylan people!

[0sgt_pepper0]

I guess I cant really even imagine dylan's music set to a broadway show.

[bobthemonkey14]

blind_melon1995 wrote:

critics suck. after all, they all loved brokeback mountain...(cowboy homo-FUCK-fest)

It was a good movie...but it was overrated because of the whole "homosexual romance" thing being new and unique. Can't blame the critics...they watch everything, and I'm sure they're dying for something new...if that something involves buttsecks, well...I hope they like it, cuz' I sure don't.

[misirlou]

i don't know...this strikes me as a bad idea. even dylan is capable of making mistakes...

[MOnkeytoss]

Yeah, I think Bob Dylans music is too real to be set to a broadway show.

That really sounds like it was a bad idea from the start.

[0sgt_pepper0]

Well, you cant blame him for wanting to try something new.

[Guitar_Poet]

bobthemonkey14 wrote:

blind_melon1995 wrote:

critics suck. after all, they all loved brokeback mountain...(cowboy homo-FUCK-fest)

It was a good movie...but it was overrated because of the whole "homosexual romance" thing being new and unique. Can't blame the critics...they watch everything, and I'm sure they're dying for something new...if that something involves buttsecks, well...I hope they like it, cuz' I sure don't.

the homosexual part of that movie didnt bother me... the movie was just ****in boring. even if it had been a man and a woman... really ****in boring. it was so slow... all it was was a side-romance.. thats nothing new.. just cuz it was two guys, the whole thing got blown out of proportion and highly overrated. in my opinion, very dull.

as for bob dylan musical... like someone else said.. i dont think i can imagine bob dylan's music redone in broadway form.

[batesyy]

They don't build monuments for critics.

[Guitar_Poet]

вяaи
706; иєw wrote:

They don't build monuments for critics.

lol. well said.

[Big Tommy P]

why do things based on such a great man end up neck deep in a river of s**t?

[Partyboy2k05]

I've always found the majority of Dylans songs best interpreted by another artist. No doubt he probably is one of the best lyric writers of our time, the songs could always be sung better and in some cases, even played better. I think in this case, he actually enjoys the way they do it.

[nasgul]

here, some excerpts on the evening news:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cidBON0G6pM

Checked/Deleted.

[Guitar_Poet]

Partyboy2k05 wrote:

I've always found the majority of Dylans songs best interpreted by another artist. No doubt he probably is one of the best lyric writers of our time, the songs could always be sung better and in some cases, even played better. I think in this case, he actually enjoys the way they do it.

yea, dylan is by no means an exquisite singer or guitar player... but he is a damn good songwriter and an amazing lyricist. =D