Tharp's Times Not Dark Yet, But Soon Will BeApparently,
everything is broken after the
The Times They Are A-Changin' endured in the aftermath of its October 26 opening.
How broke is the
Twyla Tharp/
Bob Dylan musical fantasia? Enough for its closing notices to be officially posted despite Tharp's
reported efforts to go on with the show.
The tuner will soon be
blowin' in the wind after its final performance on November 19. Two weeks ago, the show attracted a capacity audience of 93.4%, but that plunged 25.4% to just 68% last week for a total box office of just $319,070. While that's still more than the bottom five Broadway shows earned, the long-term prognosis simply hasn't been good since its debut in San Diego.
All totaled,
The Times They Are A-Changin' will have "enjoyed" 28 regular performances at the 950-seat
Brooks Atkinson Theatre. If you're a die-hard Dylan or Tharp fan, you'd better get tickets fast.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:Critics: Times They Are A-Wastin' (October 27, 2006)
On A Night Like This: Times They Are A-Changin' Opens On Broadway (October 26, 2006)
A Cast That Is A-Changin': Sign Of The Times? (October 4, 2006)
Labels: Broadway, Closing Notices, Musical, The Times They Are A-Changin'
Critics: Times They Are A-Wastin'Despite reassurances from
Twyla Tharp that major retooling -- including key casting -- on
The Times They Are A-Changin' had taken place since its critically-panned San Diego premiere, it appears that those changes weren't enough to make this worth most critics' time.
Offering up two and a half stars out of four,
Clive Barnes of the
New York Post asks and answers the question
du jour: "Will Twyla Tharp do for
Bob Dylan what she did for
Billy Joel -- make him a Broadway star? Can lightning strike the same place twice? In this case, well, no....after 90 surprisingly long minutes, the whole shebang -- complete with terrific scenery and costumes by
Santo Loquasto and imaginative lighting by
Donald Holder -- is a one-star concept with a two-star staging, three-star cast and four-star, if patchwork-quilted, score."
A difference of opinion on whether lightning struck twice came from a decidedly more upbeat
Elysa Gardner (
USA Today) in rendering her three star review: "...it shouldn't surprise that
Times, which opened Thursday at the
Brooks Atkinson Theatre, is, if uneven, more imaginative and intriguing than Tharp's last Broadway outing....
Times mines the sweetness and vitality that are as central to Dylan's popularity, and importance, as any other qualities. There are, to be sure, corny and clumsy moments in Times, but not dull or dishonest ones."
But Gardner seems destined to be alone. Noting that "...when a genius goes down in flames, everybody feels the burn,"
The New York Times'
Ben Brantley laments, "Ms. Tharp single-handedly drags Mr. Dylan into the shallows....Ms. Tharp turns lyrics’ metaphors not only into flesh but also into flashlights, jump-ropes, stuffed animals and new brooms that sweep clean. (If there was a kitchen sink onstage, I missed it, which isn’t to say it wasn’t there.)....Even as the dancers seem to fly, Mr. Dylan’s lyrics are hammered, one by one, into the ground."
A disappointed
Terry Teachout at
The Wall Street Journal clearly was hoping for the best: "The buzz on
The Times They Are A-Changin', the new Twyla Tharp-Bob Dylan jukebox musical, was devastatingly negative. Such omens of impending doom are usually right, but I hoped for the best anyway. Mr. Dylan is one of the greatest songwriters of the postwar era and Ms. Tharp one of its most admired choreographers, so how bad could it be? Now I know:
The Times They Are A-Changin' is so bad that it makes you forget how good the songs are."
Another unimpressed critic is
Variety's
David Rooney "Watching the unengaging mess onstage at the Brooks Atkinson, it's hard to imagine how it could have been helped. The impression is that Tharp's auteurial command prevented anyone from pointing out that the concept is just plain lame."
Over at New York's
Daily News, critic
Joe Dziemianowicz offers up perhaps the most stinging pan of the show: "Unfortunately, Tharp sabotages herself this time. She makes dance secondary and concentrates on the music.... Everyone dreams about running away and joining the circus. It's too bad Tharp couldn't resist the urge."
OUCH! One can't help but wonder just how quickly the closing notices will be posted at the 950-seat theatre.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:On A Night Like This: Times They Are A-Changin' Opens On Broadway (October 26, 2006)
A Cast That Is A-Changin': Sign Of The Times? (October 4, 2006)
Labels: Broadway, Critics' Capsule, Musical, The Times They Are A-Changin'
On A Night Like This: Times They Are A-Changin' Opens On BroadwayTonight marks the officially Broadway opening for the
Twyla Tharp-conceived, directed and choreographed
The Times They Are A-Changin' based on the music of
Bob Dylan. The show has an open-ended run at the
Brooks Atkinson Theatre.
As I've previously noted, there's no denying Tharp's genius or Dylan's timeless music. But reviews of its tryout in San Diego were critical, and one of its lead roles has been recast more than once, including during the crucial Broadway previews.
But don't count Tharp out just yet. Her reinterpretation of
Billy Joel's music in
Movin' Out received mixed reviews in Chicago only to be fine-tuned into a celebrated Great White Way hit.
Will Tharp and Dylan strike similar gold? The answer my friends is
blowin' in the wind....until tomorrow's reviews come out.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:A Cast That Is A-Changin': Sign Of The Times? (October 4, 2006)
Labels: Broadway, Musical, Opening Night, The Times They Are A-Changin'
A Cast That Is A-Changin': Sign Of The Times?Late yesterday came word from the new
Twyla Tharp musical
The Times They Are A-Changin' that lead actress
Caren Lyn Manuel was out and understudy
Lisa Brescia is suddenly in. It's not necessarily unusual for shows to undergo cast changes en route to the Great White Way. Indeed,
Jenn Colella (who's now part of Broadway-bound
High Fidelity) was dropped from the show in favor of Manuel after its San Diego tryouts.
However, the fact that it's occurred
after the
Bob Dylan-based tuner has already begun previews on Broadway doesn't appear to be a good harbinger of things to come. Indeed, even the iconic
folk singer himself is reportedly keeping his distance.
Critics in San Diego were not terribly kind when reviewing the February tryout there. The San Diego
Union Tribune's
George Varga lamented, "Rather than employ the wonderful complexity of Dylan's metaphor-rich songs as a starting point, or even as a final destination, Tharp's visually arresting but muddled production reduces his rich body of work to a simplistic, plot-challenged exercise in warm, fuzzy nostalgia."
It's been reported that many substantial changes have been made since San Diego. The show's leading man
Michael Arden is
quoted on Playbill.com saying, "[T]he show feels more whimsical now. It's the same song list and order, but some of the tones and textures have changed, and given it more depth."
Will that be enough to save a show that's not enjoying terribly positive buzz? Can director / choreographer Twyla Tharp pull off a pleasant October surprise? We'll find out when the musical finally opens on October 26 at the
Brooks Atkinson Theatre.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Labels: Broadway, Casting Changes, Musical, The Times They Are A-Changin'
