Get Stoned
Twyla Tharp has turned to another popular music luminaryBob Dylanfor her second Broadway show after the phenomenally successful Movin Out. Instead of the journey through three pivotal decades that brought Billy Joels songs so brilliantly to theatrical life, the approach Tharp takes in The Times They Are A-Changin conjures a dark, tumultuous dreamscape.
The program alerts audiences that The Times, which features two-dozen Dylan songs, is set sometime between awake and asleep. It carries audiences through vividly animated scenes during which a power struggle takes place within the world of a seedy traveling circus, suspended somewhere in place and time. Its more of a circus of the mind, rendered almost surreal by the fantastical feats of the seven-person dance ensemble that carries much of the action. Bouncing off the trampolines embedded within the set, clambering in defiance of gravity, walking on their hands, the cast members translate Dylans rich imagery through their bodies.
She always wanted to tell this archetypal fable of father and sonwhat we choose to take with us and what we say no to, explains Michael Arden, one of the three singers who portrays a named character in the show. He plays Coyote, whose hopeful disposition is in contrastand conflictwith his angry, vengeful father, Captain Ahrab (Thom Sesma), who runs the circus. Also figuring in the action is Cleo (Lisa Brescia), a young circus performer also trapped by Ahrabs power plays.
Tharp had ideas about which songs she wanted to use, and we put them up on their feet and found a story therewhich is an exciting way to work, Arden explains about early stages of the show. It was a great departure from other stuff Id been doing; I was trained at Juilliard as an actor, so I was used to scripts and classical text.
Arden is very much on the move in this show, even if hes not participating in the bounding, acrobatic antics of the dancing ensemble. Twyla actually said to me, Dont take any dance classes. I like you moving the way you do because thats how this character moves, he says. So what has been interesting and a definite challenge for me has been trying to give over to listening to my body morenot get so full of questions that you forget your natural instincts.
Charlie Neshyba-Hodges, a veteran of Movin Out, whose role in The Times includes a poignant solo to Mr. Tambourine Man, has been involved with the show since it first began to take shape. He and fellow cast member Jason McDole, both of whom were members of Tharps most recent dance company, worked with Tharp starting two and a half years ago, developing the movement material before a workshop that led producers to fast-track the project for Broadway.
Neshyba-Hodges explains that each of the dancers, who initially portray a Fellini-esque assemblage of circus folk, portrays a specific character. His own is that of Captain Ahrabs whipping boy.
He has a very whimsical, dreamy, loving nature but is never allowed to let it out because of Ahrabs tyrannical rule, Neshyba-Hodges explains. In Mr. Tambourine Man, under the safety and protection of Coyote, with Ahrab nowhere near, hes allowed to be the most true to himself that he could be.
The Times has gone through substantial evolution and refinement. Cast changes were made after the San Diego run, with Tharp bringing in several dancers who had worked with her on Movin Out. Arden describes the process as a lot of clarifying, some stripping away of things that werent necessarymoments that werent as clear as othersand finding a tone, a flow to the show. My character has changed a bit ... he was more raging against the machine; now hes more of a dreamer.
Audiences may come to The Times They are A-Changin with varying degrees of personal histories and associations with Dylans songs, so many of which have seeped into our collective consciousness. But theyll encounter the distinctive world of imagination that Tharp has uncovered within themone filled with surprising and unexpected possibilities.
Opens Oct. 26. Brooks Atkinson Theatre, 256 W. 47th St. (betw. 7th & 8th Aves.), 212-307-4100; 8, $71.25-$111.25.