The Times They Are A-Entertainin'

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 10/14/06 at 1:04am

I know it is late to have just returned, but give a guy a break.

Tonight I atteneded THE TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGIN', and I already want to make a return trip.

I will do my best to keep this reasonably brief.

The Bad. Twyla Tharp is a FANTASTIC choeographer who turns out stunning work. She is a passable director... however as a book writer/conceiver/scenarist.. she is horrid. The playbill includes a page, as well as an insert that provides a general synopsis. Thankfully. Had I not read it, I would have been lost. The 'characters' are drawn FAR too broadly and barely exist.

I am trying to avoid a comparision to Movin' Out, but for this comment to make sense, I must. In Movin' Out, the songs are performed by a visible band and singer who are not really a part of the action... The provide almost a SOUNDTRACK. Therefore, it works and is acceptable if the lyrics do not make perfect sense as a storytelling vehicle but convey the emotion of the moment. here, the songs are performed by the CHARACTERS. There is no book or dialogue, only several moments in mime. there is no way to transition from song to song or set it up. Because the songs come from the characters, they reallys hould advance the story, but they don't.. they provide a soundtrack... but since the CHARACTERS perfom them.. it doesn;t fly.

Her staging faulters at moments where her choreography and staging, while impressive, distracts you from the action that should be in your focus.

There are more than a handfull of moments where I did have a "huh" reaction.

The good. Pretty much everything else.

Of the threee principals, there is not a weak link. Michael Arden is the best voice I have heard from him and Lisa Brescia is thrilling. Vocally. In this show, they get every oportunity to blow the roof off and show of their vocal prowess. And they do. Sadly, Ms Tharp has not given them any oprtunity to show anything else. Thom Sesma will satisfy those wanting to hear a Bob Dylan SOUND. Brava to these three for not only their vocals, but being able to find anything resembling a character.

I paid specific attention to Ms Brescia and her role, Cleo, due to the.. chaotic.. nature of the casting for that role. While I can't image someone else topping Ms Brescia, I can't see why any of the other actresses could have possibly turned in a perfomance to lose them the job unless they just could not sing. Frankly, the role is so loosely sketched you could fit in any age or type.. the only specifc thing about the role is that she is from the "east".

Michael Arden, as always, has a stellar voice that never fails to please and boy could he work the audience.

The ensemble in this show is jawdropping. 6 males and 1 female. All I can really say is WOW. One dancer portrayed Chloe's dog.. WONDERFULLY (though the dog 'costume' was.. odd). They were one stage pretty much the entire show singing, dancing (MAN where they dancing!), clowning, and doing any and every stunt from tumbles, to trampoline, to stilt work, to tight rope walking, and even a CONTORTIONIST who bent himself is ways you wouldn't believe. IF you can find no other reason to see this, go just to see this unbeliveably phenominal copmany of gypsies. SO hard to single out any of the 7, though I am especially fond of Ron Todorowski.

I agree that the curtain call was excessive.

The set, I thought, was great. very well designed. The one thing that bugged me was that another higher than 10 feet, at the back, was the back wall of the theatre. When you broke it down, the set was almost non existant, yet it managed to fill the entire space... The circus tent poles supporting some of the lighting was interesting. The pres-show set was very interesting and a great conversation starter, though as much focus as they placed on the moon over the audience before the show, I had expected to find it more significant IN the show. I highly enjoyed the trampolined apron, but I found the planks placed over it in places to give a solid playing area where distracting.

Kudos to Peter Hylenski for a standout sound design. It managed to be both quiet AND loud and very rock and roll, though NEVER overpowering or blaring and his sound rig was not at all intrusive.. No excessively large speakers here. The only LARGE speakers where very well hidden in teh first boxes and not all noticable.

Dold Holder turns in first rate work with his lights here. I can't be firm since it is still early in teh season, but I geneuinely believe he will be a heavy contender, if not winner, for his lights come award season.

CAST LIST ::

Michael Arden (Coyote)
Thom Sesma (Capt. Ahrab)
Lisa Brescia (Cleo)

Ensemble::
Lisa Gajda
neil Haskell
Jason McDole
Charlie Neshyba-Hodges
Jonathan Nosan
John Selya
Ron Todorowski

Swings::
Alexander Brady
Alaina Kashian
Keith Kuhl
Marty Lawson
Joseph Putignano
Cary Tedder

Standbys::
Jason Wooten
John Herrera

Production design by Santo Loquasto
Lighting design by Donald Holder
Sound Design by Peter Hylenski

If anyone wants anything more specific, feel free to ask.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 10/14/06 at 1:16am

Hm. I want to see this show when I get to NYC purley to see Arden live. Though the show was scatter-brained, were you still entertained? Or did you find yourself checking your watch? With only a limited time in NYC, I want to make sure that I'll love the shows I go to see.
Updated On: 10/14/06 at 01:16 AM

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 10/14/06 at 1:16am

Also, how was the house? Was the theater full? Do you think it might last till the summer?
Updated On: 10/14/06 at 01:16 AM

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 10/14/06 at 1:30am

The theatre seemed pretty full. I couldn't look in the mezzanine. I was seated in row G and was surrounded by critics.. one of whom LOVED the show and was cheering louder than almost anyone after every song.

Several songs got recognition applause. The audience seemed to really enjoy themselves.

The SHOW is bizarre. The PRODUCTION was great. I was never once bored. I never looked down at my playbill. It held my attention the entire time. As I said, I very much want to go back.

I highly recommend this show, as I said, if for no other reason than Brescia and Srden's voices and the unbeliveable ensemble work.
Updated On: 10/14/06 at 01:30 AM

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 10/14/06 at 2:09am

Glad you got it BroadwayGuy
I think the tide it is a changing
for this unusual Show.
it ain't Millie
Thank God
Arden brings Dylan into the new Age.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 10/14/06 at 2:14am

I think the show would benefit a LOT if a more detailed synopsis were included in the Playbills like in Movin Out. The current one is very broad and you have to really concentrate to follow, which COULD deter the "mindless" crowd... especially ones not acustomed to dance pieces. Thankfully though, you can't attach the stigma of "it's a ballet piece with pop music" to this one, so it should improve marketing options a bit over Movin out.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 10/14/06 at 3:11am

one thing i neglected to mention - the wagon that serves as the home for coyote and ahrab........ it looks like a permanent, solid unit that will stay there throughout the show.. but i VERY much enjoyed what is done with it toward the end of the show.. i don't want to give it away, however, since it was very unexpected. the obnoxiously visible stagehands however... they need to go.

[stagedoorslacker]

Posted: 10/14/06 at 3:26am

Critics? They are still in previews. Critics would not be anywhere near that show at this point. They usally start coming five or so days b4 opening night.


Updated On: 10/14/06 at 03:26 AM

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 10/14/06 at 3:35am

this is press WEEK. They open next week.. thursday I do believe... it is six days before opening.. five days of performances. and yes, there were critics. i wanted to break one of the pencils... any time there was a quiet moment, it was scratching away and pages were flipping... and he was chatting...

Posted: 10/14/06 at 4:09am

I have to agree with BG2 that this is a stellar cast and definitely worth the visit. I had some minor issues- The audience rightly applauds the great work of the ensemble at times which drown out the vocals of the leads. Theres one dummy that I totally did not get and I wished the two moons they used were atleast designed similarly.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 10/14/06 at 9:59am

This is NOT press week.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 10/14/06 at 12:29pm

they certainly had a few critics there.....

[acrocksyo]

Posted: 10/14/06 at 12:40pm

The only reasons to see this show are Michael Arden and the choregraphy, because if you're looking for something that makes sense you are out of luck. I only knew what the plot was because I had been following the show since San Diego, but there were several audience members whom at the end of the show still didn't know what it was about. It's almost too abstract to be on Broadway. But overall a very enjoyable performance, this coming from someone who is not a big fan of Bob Dylan.

[Over_the_Moon]

Posted: 10/14/06 at 4:48pm

I'll agree that a lot of it doesn't make sense, some parts are pretty much ridiculous, and I found myself chuckling at a few moments that (I think) were supposed to be dramatic, but it was still entertaining as hell. I enjoyed myself, and would see it again (at the student rush price).

The entire cast is fabulous and incredibly talented.

[TTL]

Posted: 10/14/06 at 8:09pm

Neil Haskell!! Great review... I entered Point Park University with Neil... hopefull I can see him in the show during our winter break.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 10/14/06 at 8:49pm

I very much enjoyed Neil.. of the ensemble, I found myself watching he and Ron the most.....

[Phantom2]

Posted: 10/14/06 at 11:16pm

Dying to see Jason Wooten go on.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 10/15/06 at 12:02am

"Too abstact to be on Broadway"
What's does that mean?
I think they said Picasso was too abstract to be in a Museum too.
Why can't you fill in the blanks in your own mind?
Do you understand everything that Beckett or Albee wrote?
There is certainly room on Broadway for this show, if not just to see Michael Arden, but to see the classical references Twyla has slipped in, in her own artistic vision.
I give audiences more credit.

[acrocksyo]

Posted: 10/15/06 at 12:26am

Funny how there were two more words in my quote, but it's cool to take out what you want of it I believe what I actually wrote was It's almost too abstract to be on Broadway I never said it was too abstract, but I was just making an observation as to how some of the people in the audience were confused. And it's abstract, there's no book, some people don't like to be challanged when they go to the theater, they just want to be spoon fed a plot, and in that case this show would not be for them.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 10/15/06 at 12:29am

sorry Acrocks. I misunderstood.

[MollySim]

Posted: 10/15/06 at 3:40pm

Nice to read a positive opinion... I completely agree.

[AlmostFamous]

Posted: 10/15/06 at 4:55pm

I saw it last night too...and I enjoyed it...but it's not something I would probably see again and again. I thought that cast itself was amazing. Lisa, Michael and Thom were wonderful.

[uwho]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 10:11pm

I can't wait to see it again! and again!

[jennafan]

Posted: 10/24/06 at 12:47am

I love how Tharp is bringing something new to Broadway.