i saw it on Friday! sorry if this is so long, but since there weren't very detailed reviews here, i thought i'd post some of my thoughts. i also got to meet the cast as well, which was a blast. they were all dressed up because they were heading to a party for the sponsors that night as well. here's my review of the musical, so warning there may be possible spoilers (depends on what you call a "spoiler"...) so forgive me if i indulge~
first of all, we got front row center seats! it was fun to see a lot of the acting and dancing up close. it was an interesting show. very artsy, possibly not for everyone. i know that the plot sounds horrible, but more than a storyline, i perceived it more as a setting of a sad circus. The "plot" is really hard to follow, being that there is not a spoken word in the entire show. it's just forcing a bunch of bob dylan songs into a narrative, which doesn't really work out organically.
the best things about this musical was the singing and the dancing. michael arden is amazing - i've only heard him on the "bare" recording, and hearing him live is another thing in itself. it was such a sensory overload, that sometimes if you focus on the dancing you tend to miss out on the singing - not that that's a bad thing, but both were amazing. i also really liked thom sesma - his voice really fit bob dylan's songs well, in my opinion.
the dancers are extremely talented. because i'm trained as a dancer, I really appreciated twyla tharp's choreography and the intricacy and musical interpretation of it all. the acrobatics were good, but more than that, the dancing really blew me away. charlie neshyba-hodges really stood out, and so did jason mcdole.
another random note: the lighting was noticeably well done. it really added another element to the creativity of the dancing.
meeting them was really fun. they were all dressed up, like i mentioned before, and really friendly. because my twin sister and i were sitting in the front row, it was a little embarrassing at how visible we had been because we look so similar, and I guess the cast could see us from stage. thom sesma said that he wanted to take both of us up on stage! that would have been a blast.
we talked to charlie neshyba-hodges, who told us that originally, john selya had been the original coyote. i told him i didn't realize that john selya sang, and he basically said that he originally had only about three songs, but when michael arden signed on, they expanded his part to almost all singing with very little dancing. they officially open next thursday, and get to find out next Friday if they are broadway-bound or not. it'll be interesting to see if this show goes to broadway - it has some good things such as the stellar cast and twyla tharp behind it, but a little avant garde that might not be as universally appealing as some other broadway shows.
michael arden is a sweetheart! we told him we didn't know he can dance, and he replied that he still doesn't know if he does.
he says he has some bruises from the very athletic dancing, but seems like he thoroughly enjoys it.
overall: the talent in both the dancing and singing is the best part. it's mostly emotionally moving with some humor ("everyone must get stoned!"). a friend of mine who also went, wasn't as impressed due to the confusing storyline and artistic license, so definitely not for everyone. but i loved it. :)
some pictures with the cast, as well as some fuzzy ones:
https://www.flickr.com/groups/broadwaystars/ enjoy!
