The Times They are a-Closin'- Page 4
The Times They are a-Closin'
#75Arden, Sesma and the actor who played the dog blew me away.
Posted: 11/8/06 at 11:17pmMarie Christine was limited run, but it also ended early I believe...
RentBoy86
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/15/05
#76Arden, Sesma and the actor who played the dog blew me away.
Posted: 11/8/06 at 11:20pmMan, I really really wanted to see this. I think it was a unique vision - one that might not have been full formed - but still, its nice to see something edgy and new on Broadway. I wish it would tour.
virgil blessing2
Leading Actor Joined: 7/12/04
#77Arden, Sesma and the actor who played the dog blew me away.
Posted: 11/8/06 at 11:21pm
lolol nov. 19th? what's TAKING them so long? LOL
let's put this closing to music: Side by Side....BYE SUCKA.
wawawawa wahahahahahahahahaahaha! 
mauriposa
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/14/05
#78Arden, Sesma and the actor who played the dog blew me away.
Posted: 11/9/06 at 12:59am
"The musical, which began previews Sept. 25 and opened on Oct. 26, will have played 28 performances and 35 previews by its run's end."
Less than a month out of previews. That's gotta hurt.
NathanLaneStalker
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/11/06
#79Arden, Sesma and the actor who played the dog blew me away.
Posted: 11/9/06 at 1:00amWow! I thought it would last at least 4 months but...wow!
#80Arden, Sesma and the actor who played the dog blew me away.
Posted: 11/9/06 at 6:57pmI'm going to the final performance...just got my student rush ticket today. Should be as awful as the first two times I saw the show, but I'm always glad to support Lisa Brescia.
#81Arden, Sesma and the actor who played the dog blew me away.
Posted: 11/10/06 at 10:44pm
I just got back from seeing it. For the record, I think Twyla Tharp is a genius, and I thought Movin' Out was quite a masterpiece. Perhaps the saddest thing about The Times They are a Changin' is that it could probably have been brilliant -- all of the components are wonderful, but she just couldn't string them together and execute the show well. The pieces are all excellent, but the show is a mess -- yet it has so, so much potential.
The concept, dealing with tyranny, oppression and rebellion is resonant, and really, brilliant. I don't think there's anything wrong with the idea, but rather with the execution. Movin' Out worked so well because it was truly a ballet -- not to mention the fact that I think Billy Joel's music lends itself somewhat better to telling a story than does Bob Dylan's. Movin' Out was a show told through dance, whereas The Times They are a Changin' is about the characters portrayed by the dancers (the clowns); there's a fundamental difference. Telling the story through dance worked, but the meeting of that concept with more traditional musical theater performance didn't work, because this time, dance took the back seat and told relatively little, but there was too little supplement for the missing pieces. I think if Tharp was going to have her actors sing, rather than having the music come from elsewhere and the story be told by the dancers, she needed dialogue scenes to act as connective tissue. The lack of something like that made the plot feel underdeveloped, and was a huge contribution to the fact that the show is largely a snooze-fest.
Michael Arden, as we all well know, is fantastically talented. What a voice on him, and he's just captivating. Lisa Brescia is one of my favorite performers, and she sounds wonderful but she's sadly underused. All of the dancers are excellent. John Selya is absolutely magnetic. The sets and costumes are fittingly elaborate -- at times a little gaudy, but they should be, and the lighting effects are very well-done.
All of the right elements are there, but the result is a misguided mess, and it's such a shame that Tharp couldn't make lighting strike twice.
Yankeefan007
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/20/04
#82Arden, Sesma and the actor who played the dog blew me away.
Posted: 11/10/06 at 11:07pmI'm seeing it tomorrow and will post my thoughts....which, now, are more irrelevent than usual.
Corine2
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/14/03
#83Arden, Sesma and the actor who played the dog blew me away.
Posted: 11/10/06 at 11:21pm
Personally,
I would have rather seen Sesma and Arden sing Dylan for 90 minutes. They blew me away.
The story or series of dreams just did not work.
It was very entertaining but I would have rather heard a concert with Arden and Sesma.
They have gorgeous voices and I could look at Sesma for years.
#84Arden, Sesma and the actor who played the dog blew me away.
Posted: 11/10/06 at 11:32pm
luvtheEmcee, your review above is incredible, and really made me think. i agree with a lot of it.
saw the show again tonight... michael arden, thom sesma and lisa brescia are so incredible...
#85Arden, Sesma and the actor who played the dog blew me away.
Posted: 11/10/06 at 11:33pm
Thank you very much. :)
Heh, it's always fun to come back and learn that there were other BWW'ers at the same performance.
Mattbrain
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/23/05
#86Arden, Sesma and the actor who played the dog blew me away.
Posted: 11/15/06 at 8:16pmWell, at least it knew when to throw in the towel unlike In My Life and Hot Feet. God, that latter show almost lived to celebrate its 100th performance.
Unknown User
Joined: 12/31/69
#87Arden, Sesma and the actor who played the dog blew me away.
Posted: 11/15/06 at 8:37pm
I knew it was coming, but i didn't like facing the facts...
I love the show in general, but i think it needed some more work
#88Great cast, not so great execution.
Posted: 11/16/06 at 1:34pm
I saw the show yesterday, and I agree with a lot of what Emcee said. During the show, I kept thinking, “Why doesn’t this show work better than it does?” The performers are uniformly strong, the general plot outline isn’t the greatest but isn’t the worst either, I liked the arrangements and the Dylan songs chosen, and the tech aspects are fine. So why isn’t the show a big hit?
I think the show would have been more successful if it had been presented as a revue with a loose throughline rather than as a show with a true book. As Emcee said, it is very difficult to have a true book with virtually no dialogue. In “Movin’ Out,” the offstage singers made it clear that the songs were supposed to convey mood and not meant to have their lyrics taken literally.
I also think that the show would have been better with more dancing—there is much less than I would have expected from a Twyla Tharp show. Especially in the first half, there are a lot of songs with unusual imagery enacted onstage, but that imagery isn’t that compelling by itself. I’m one of those people who thinks that the songs in Cirque du Soleil shows with weird images floating by are boring. Songs like “Masters of War” with actual dancing worked better for me. The other problem is that a lot of the time, that imagery pulls focus from the singer and the song itself. The audience is ooh-ing and aah-ing over the contortionist while poor Thom Sesma is singing his heart out on “Desolation Row,” and the two performers don’t seem connected at all. The applause buttons for the contortionist don’t match the peaks of “Desolation Row,” and the song loses its impact.
I think the show is getting pummeled more than it deserves – I enjoyed the show, particularly the second half, which seemed more integrated and also had more true dancing. The performers are giving their all. I am sorry to hear that the show is closing so quickly.
JustABroadwaybaby2
Broadway Star Joined: 4/6/06
#89Great cast, not so great execution.
Posted: 11/16/06 at 4:13pmI totally agree, mikem. I also think that every time Arden and Brecia had a nice moment, it got ruined by dancing.
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