The first third of Twyla Tharp's atmospheric
production based on the song catalogue of Bob Dylan captures your attention,
impresses you with its earnest intent, imaginative verve and energetic fire,
and if you are anything like me, pulls you along with such magnetism that
you are prepared for a wild ride. Unfortunately, the second third begins to
loose focus and even starts to drag and you notice that you are making
allowances you might not have made had the start not been such a grabber.
You begin to notice that only some of the eloquently simple lyrics that are
the hallmark of Dylan's poetic writing actually seem to fit the scenes Tharp
has constructed for them. You start to see the seams that don't quite match
up and the gimmicks that stretch a bit too thin. Then comes the final third
when Tharp's inventiveness starts to feel like a parody of itself,
belittling that which went before. If you were really entranced by the first
part, your
enjoyment and acceptance of her work is now being belittled, and acceptance
turns to insult. By the end, those who were most anxious for Tharp to
succeed and would have been the strongest advocates of the
show have been turned into its biggest critics, emboldened by a sense of
betrayal. Tharp chose to make this a ninety minute, intermissionless show.
As a result, she rushes through a story too streamlined to have much depth
rather than fully developing her themes and the characters whose story she's
supposed to be telling. |
|
Storyline: A musical built on the songs of Bob Dylan set in Captain Ahrab's
Circus where the mean circus owner victimizes his teen age son and a young
girl in the circus.
Tharp's last foray into Broadway musical making
was her dance musical Movin' Out,
which brought a new vocabulary to the burgeoning field of jukebox musicals
by matching the sound of a 26-song concert of the works of Billy Joel to a
story clearly told in dance. Then, the dancers were mute, telling the story
through motion while a ten piece rock band with a singing piano man on a
platform above the stage went through the Joel catalogue. This time, she has
a small five-piece band on an elevated portion of the set, but the vocals
are entrusted to three of the ten member cast - the three stars, Michael
Arden, Thom Sesma and Lisa Brescia. The story she has chosen to create is of
a vile father who mistreats his son and abuses a young girl in his employ.
The boy and girl, of course, form a bond and love wins out. It all takes
place in a circus (Tharp found a surprising number of references to the
circus or the carnival in the lyrics of Dylan) which lets the rest of the
cast be tumblers, clowns, roustabouts and even a trick dog.
Thom Sesma is the mean
circus owner who abuses everyone in his troupe, including his son, played
and sung by Michael Arden with charm and a consistent sense of wonder that
fits the songs of Bob Dylan. Arden is a pleasure to hear on numbers like
"Lay Lady Lay" and "Not Dark Yet." Lisa Brescia has some fine moments as the
girl in both of their lives, especially when singing the likes of
"Everything Is Broken." She shows signs of being fully capable of handling
the non-singing scenes as well, but Tharp, in her rush to tell the story in
an hour and a half, hasn't written any human depth into the role. Sesma is
at his absolute best early on when booming out "Highway 61 Revisited" and he
builds his character in clean, clear steps, but Tharp's descent from
relatively concrete imagery into increasingly abstract symbols does him in
when things just get silly with beatings administered by balloons and fight
ring ropes used for jumping. It makes it very difficult to credit the
honesty of Arden's emotion at the end when he sings "Dignity."
Santo Loquasto's circus set
incorporates trampolines built over the un-used orchestra pit and into an
upstage platform so that tumbling can become a major feature of Tharp's
dance creations. She proves herself to be quite adept at choreographing
falls and bounces, although Cirque du Soliel isn't in any danger from the
competition. Tharp's moves for the dancers on solid floors are constantly
interesting and impressive in service of a story and a world that just
doesn't work. Not one, but two suspended metal structures of moons emphasize
the unreality of the world of the story. However, just in case you missed
it, there's also the statement in the program "Setting: Sometime between
awake and asleep." Ok! We get it.
Music and lyrics by Bob
Dylan. Conceived, directed and choreographed by Twyla Tharp. Music direction
by Henry Aronson. Music arranged, adapted and supervised by Michael
Dansicker. Design: Santo Loquasto (set and costumes) Donald Holder (lights)
Michael Dansicker and Bob Dylan (orchestrations) Peter Hylenski (sound).
Cast: Michael Arden, Lisa Brescia, Lisa Gajda, Neil Haskell, Jason McDole,
Charlie Neshyba-Hodges, Jonathan Nosan, John Selya, Thom Sesma, Ron
Todorowski.
|
