The moment you all haven’t been waiting for! If you thought Cate Blanchett as Judas was sacrilege, check out this clip of the Times They Are A-Changin cast performing “Like A Rolling Stone” on The View. BWE likens it to “a bad skit on Studio 60” (aren’t they all?). RIYL if you like Movin’ Out, Lord Of The Rings: The Musical, cheese.

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Comments (112)
  1. I almost wrote that I was torn between laughter and tears. But then I realized that writing that would be a lie, since there’s absolutely nothing funny about this. I can’t even laugh it off as ironic or tongue-in-cheek.

    I bet that the news of Dylan’s death will hurt less than this…

    Also – it appears Rosie shares my sentiments. She looks like she’d rather be making out with Boy George than advertising this travesty.

  2. Beth  |   Posted on Oct 25th, 2006

    pretty horrific!

  3. “What degenerate produced this abortion?”
    - Ignatius J. Reilly, A Confederacy of Dunces

  4. Eric  |   Posted on Oct 25th, 2006

    This is TERRIBLE!

  5. omg! please let this show close quickly and die a horrible death. Bouncing around to Billy Joel is one thing . . . but christ – Dylan in the middle of a circus!

  6. I almost wrote that I was torn between laughter and tears. But then I realized that writing that would be a lie, since there’s absolutely nothing funny about this. I can’t even laugh it off as ironic or tongue-in-cheek.

    I bet that the news of Dylan’s death will hurt less than this…

    Also – it appears Rosie shares my sentiments.

  7. Stephen  |   Posted on Oct 25th, 2006

    wait for it…yep, that just ruined the song for me forever.

  8. the world  |   Posted on Oct 25th, 2006

    *stunned silence*

  9. steven  |   Posted on Oct 25th, 2006

    I know people who saw the show and said it was HORRIBLE. Beyond bad.

    And no intermission, so you’re trapped.

  10. God that’s ugly. Were those rubber balls being ridden by the guys dressed as a dog and a mime supposed to be the ‘rolling stone’? (I never thought I’d ever type that sentence) And for crying out loud, how did Bob ever give his permission for something like that?

  11. Bob is spinning in his grave.

  12. That tasted like barf.

  13. Lisa  |   Posted on Oct 25th, 2006

    I just threw up a little. Although deep down inside, I was throwing up a lot.

  14. let’s just pretend he didn’t give permission.

  15. Jenny  |   Posted on Oct 25th, 2006

    my brain screams no but my heart flutters painfully at the sights and sounds before my very eyes. a brilliant performance that these performers (geniuses?) obviously spent minutes learning and practicing to perfection. I can’t imagine a better musical made about bob dylan. if they were to sell only that clip on dvd, i’d buy two. one for me and one for me. which of the performers did i enjoy watching the most? let me just get it out of the way. i’m a fan of all of them. and i’m no fan of michael bolton. i don’t celebrate the man’s entire catalogue or anything along those lines. how many times have i watched this clip, you ask? seven times. i probably won’t go to work tomorrow because i’ll be too busy watching this clip again and again. and again. sweet jesus oh mustard and mayonnaise do i appreciate the musical magician at work behind this treat for the eyes and ears. encore! i hope that they invite these performers back soon. they could perform the same song and i’d watch, as long as they included that stellar prop idea of rolling the giant balls that represent the rolling stone. is david blaine around because my mind is blown? clearly the writer and choreographer behind this musical, probably the best of the last 20 years, touched brandon flowers while coming up with this warm cup of coffee on a cold morning musical.

  16. well, there goes my lunch

  17. i think i’m going to be sick… then again i should stop eating candy corn

  18. Montgomery Miller  |   Posted on Oct 25th, 2006

    oh my.

    i’m so depressed now.

  19. Montgomery Miller  |   Posted on Oct 25th, 2006

    oh my god.

    i’m so depressed now.

  20. allison  |   Posted on Oct 25th, 2006

    could someone shoot me if they aren’t busy?

  21. I think they’ve just discovered a new kind-of awful. And a deadly one at that. This makes me wanna die.

  22. Rosie_#1_Fan  |   Posted on Oct 25th, 2006

    Oh, ya’ll are crazy! I live in the “Big Apple” and am just a Broadway freak… Hello, TKTS! Here I come. The only thing I question is whether or not Michael Arden (the male lead) is actually playing the guitar or not. Anyway, he’s a doll.

  23. I don’t know what is worse: that performance, or the fact that I watched it in its entirety.

  24. Alec  |   Posted on Oct 25th, 2006

    i couldn’t get past a minute. and to think that bob dylan gave them the rights to do that?

  25. David  |   Posted on Oct 25th, 2006

    You hear Rosie say “Wow!” at the end. It sounds like she really likes it. So maybe it is good after all. ‘Cause the lady does have killer taste:

  26. qwerty  |   Posted on Oct 25th, 2006

    What in the fuck has happened to Twyla Tharp? It’s one thing to work with Billy Joel — crappy songs are bound to create a crappy show — but to do this to Dylan is just disgusting.

    Why does everything on Broadway have to be so damned peppy?

  27. Jakob D  |   Posted on Oct 25th, 2006

    Ho. Lee. Shit. That was hideous. My Dad hardly ever did that dance, and mostly just to piss off the people who hated that he went electric. In the meantime, who wants to hear “One Headlight”?

  28. I only watched half after realizing I’d never be able to un-watch it
    Shaking head in disgust

  29. Bob Dylan is rolling over in his grave…..

    Wait you say …”he’s still alive”

    but not after seeing this…

  30. Matthew  |   Posted on Oct 25th, 2006

    I’m not trying to insinuate that Bob Dylan has sold out… I mean, it’s his music, he can do whatever the hell he wants. If he has no problem licensing his music for a broadway musical, he’s earned that right. He’s still talented and an intelligent man, in my book. But I just cannot see the Bob Dylan who wrote “Like A Rolling Stone” and the songs that came before it being okay with that over-the-top tripe I just watched.

    Just… just… ew. That was awful.

  31. that was horrendous – i wanted to see the show.

    until.

    now.

    not sure i expected much better though.

  32. Rob z.  |   Posted on Oct 25th, 2006

    that’s why i fucking hate musicals. obnoxious cheese. and who was the fuckface that thought musicals of musicians were a good idea? i mean, a john lennon musical? and now, bob dylan. you got to be kidding me. jeezus.

  33. Rob z.  |   Posted on Oct 25th, 2006

    that’s why i fucking hate musicals. obnoxious cheese. and who was the fuckface that thought musicals of musicians were a good idea? i mean, a john lennon musical? and now, bob dylan. you got to be kidding me. jeezus.

  34. Rob z.  |   Posted on Oct 25th, 2006

    that’s why i fucking hate musicals. obnoxious cheese. and who was the fuckface that thought musicals of musicians were a good idea? i mean, a john lennon musical? and now, bob dylan. you got to be kidding me. jeezus.

  35. how many people walk out of their shows after seeing on verse?

  36. Jason  |   Posted on Oct 25th, 2006

    I saw the show last week, and that number left me screaming with laughter. It’s even worse on the real stage. There are a few great moments of the show, but that song is one of the worst.

  37. Frankie Lee  |   Posted on Oct 26th, 2006

    Someone should put a stop to this immediately.

  38. Worst. Thing. Ever.

  39. Michael  |   Posted on Oct 26th, 2006

    That WAS horrible, and I really don’t get what they were going for. That was so opposite of what Dylan is/was about it. First off, the singer must be killed for holding his “prop” guitar, shaking his head in a way Rush Limbaugh would call ingenuine, and just plain looking like he’d never thought about politics, Woody Guthrie, or anything even remotely substantial a day in his life.

  40. Wow. Wow.

    I’m sure Ms. O’donnel meant it in a good way when she started screaming, but c’mon, seriously? Is this real? Am I still alive or is there a very large joke being played on me by people in my afterlife? Ok, I get it guys, I’m the “new guy”, but this is going a little too far.

  41. Skatelip  |   Posted on Oct 26th, 2006

    Normally I like to finesse my response but…That. Sucked. Shit.

    Sorry.

    I’ll try to scare up a more educated vocabulary tomorrow.

  42. Devin  |   Posted on Oct 26th, 2006

    That was GREAT!

    ahahah, I sincerely hope that was a joke, please? Even after expecting the worst, it went way beyond anything imaginable. I don’t understand plays, so sensationalized and substanceless. I imagine that the type of person who would love this is the same type that can sit for endless hours being entertained by dancing with the stars…

  43. That sounded like a drunken Japanese office worker singing in a karaoke booth.

  44. Sonny Bill  |   Posted on Oct 26th, 2006

    Well said Paul H.

    Who could have dreamt up such a disaster?

  45. Pandyora  |   Posted on Oct 26th, 2006

    Ugh, that clip makes the High Fidelity musical look like it was written by Gilbert and Sullivan…

  46. Oystein Hauge  |   Posted on Oct 26th, 2006

    I’m a liberal man, but suddenly I understand the violent anger raised by the cartoon portraits of the prophet.

    Haugart. Bergen / Norway

  47. sonicdeath99  |   Posted on Oct 26th, 2006

    gee thanks. now i have to scratch out my eyes, tear off my ears and give myself a lobotomy…

  48. Great mesmorizing action. Pretty risky. It looks like fun. He’s a cat. I would like to see the context.

  49. Chris  |   Posted on Oct 26th, 2006

    What were they thinking?

    I’m guessing the concept was a John Mayer look-alike, performing on American Idol with a paper-mache guitar (they couldn’t find a real one for him to pretend to play?). Add the cast of “Cats” as dancing troubadours.

    There is no way this could possibly be worse. ABSOLUTELY NO WAY.

    If God doesn’t stop them, then the government should.

  50. puffer  |   Posted on Oct 26th, 2006

    When did the kids from Zoom get the rights to the Dylan catalog?

  51. Dean Wermer  |   Posted on Oct 26th, 2006

    best part: everyone kicking on the line “get your kicks for you”

    i’m embarassed to be boomer

  52. Pete  |   Posted on Oct 26th, 2006

    boy, that WAS bad, worse than I’d imagined… though i could never really get to any imagining with the premise being what it is. being a dylan fan has become so twisted, theres no… dignity…

  53. Kiki  |   Posted on Oct 26th, 2006

    Yuck. Granted I’m the type that thinks 90% of musical theater is horribly cheesy but I really wish they’d gone in another direction.
    Who knows, maybe this really works for some people but I could have lived without ever seeing that and been better for it.

  54. Aaron  |   Posted on Oct 26th, 2006

    Holy shit, that was depressing and infuriating.

    Broadway sucks, and the idiots who would buy tickets for this bullshit suck even more.

  55. seriously  |   Posted on Oct 26th, 2006

    I mean I knew that this would be bad when I heard about it, but jesus christ, are you fucking kidding me? I mean someone gave me free tickets to the Johnny Cash one a while back and although it was horrible it was at least chuckle worthy for me and my buddy who came pretty wasted until we left at intermission. But this is some seriously nauseating shit man. jesus. i’m going to be puking in my mouth all day now. thanks rosie, fucking bitch.

  56. I mean I knew that this would be bad when I heard about it, but jesus christ, are you fucking kidding me? I mean someone gave me free tickets to the Johnny Cash one a while back and although it was horrible it was at least chuckle worthy for me and my buddy who came pretty wasted until we left at intermission. But this is some seriously nauseating shit man. jesus. i’m going to be puking in my mouth all day now. thanks rosie, fucking bitch.

  57. Frankie Lee  |   Posted on Oct 26th, 2006

    Someone needs to stop this immediately.

  58. Brad  |   Posted on Oct 26th, 2006

    This could break Dance of The Vampires record for fastest exit off Broadway. At least that had a semi-cool set design.

  59. chase  |   Posted on Oct 26th, 2006

    just to clear things up for everyone who is confused, bewildered, sickened or worse i’ve watched this video several times and here’s my conclusion:

    The Boy In Red Is Bob Dylan.

    The big balls bouncing around are rolling stones.

    The acrobats are the jugglers and the clowns. They seem to be riding the rolling stone, just as the addressed person in the song has been ridden by them.

    When the singer says “Come On Boys! Kicks for you!” they all kick together (well almost together) and visually demonstrate the word “kicks.”

    On of the acrobats has socks on his head and is clearly trying to be John Candy’s Mog from Spaceballs. This doesn’t quite fit, but then again, it’s Dylan, and everything under the sun is fair game.

    I can’t figure out why the singer gyrates, or why satan is dancing around behind him with the acrobats, or why Rosie O’donnell yells “WOW” like she just opened a Christmas present and saw it was a buncha buttered up Texas Toast Cheese Sandwiches, but I’m sure some of ya’ll can fill me in on these, considering I just explained so much about this video. Thanks.

  60. God, I can see Dylan rolling in his grave as we speak.

  61. Oh my God.
    What’s that shit?

  62. xombievox  |   Posted on Oct 26th, 2006

    Holy shit that’s awful. I like Twyla Tharp. Her ‘The Creative Habit’ book is phenomenal. (read it!) And while I hated Moving Out, I’ll concede that there’s an inherent cheeziness to Billy Joel trading in his Chevy for a Cadillac-ack-ack-ack-ack-ack that translates well to Broadway. But fucking yikes. How many weeks of shit ticket sales do you think it’ll take before they bring in an American Idol alum?

  63. the mercy fox  |   Posted on Oct 26th, 2006

    nice guitar.

  64. xombievox  |   Posted on Oct 26th, 2006

    Holy shit that’s awful. I like Twyla Tharp. Her ‘The Creative Habit’ book is phenomenal. (read it!) And while I hated Moving Out, I’ll concede that there’s an inherent cheeziness to Billy Joel trading in his Chevy for a Cadillac-ack-ack-ack-ack-ack that translates well to Broadway. But fucking yikes. How many weeks of shit ticket sales do you think it’ll take before they bring in an American Idol alum?

  65. jacob  |   Posted on Oct 26th, 2006

    Bob’s not dead

  66. bad dream  |   Posted on Oct 26th, 2006

    my cat just puked, i’d rather watch that again.

  67. Leonard Pinth-Garnell  |   Posted on Oct 26th, 2006

    “Unrelentingly bad”

  68. blankwave  |   Posted on Oct 26th, 2006

    “God, I can see Dylan rolling in his grave as we speak.”

    Hey, it’s a little too soon for that! He’s alive!

    But man, that musical is gonna be terrible.

  69. shangri-la  |   Posted on Oct 26th, 2006

    Don’t miss out on the asymetrical mouth opening (elvis style) totally wicked.
    Sending a terminator on the creators’ folks wouldn’t be that much out of proportion would it ?

  70. my eyes have been raped.

  71. That makes me angry

  72. Chandler  |   Posted on Oct 26th, 2006

    Could that BE any more Gay??

  73. Jackson  |   Posted on Oct 26th, 2006

    Oh, come on. Broadway is a completely different medium. The comments on this blog about the three minute performance from ABC’s “The View” all reveal a total lack of understanding of this fact. It is NOT meant to be a recreation of famous rock songs you know from a totally different medium. It is NOT meant to somehow evoke a sense of dated nostalgia or sentimentality. Indeed, the songs in the show are used to tell a totally different tale about a broken-down circus (in Florida? along the side of the road? the road of life?) and the father-son conflict when both covet the beautiful animal trainer. The songs tell THAT story, not the story you have in your own head. The short performance on “The View” didn’t have the opportunity to express any of that. All we have are comments by people who have only one sense of these songs. Get over it.

  74. Greg  |   Posted on Oct 26th, 2006

    Sure, your eyes were raped–but what about the shit that someone took in your ears?

  75. PATHETIC  |   Posted on Oct 26th, 2006

    Are you f’n kidding me. This might be the worst thing I have ever heard, seen and witnessed. I’m a finatical fan of Dylan, and could hardly handle 5 minutes – who on earth would go to see this?

  76. darkeyes  |   Posted on Oct 26th, 2006

    jeeeeze

    lighten up.
    Its broadway.

    I just finished reading an article where Bob is quoted
    “Dylan, who caught Times during its world premiere at San Diego’s Old Globe Theatre, begs to differ. “It hit me like a lightning bolt,” he says. “It went through me on a celestial level, and not because I had anything to do with it. Dance is not my expertise, but I felt like I was flying when I left the theater. A couple of the duets knocked me flat. It was pretty steamy. These songs were coming across in a way I couldn’t get them across. I understand now she’s made it 1,000% better.”

    Taking a number out of context doesn’t give any understanding of the piece as a whole.

    go see it and see what you think then.
    But if you are expecting someone to sit and give a bob impression, yup, disappointment.
    BTW
    Bob isn’t in his grave yet.!
    LOL

  77. I hope he got a lot of money. Like Scrooge fucking McDuck proportions, swimming in a bathhouse of Franklins and emeralds and other nonesuch.

  78. They can’t be serious.
    This is one big joke, right?

    Dylan never wore suspenders.

  79. wow, I just died a little, and Bob Dylan can’t roll in his grave because he’s not dead moron

  80. salaar  |   Posted on Oct 26th, 2006

    They said Bobby had a cruel sense of humour but I never DREAMED he was this twisted…

  81. Gerba  |   Posted on Oct 26th, 2006

    high school kids might describe this as “Gay”…I’m no homophobe but it seems to be the word that comes to mind here…

  82. Barre  |   Posted on Oct 26th, 2006

    number one, JayFlayer, Dylan is still alive and the musical has his full support and praise.

    number two, if you knew the amount of time and effort that went in to choreographing and staging this masterpiece then you would all be ashamed of your comments. i’ve been close to the production and twyla from the beginning and seeing an abbreviated clip of a number on ‘the view’s’ stage in no way comes close to the spectacle that is the set in the broadway theater. judging based on that is to be completely ignorant.

    if you all love dylan as much as you claim then you need to be open minded about what is a revolutionary piece of work…and realize that by accepting it you are sharing dylan’s opinion.

  83. Ewww. What was the director thinking? That somehow getting all the people that couldn’t make the cut for Cirque du Soleil would make this watchable? No. No. Not just no, hell no!

  84. MusicMan  |   Posted on Oct 26th, 2006

    This is so bad it redfines BAD.

    One of the worst things I’ve ever seen…and it completely DESTROYS the song.

  85. finkster  |   Posted on Oct 26th, 2006

    I can’t wait to see what they do with “Wiggle Wiggle”

    - but seriously, what if they attempt something like “Masters”… get ready for The Apocolypse

  86. Barre  |   Posted on Oct 26th, 2006

    hey jayflayer, for a fan you’re pretty damn ignorant…dylan isn’t dead. in fact, this show has both his blessing and his admiration. you have to see it to believe it (which i have) and you haters don’t understand what twyla tharp, a MASTER, has done with dylan’s music. also, the stage on ‘the view’ can hardly be compared to the stage the show is actually being performed on. of course for you avid fans nothing will please you, but i love both dylan and this show. you guys need to learn something about respecting art.

  87. R Stokes  |   Posted on Oct 26th, 2006

    Awful, but is a masterpiece when compared to Lulu’s ludicrous version of Mr Tambourine Man on British TV in the early 70’s

  88. Jason  |   Posted on Oct 26th, 2006

    Why does the singer act like he’s Adam Sandler? Ugh.

  89. Jason  |   Posted on Oct 26th, 2006

    I saw the show last week, and this is definitely one of the worst production numbers in the show. And it’s even worse onstage, with acrobats going nuts on trampolines downstage. “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” and “A Simple Twist of Fate” were beautiful, though.

  90. mama's meat man  |   Posted on Oct 26th, 2006

    Why wasn’t there a siamese cat on his shoulder? WHY!? I want to understand the song visually. Yet, no cat. What a failure.

  91. Murray  |   Posted on Oct 26th, 2006

    To the few who are spouting on about Dylan “loving” and “blessing” this abomination, it may be time to wise up. There is no Santa Claus, there is no Easter Bunny, and money is the gift no one ever returns.

  92. ummmm.

    i’ve been in the theatre almost my entire life.

    the show itself tells its own story, and this was just a glimse of it.

    it needed an intro and perhaps an outro to bring the audience into the story.

    but, overall, i’d have to say that this was a pretty harsh introduction to the show. whew.

    it should please the broadway demographic very well, though. every mr. and mrs. jones will now “get it.”

    and be further away, perhaps, than ever.

    then again, maybe bob himself is far away from those days…

    he’s called himself a song and dance man. was this what he may have had in mind?

    from this brief glimpse, i’d have to say this is the tin-pan-alley-ization of bob. and i had always thought bob was the antithesis, or answer back to, of tin pan alley.

    he may have walked by the brill building, but in his early days he didn’t want to work there.

    it’s so hard to see this and look at it separate from bob and his ouvre and life. the songs themself evoke bob then, and perhaps now.

    heck, in the dvd that accompanied modern times, soy bomb was edited out! there’s a song and dance guy, eh, at least equal to the jugglers and the clowns…and what a great piece of theatre to boot!

    oh well. it is what it is. hand it to twyla to try and reinvent the master of reinvention.

    i’ll still go see it, if it’s playing six months from now.

  93. DS456  |   Posted on Oct 27th, 2006

    I think there is evidence that what Dylan said about the musical was said with tongue planted firmly in cheek.

  94. frankielee  |   Posted on Oct 27th, 2006

    It’s a musical. It’s dance. It’s theater. I don’t care much for any of those, and it looks as if most of the posters don’t either, but it occurs to me that if I did like those things, and was a more casual fan of Dylan, I might view the show as inspired; as surreal as the images described in many of the songs are, trying to depict them literally would be foolish, and boring. Having said that, I think taking that song out of its context in the show was crazy. I don’t know if there was a piece they could have chosen that would have been a better stand alone piece, but I don’t see how they could have picked a worse one if the aim is to publicize the show. Ms Tharp is an acknowledged genius of dance and choreography, and I’m not, but if I were in charge of staging this bizarre show, I’d have used recordings of Bob, and let the dancers go wild. But then, that’s not how musicals do it; the actors have to advance the story by bursting into song. I don’t like musicals (except maybe Little House of Horrors). Assuming the production is better than that excerpt, I can believe Bob really liked it. The songs aren’t sacred to him in the same way they often are to his fans. I don’t think Bob’s hurting for money, nor that he has much he wants to spend it on. I can believe that for his own maverick reasons he might say he likes it when he really doesn’t. But I think it’s shallow analysis to declare that a desire for money makes his decisions for him. Think harder, guys.
    And what’s the deal with all the profanity? How about raising the level of the vocabulary a little. Some of you were quite articulate and funny; the cheap language drags it down.

  95. shangri-la  |   Posted on Oct 27th, 2006

    Liz : I think the “rolling in his grave” was what you americans call a “not” Joke (who’s the moron now ?)
    See Borat trailer was full instructions on how to master this one.

  96. Lynn  |   Posted on Oct 28th, 2006

    I especially like the BIG FINISH in the form of a spinning human rolling stone. Good stuff.

  97. Rosie  |   Posted on Oct 30th, 2006

    I think it really captures the essence of Dylan…or at least the essence of what his very worst on-stage acid trip might have been like. “Is that a dude dressed as a dog bouncing on a huge ball?”

  98. Mark  |   Posted on Oct 30th, 2006

    That was by far the worst performance I have ever seen. I can’t believe what I just witness…….sick!!!!!!

    I’m speechless.

  99. killthispuppy  |   Posted on Oct 30th, 2006

    Obviously, this was embarassing. The fake guitar made it worse. Clearly the whole thing was cooked up by a theater set that doesn’t quite get the music, and tailored to their sensabilities (and to what they thought the soccer moms might come see).

    That said, Dylan has a weird sense of humor. He might well like this.

  100. Awful, terrible. Whoever funded this “show” should realize they just got taken!

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