Bob Dylan: The Musical
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.
Posted at 5:05 PM
Tags: Bob Dylan
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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.
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pretty horrific!
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"What degenerate produced this abortion?"
- Ignatius J. Reilly, A Confederacy of Dunces
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This is TERRIBLE!
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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!
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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.
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wait for it...yep, that just ruined the song for me forever.
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*stunned silence*
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I know people who saw the show and said it was HORRIBLE. Beyond bad.
And no intermission, so you're trapped.
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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?
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Bob is spinning in his grave.
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That tasted like barf.
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I just threw up a little. Although deep down inside, I was throwing up a lot.
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let's just pretend he didn't give permission.
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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.
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well, there goes my lunch
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i think i'm going to be sick... then again i should stop eating candy corn
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oh my.
i'm so depressed now.
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oh my god.
i'm so depressed now.
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could someone shoot me if they aren't busy?
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I think they've just discovered a new kind-of awful. And a deadly one at that. This makes me wanna die.
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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.
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I don't know what is worse: that performance, or the fact that I watched it in its entirety.
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i couldn't get past a minute. and to think that bob dylan gave them the rights to do that?
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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:
http://graphics.jsonline.com/graphics/owlive/img/sep03/taboobig091703.jpg
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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?
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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"?
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I only watched half after realizing I'd never be able to un-watch it
Shaking head in disgust
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Bob Dylan is rolling over in his grave.....
Wait you say ..."he's still alive"
but not after seeing this...
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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.
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that was horrendous - i wanted to see the show.
until.
now.
not sure i expected much better though.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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how many people walk out of their shows after seeing on verse?
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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.
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Someone should put a stop to this immediately.
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Worst. Thing. Ever.
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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.
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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.
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Normally I like to finesse my response but...That. Sucked. Shit.
Sorry.
I'll try to scare up a more educated vocabulary tomorrow.
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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...
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That sounded like a drunken Japanese office worker singing in a karaoke booth.
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Well said Paul H.
Who could have dreamt up such a disaster?
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Ugh, that clip makes the High Fidelity musical look like it was written by Gilbert and Sullivan...
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I'm a liberal man, but suddenly I understand the violent anger raised by the cartoon portraits of the prophet.
Haugart. Bergen / Norway
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gee thanks. now i have to scratch out my eyes, tear off my ears and give myself a lobotomy...
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Great mesmorizing action. Pretty risky. It looks like fun. He's a cat. I would like to see the context.
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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.
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When did the kids from Zoom get the rights to the Dylan catalog?
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best part: everyone kicking on the line "get your kicks for you"
i'm embarassed to be boomer
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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...
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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.
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Holy shit, that was depressing and infuriating.
Broadway sucks, and the idiots who would buy tickets for this bullshit suck even more.
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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.
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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.
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Someone needs to stop this immediately.
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This could break Dance of The Vampires record for fastest exit off Broadway. At least that had a semi-cool set design.
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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.
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God, I can see Dylan rolling in his grave as we speak.
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Oh my God.
What's that shit?
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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?
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nice guitar.
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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?
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Bob's not dead
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my cat just puked, i'd rather watch that again.
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"Unrelentingly bad"
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"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.
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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 ?
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my eyes have been raped.
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That makes me angry
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Could that BE any more Gay??
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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.
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Sure, your eyes were raped--but what about the shit that someone took in your ears?
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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?
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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
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I hope he got a lot of money. Like Scrooge fucking McDuck proportions, swimming in a bathhouse of Franklins and emeralds and other nonesuch.
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They can't be serious.
This is one big joke, right?
Dylan never wore suspenders.
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wow, I just died a little, and Bob Dylan can't roll in his grave because he's not dead moron
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They said Bobby had a cruel sense of humour but I never DREAMED he was this twisted...
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high school kids might describe this as "Gay"...I'm no homophobe but it seems to be the word that comes to mind here...
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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.
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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!
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This is so bad it redfines BAD.
One of the worst things I've ever seen...and it completely DESTROYS the song.
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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
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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.
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Awful, but is a masterpiece when compared to Lulu's ludicrous version of Mr Tambourine Man on British TV in the early 70's
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Why does the singer act like he's Adam Sandler? Ugh.
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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.
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Why wasn't there a siamese cat on his shoulder? WHY!? I want to understand the song visually. Yet, no cat. What a failure.
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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.
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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.