From SignOnSanDiego.com today:

From the moment the show was announced, “The Times They Are A-Changin’ ’ has been shrouded in secrecy. Twyla Tharp, the show’s choreographer and director, says the hush has as much to do with the constant flux of a new work as it does with a desire to keep speculation at bay.

“When people want to know what’s coming up, what is this, what is that, I say: ‘Don’t ask me,’ ’ explains Tharp. “You just don’t know.’

Here’s what we do know about “The Times They Are A-Changin’ ’ (and speaking of changin’: Bear in mind that the show likely will be revised from what hit the Globe stage in previews a few days ago):

The plot follows the troubles of a low-rent circus that is spinning its wheels. The troupe is led by Capt. Arab (Paul Kandel), and includes Cleo (Jenn Colella), an animal trainer “exploited by Capt. Arab and loved by his son, Coyote (Michael Arden),’ according to the program notes.

The 29 songs featured in the first previews span nearly the entire range of Dylan’s career, from 1963’s “Blowin’ in the Wind’ to 2001’s “Summer Days.’

As noted there, the show is in previews at the moment, so properly speaking it will “debut” this coming Thursday, February 2nd.

For myself I haven’t seen any detailed fan descriptions, beyond what I reacted to in a previous post (and that wasn’t particularly detailed).

A reader wrote to say that he saw the new musical based on Johnny Cash songs, “Ring of Fire,” during its run in Buffalo (it will come to Broadway next month). A big Johnny Cash fan already, he greatly enjoyed this stage production. A description he forwarded from Broadway.com says in part:

Through words and music, Ring of Fire brings to life the stories made famous in Johnny Cash’s songs. It does not have a through storyline, but rather is like a theatrical concert of his songs. The show features 38 of the music legend’s tunes, including “Country Boy,” “A Thing Called Love,” “Five Feet High and Rising,” “Daddy Sang Bass,” “Ring of Fire,” “I Walk the Line,” “I’ve Been Everywhere,” “The Man in Black,” and “Hurt.”

So, that’s interesting. Now, we’ve already been given to believe that The Times They Are A-Changin’ has a specific storyline, of-course. And I’ve speculated that Dylan himself has written the “book” for the musical, based on the fact that no one else is credited with doing so. It’s also based somewhat on the first report I ever heard about the project, which was in the New York Post in 2004 (the story is referenced in this still-available Playbill piece) and which stated that Dylan had approached Tharp about the project; not the other way around. I’m guessing that in such a circumstance, Dylan would already have had at least the bones of a story in mind.

Of-course, without a detailed description of the performance, we don’t yet know to what extent there is dialogue at all, or whether the “story” is somehow told through the sequence of songs, and through the art of dance, which after all is Tharp’s great talent.

So, the situation remains pretty static: too much of nothing.

Too much of nothing
Can turn a man into a liar,
It can cause one man to sleep on nails
And another man to eat fire.
Ev’rybody’s doin’ somethin’,
I heard it in a dream,
But when there’s too much of nothing,
It just makes a fella mean.

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