The New York Post, which has had the most inside details all along on the Tharp / Dylan musical “The Times They Are A-Changin’,” reports on some rocky riding in the current preview run at Broadway’s Brooks-Atkinson Theater.

The ax is swinging again at “The Times They Are A-Changin’,” the new Twyla Tharp musical based on the music of Bob Dylan.

Yesterday it fell on leading lady Caren Lyn Manuel, who’s been replaced by her understudy, Lisa Brescia.

Manuel joins a growing list of performers who’ve been fired from the show, now in previews – and a fair amount of trouble – at the Brooks Atkinson.

Manuel’s predecessor, Jen Colella, was let go after the show’s tryout in San Diego; so, too, were dancers who couldn’t handle Tharp’s complex choreography.

It’s tempting to pin all this turmoil on the hard-charging Tharp, who created the acclaimed Billy Joel musical “Movin’ Out.”

But production sources insist the director-choreographer never wanted to get rid of Colella in the first place, and was forced to do so by her producers, who felt the actress lacked sex appeal.

Manuel had that. What she reportedly lacked was a voice suited to Dylan.

“She was a belter,” a source says. “She belted out everything, even the tender songs. It was like she was in ‘Wicked.’”

With three weeks to go before the Oct. 26 opening night, Tharp continues to make substantial changes. She’s been adjusting the choreography every night and is trying to clarify a plot that’s baffling preview audiences.

I plan on seeing the show sometime not long after the official opening (all going well).

The show had received some pretty positive reviews at its run early in the year at San Diego’s Old Globe Theater. The consensus was it just needed some tinkering to have a great shot at making it on Broadway. Sometimes you tinker with one thing and some other stuff falls apart. But I do hope they pull it off.

...................
Share this!

Posts which might be related to this one based on a mysterious algorithm:

• Times on Broadway
• Changing Times
• Times Still Changin’