Katie Couric will talk to Twyla Tharp about The Times They Are A-Changin’ on her “Evening News” show on CBS, at 6:30 pm ET on Monday, September 16th. It’s understandable that Tharp would want to generate some positive buzz ahead of the October 26th official opening, especially to counteract the negative stories that have appeared in the press lately. Still, it seems to me she should have gone for a TV show with somewhat higher ratings … like a 3 a.m. infomercial maybe.

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Another Broadway-related item:

The folks responsible for staging ‘The Times They Are A-Changin’ — the Broadway play that uses some of Dylan’s best-known material as a backdrop for Twyla Tharp’s underlings to boogie in interpretive-dance fashion — are seeking a self-proclaimed Dylan authority to field questions in an evening-long game of “Stump the Dylan Expert,” set for Oct. 26. The producers are willing to cough up $250 for anyone who’s devoted an undue number of brain cells to trivia about obscure recording sessions and/or the singer’s next religious conversion (which we’re betting will involve Zoroastrianism).

Well, note the small-minded snipe at Dylan’s religious faith in the last line. That aside, I can say that $250 is not nearly enough to tempt this “self-proclaimed Dylan authority” to risk public humiliation in such an endeavor. Besides, I don’t really consider myself an expert on Dylan trivia — it’s the big stuff that I’m sure I’m right about.

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The London Free Press attended Dylan’s show in Vancouver the other night, and comes up with a story saying “Dylan’s new material leaves fans wanting;” i.e. that his “new” material (everything from 1990’s Cat’s In The Well onwards) doesn’t please the crowds nearly as much as his classic 60s and 70s songs. I don’t know if such an observation has ever been more misplaced. I can’t speak for that particular show and how the crowd reacted, since I wasn’t there, but I have to suspect some considerable projection on the part of the writer. The astounding thing about Dylan at this stage of his career is just how many recent songs he has to draw on, and which are familiar and well-loved by his fans. Songs from Time Out Of Mind, “Love and Theft”, and now the new album too: Are there any of Dylan’s contemporaries who can easily fill half of their sets with songs written in the past decade, and still send their audiences home happy? Dylan can, and does so at will. That’s the truly noteworthy thing. Sure, Like A Rolling Stone and All Along The Watchtower will always raise the roof, and Dylan leans on them for encores, but a critic who misses the vitality of the latter-day material is missing a great deal. And that would be why you don’t see this kind of stuff written very often.

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