Tharp-Dylan Piece Dubbed The Times They Are A-Changin'

A musical piece in which Tony Award-winner Twyla Tharp will set the songs of Bob Dylan to dance has been bestowed with the title The Times They Are A-Changin,' which is the name of one of the folk-rocker's most beloved songs.

As with Movin' Out, in which she directed and choreographed a narrative dance piece set to the songs of Billy Joel, Tharp will envision a theatrical world based on the songs of the legendary Dylan.  The show will begin performances at San Diego's Old Globe Theatre on January 25th, 2006, with single tickets going on sale on December 11th.

While no official casting has been announced, Oklahoma!'s Justin Bohon and Urban Cowboy's Jenn Colella are rumored to be attached to the high-profile project.

Dylan, an iconic singer-songwriter who personified authority-thwarting, free-thinking cool in the 1960s, is famous for a distinctively gravelly voice and songs such as "Blowin' in the Wind," "Like A Rolling Stone," "Just Like a Woman," "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Knockin' on Heaven's Door."  A Grammy and Kennedy Center Award-winner, he has recorded albums of country and Christian music as well as rock.

Tharp won a 2003 Tony Award for choreographing the Vietnam War-era Movin' Out, and was also nominated for her direction of the piece.  Her other credits include directing and choreographing Singin' in the Rain, directing the dance piece The Catherine Wheel (also produced by her Twyla Tharp Foundation) and choreographing the ballet Push Comes to Shove.  A major and influential modern dancer and choreographer since the 1960s, she also has "two Emmy Awards, seventeen honorary doctorates, the Vietnam Veterans of America President's Award, the 2004 National Medal of the Arts and numerous grants including the John D. and a Catherine T. MacArthur Fellowship, among other honors.