Bob Dylan and the Nobel Prize

So many questions

Why is he silent?

Is he troubled by the award?  Maybe because Alfred Nobel made his money from TNT, which is very destructive both in war and in peace? Maybe because he's a recluse?

Is he still thinking about it?  Is it better to remain silent while he thinks about it?  Is he working on a thoughtful or musical response? Surely, it would be nice to get a new song out of this.  Maybe they should just let him percolate, hoping for a musical response.

The committee that awards the prize calls him arrogant for failing to respond.  Really?  Isn't it arrogant of them to expect a busy celebrity to drop everything and respond?

Is he having some other problem?  Perhaps a health issue, which makes it difficult to respond?

I took modern dance from kindergarten to 9th grade.  During part of that time, the class was in the local Unitarian Church.  This church was a landmark, because it was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.  There were interesting places to climb on in the church.  When we had our recital, at one point, the church let us perform during the service -- Unitarians being quite flexible in such things.

I remember I chose Dylan's "Masters of War" as the accompaniment of my dance.  I carried my brother's toy gun during the dance and fired it at one point.  It made a loud noise.  This was before it was illegal to make toy guns look real.  It looked satisfyingly like a real rifle.

I felt really significant and artistic doing this dance.  It was during the Viet Nam war.  I was upset about the war.  I though Dylan's commentary poignant.

I also always liked singing Dylan's "Blowing in the Wind."

As an adult, I became a religious pacifist, joining the Religious Society of Friends, Quaker.

I felt Dylan was an influence for peace for sure.  The award seems appropriate to me.

But who knows what he is thinking?

@joshgroban on Broadway edited 10/22/16

It started out with my planning to go to see The Comet on the 20th, but then I booked a play myself that day, so I managed to sell the ticket to another Grobie, and got a ticket for the 19th. The first ticket was in the orchestra, but I decided not to go for such an expensive seat again, and indeed I auditioned for a great commercial that would have conflicted with the reservation on the 19th, but I don't book that commercial.

Then, on the 19th, just before lunch I went by the Actors Equity building and dropped off a headshot for "Bull in a China Shop." I could see right off that they were taking non-equity performers for that audition and, if I came back at two I would be able to audition, which is rare in NYC.  Generally, if you're non-equity you can't get into equity auditions. That was a bit of a tough decision, but I decided to just drop off my headshot and go to see The Comet and hoped it might get out early enough to get in to the audition at the end.

At first I hoped I might live tweet my experience at the show, but the theater was super strict about no cell phone use of any kind. They even had the ensemble come up into the aisles and sing to us about it, including no Google searches, tweets, etc. I got a few tweets in before the show started, but not much, so now I'll blog from memory.

The stage is set up in an unusual way for this show. There are six areas for musicians, interspersed with sections of audience in between, and twisty paths through for the performers. There are also stairs from the stage up to the balcony. The performers go out in the audience a lot. They warn you to keep the aisles clear for them. They even had Josh walk along the front row of the balcony at one point, though he was less active in the audience than the other performers. However, those maneuvering smaller instruments (violins, clarinets, guitar) are apparently expected to move around – not sit in the pits.

The ensemble work was extraordinary, rivaling Lion King, in my opinion. There must have been at least thirty people*  in the ensemble and they were multi-talented, with many performers dancing while playing an instrument. The violinists were dancing, playing the violin, and singing all at once. They even had one row of seats covered with a dance floor up in the rear balcony, where I was, so that two extraordinary women, one white and one black could do all those things for us way up the upper balcony. Those performers were running all over the multi level performance space all the time.

At the beginning, the music sounded fairly conventional, but gradually it got more new music sounding. This should be good for Grobies, because a new music/pop combination is what Josh is known for. I think if you liked "Now or Never"' and "Falling Slowly" you would probably like this stuff. I'm not sure why people are calling this electro pop. I would say it's closer to a New Music opera, tho the characters are singing Broadway style for the most part. They have a libretto and a lot of the dialog is recitative.

The characters often curiously refer to themselves in the third person, as in "She is flushed," rather than "I am flushed."

One of my friends warned me that it would be too loud, but I didn't find it so. For the most part I thought the volume perfect. At one point, it started getting loud enough that I was considering getting the ear plugs out, but that didn't last long.

An interesting aspect of the show was that the high tenor was the bad guy. Normally, the high tenor is the sweet, innocent, young hero.

If you do get seats on stage, expect to interact with the performers.  Even lead performers may sit next to you or ask you to handle props.  I think I saw one performer shove an audience member along a booth seat to make room for himself.  I would be curious to hear what it’s like to be on stage and have all those people running by you all the time on the narrow paths.

Josh, generally, interacted less with the audience than the others.  He spent most of the show in the central band pit.  At first he was playing instruments: accordion, piano, and I think tambourine.  Later he was more in character, reading books.  He plays a character who spends most of his time reading and drinking – and bemoaning himself for not getting out and interacting with people and being more dynamic.   His bemoaning himself reminded me of how I feel about spending so much time on my computer at night.

I think his largely being confined to the band pit did have something to do with the character, but I also suspect that it was a security issue

I feel Josh’s strongest talent lies in his ability to convey emotion in his singing.  This was particularly apparent at the end.  Before that I just heard him as one of a number of beautiful voices.  But at the end I think he showed that he has a special talent that’s more than just a beautiful voice.

Josh showed himself to be a good sport by trying to dance during one of the larger scale numbers.  We who follow him know that dancing is not his thing, but I don't think you could necessarily tell, given that the stage was chock full of the enormous ensemble  at the time.  He did look awkward and nerdy, but that was also his character.

[added paragraph 10/22/16] Grobies should be aware that the lead in this show is Denee Benton, not Josh.  Josh is on stage all the time, in the band pit, but she's more prominent than he.  She's very beautiful and has a lovely voice. Creative casting has put an Afrimerican as a young, Russian, debutante engaged to a prince.  This is an intriguing casting choice.  It's a very challenging role -- and she pulls it off well -- but the character also makes a very bad decision -- which makes Denee's status as one of very few Afrimericans in the production ambiguous.

The show started a bit late, maybe 5 or 10 minutes after two and ended about 4:43.  I rushed back to the “Bull in the China Shop” audition, and got there just before 5.  It was a short walk, but the lights were against me and there was a lot of pedestrian traffic, plus I had checked a bag at the theater that I had to retrieve.  Unfortunately, I missed the last group of auditioners. If I had gotten there 10 minutes earlier I would have gotten in, alas. 

But I had a nice conversation with the monitor at the audition who was very curious about the new show.

Tweets from before the show started

Complaints: The drinking fountain on the mezzanine didn't have enough water pressure, making it difficult to get a drink; also the checkroom is in the mezzanine, which is inconvenient if you've got a large bag to check

* A later check of the program revealed that the ensemble was 22 people, but they were certainly covering the space -- running all over the place, seeming to be more than they were. [added 10/22/16]

****

Addendum: 161023

It has seemed to me, both times that I heard "Dust and Ashes" live, that the last note sounds strange.  I haven't decided whether that's the music, or whether Josh is off key.  I suppose it's the music.

Addendum 161025

Biggest regret from the show: didn't bring my binoculars so I couldn't really see Josh's facial expressions.