Twyla Tharp Gives Bob Dylan Some Moves

Legendary Choreographer Tells Couric About Her New Broadway Musical

(CBS)  The last thing you think of when you hear Bob Dylan is Broadway. Well, think again.

"The Times They Are A-Changing" is the brainchild of a flower child: 65-year-old renowned choreographer Twyla Tharp. CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric reports the new musical, opening on Broadway next week, features more than two dozen Dylan songs.

"It's different," Tharp says.

Tharp has been down this road before. Three years ago, she won a Tony for conceiving and choreographing "Movin’ Out," a Broadway jukebox musical featuring the songs of Billy Joel. But, she admits, moving from the Piano Man to the Tambourine Man was a unique challenge.

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Eye To Eye: Katie Couric And Twyla Tharp

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"Well, there's the language, the poetry, the imagery. And, of course, the impact that his music has had on the entire culture,” Tharp says. “And trying to reference that and use it in a way that would be relevant to right now without becoming sentimental or nostalgic about the '60s.”

Tharp says she began by listening to every Bob Dylan song ever recorded – well over 500 – and settled on 27. The result? Call it Dylan meets Cirque du Soleil. The story is set in a seedy, traveling circus, where the ringmaster clashes with his rebel son. The choreography consists of clowns, acrobatics, and contortionists.

The show lives in a subconscious, dream-like state. Tharp says that dreams and circuses have a lot in common.

"In dreams, anything can be anything and everybody can do. We can fly, we can turn upside down, we can transform into anything," Tharp says. "In circuses, there is a lot of magic. Things become other things. So it seemed to me it was a good place to put this imagery."

Apparently, Bob Dylan is happy she put her mind to it. He called the show "the best representation of my songs I have ever seen or heard on any stage."

What remains to be seen is if die-hard Dylan fans will agree.