By Doug Holder

Donald Holder is my brother. He also happens to be a Tony Award winning lighting designer for the “The Lion King,” and just recently worked on a musical based on the songs of Bob Dylan “The Times They Are A Changing.”

Since he graduated Yale Drama School 20 years ago, I have seen him transform from a gangly post-collegiate to both a husband and doting father to two wonderful kids, Josh and Sarah, not to mention one of the top theatrical lighting designers in the world. Over Thanksgiving dinner at his home in Croton-On-The-Hudson, N.Y., I asked if he would be interested in doing an interview as a follow-up to one we did several years ago. He generously consented.

Dylan is such an enigma.  Can you tell me what your first impressions of him were  when you met him in L.A.?

Based on my one brief encounter, Dylan struck me as a shy and unassuming man. He clearly is a very private person, and doesn’t enjoy a lot of attention, at least in the situation I observed him in. I thought this was quite a paradox, given what an iconic and legendary figure he’s become.

When we were working on ‚ÄúThe Times They Are A Changin‚Äô‚Äù in San Diego, there was a lot of speculation among the company members about when, and if, Dylan would visit. One afternoon, a few minutes before we were going to start a dress rehearsal, I noticed a small and disheveled looking older man sitting in the back row of the theatre: long, unkempt hair sticking out of a black woolen cap, black jeans and overcoat. 

My first impression was that a homeless guy had wandered into the building.  When I looked again, I realized it was Bob Dylan himself.  What really gave him away on my second look was the beautiful and much younger blond woman sitting next to him.

Dylan‚Äôs participation on the project (beyond the few conversations he had with Ms. Tharp) was limited to this one viewing of the show. He sat next to Twyla during the run-through, and was clearly enjoying himself. Afterward, he walked up onstage and spoke very quietly to the actors.  I could tell he was particularly taken by Thom Sesma, who played the character of the old tyrannous circus leader and who sings and looks very much like Dylan himself. I heard only bits and pieces of his conversation with the cast.

At one point he told them he had never heard his music performed so well, and suggested, ‚Äùyou guys should cut a cast album, and then I could retire.‚Äù Twyla introduced me to Dylan on his way out the door and, upon hearing that I designed the lighting, he shook my hand and said, ‚Äúit looks good to me.‚Äù  Not much of an encounter, but exciting just the same.

A few moments after we had all said our goodbyes, he suddenly reappeared and pulled Twyla aside to speak with her privately before quickly slipping away once again. Twyla told me later that when he had walked outside into the light of day,  he felt the impulse to return to remind her how special he thought the work was, and urged her resist all the imminent critical response and not change a thing.

My first impression is that Bob Dylan’s music doesn’t lend itself to the Broadway musical style, unlike, for instance, the music of Billy Joel. Your views?

Billy Joel is a master storyteller, and his lyrics lend themselves more easily to dramatization. In ‚ÄúMovin Out,‚Äù Twyla told the story and expressed a huge range of emotions largely through her movement and Billy Joel‚Äôs music. The piano man located above the playing area who sang all of the 24 songs throughout the evening functioned like a one-man Greek chorus, sometimes helping to tell the story, and other times clarifying or commenting on it. 

Because Joel‚Äôs writing can be fairly literal, Twyla was able to craft what actually resembled a classic story ballet (much like Giselle or Swan Lake) told in a very contemporary style. The first act contained a lot more exposition and classic storytelling, while the second act was more abstract, probing the emotional underpinnings of the characters, exploring their sense of guilt, anger, loss, and disenfranchisement. Although some audiences were a bit confused at the outset, most eventually connected with the material and enjoyed the evening immensely. 

The lighting functioned largely on three levels: 

1.  Create a tangible, naturalistically based environment in the first act to help the audience navigate through the important expositional moments.

2.  Create an abstract, emotional landscape which reflects the inward focus the show takes later in the first act and which continues throughout most of the second.

3. Frame the piece in a contemporary, rock-n-roll concert aesthetic, since the kinetic energy and style of the music demands it. 

We also felt it allowed a wide audience base to enjoy the show on more than one level: either as rock concert accompanied by dance, a performance art piece with clear social commentary, or as a moving, heartfelt story told in an innovative and unusual way Bob Dylan‚Äôs work is more abstract and esoteric in nature; his words evoke dreamlike images and deep-felt emotions, rather than a linear storyline. 

Twyla responded to the challenge of making a musical that is centered on Dylan’s work by creating an abstract dreamscape, located in a desolate, surreal circus reflective of some of the more psychedelic of his songs. Using a cast of real, tangible characters Twyla tried to tell a simple coming-of-age story that also explores the epic themes so often associated with Dylan’s lyrics: love, loss, power, greed, faith, war and peace. I think it was a daring, exciting and hauntingly beautiful exploration of Dylan’s world, and a very timely commentary on the state of our society today.

Since the world of “The Times They Are A Changin’” was highly abstract and expressionistic, many people left the building confused, rather than enlightened, and the critics harshly dismissed the piece.

The lighting was inspired somewhat by our visual research into the traveling carnivals and circuses in the early twentieth century. I also drew some of my inspiration from Fellini’s film, “La Scala” and other cinematic works created in the film noir aesthetic. I wanted the light to have a dark, sculptural, expressionistic quality. I was also interested in creating a design that defied the conventional Broadway Musical look.

I wanted the work to, at times, have a spontaneous look, as if the performers themselves created the light in the space by rolling out some spotlights and focusing them in on the action. There were several ‚Äòplay within a play‚Äô moments that took full advantage of this approach, such as during the song ‚ÄòGod Gave Names to All the Animals.‚Äô 

Other songs, such as ‘Simple Twist of Fate’’ and ‘Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door’, were presented as inner monologues, and in these cases the light got increasingly dark and dramatic. During the song ‘Like a Rollin’ Stone’, which, in the context of our show, symbolized an outward expression of frustration and anger, the lighting felt like a cross between Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey’s Circus and a Bob Dylan Concert held at Madison Square Garden.