Bob Dylan’s protean career has created many entry points for a diverse audience: You may know him as a folk activist or an electric trickster, a country-western outlaw or a born-again preacher, an American Songbook interpreter or a Nobel Prize-winning poet.
Or you may not know him at all, unaware it’s one of his songs your favorite artist is covering.
The Irish playwright and director Conor McPherson, 48, was about 10 years old when he got into Dylan via the Beatles. Decades later, he somehow wrestled a coherent aesthetic universe out of 22 Dylan songs in the musical “Girl From the North Country,” which is reopening on Broadway after a successful run at the Public Theater in 2018. Set in Duluth, Minn., in 1934, the show brings together the folks who live in a modest boardinghouse and those passing through. They are a motley bunch, yet feel as one sharing Dylan’s songs.
It is the same behind the scenes: Like McPherson, some members of the cast and creative team grew up with Dylan embedded in their life; others entered his world late and through a side door.
Here, they talk about the first time they heard Dylan — whether they knew it or not. These are edited excerpts from their answers.
Colton Ryan, 24
Plays Gene Laine
The first Dylan song I heard that stuck with me was “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” during an episode of “Mad Men.” Must have been in high school.
Andy Stack, 39
Associate conductor, guitarist
I think the first record was “Blood on the Tracks” but then I got into ’80s stuff that was on CD when I was growing up, like “Dylan & the Dead.” In college it was “Desire,” which was big for my circle of friends.
Kimber Elayne Sprawl, 28
Plays Marianne Laine
To be completely honest, I didn’t put the name to the music before going for the role [in the show]. Then I realized that the Adele song I loved, “Make You Feel My Love,” was by him. The famous song from “Forrest Gump” [starts singing “Blowin’ in the Wind”] — I had no idea it was Bob Dylan.
Rachel Stern
Ensemble member “old enough to appreciate the Traveling Wilburys when they formed and know who all of them were”
The first Bob Dylan song I remember hearing was “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35.” I didn’t get it because I was five, but I thought it sounded cool. My favorite is Nina Simone’s version of “The Times They Are A-Changin.’ ” I heard it for the first time on the subway and sobbed. I got a seat right away.
Todd Almond, 43
Plays Elias Burke
I was big into alternative music in high school, and PJ Harvey’s cover of “Highway 61 Revisited” was a favorite. This was the first in a long list of realizations that certain songs I really loved were written by Bob Dylan.
Austin Scott, 26
Plays Joe Scott
I think the first song I heard was “The Times They Are A-Changin.’ ” At the time, around 2010 or so, I was hearing some of my own thoughts about the political atmosphere. We talked about his lyrics in history class.
Marc Kudisch, 53
Plays Mr. Burke
I had always been a fan of Dylan’s earlier music, the protest songs. After the Public Theater run, my wife, Shannon, and I were driving from N.Y.C. to Oshawa, Ontario, to visit family. On the way, we tuned into a classic-rock station. A Dylan tune I didn’t recognize came on, but I weirdly found myself singing all the lyrics. And then it hit me: It was “Tight Connection to My Heart (Has Anyone Seen My Love?)”! With all due respect, I like our version better.
Tom Nelis, 65
Plays Mr. Perry
About 40 years ago, my older brother, John, came home with Dylan’s “Blonde on Blonde.” I’d never seen a double album. The way it unfolded to show a full body shot of Dylan in that great outfit with the scarf and all those shades of brown was very cool. Johnny is gone now but I still have his album. It reminds me of my brother when he was young.
Chelsea Lee Williams
Ensemble member “in my twenties”
My parents listened to a lot of gospel and soul music. I remember being in the back seat of my mom’s Volvo and she would always play Shirley Caesar’s “Gotta Serve Somebody.” I didn’t know Dylan wrote it at the time, but it was always a part of my childhood. A few years later, I saw his Kennedy Center special and Shirley Caesar honored him by singing that song.
Jeannette Bayardelle
Plays Mrs. Neilsen and is “north of 25”
I wasn’t really familiar with Bob Dylan’s music — my parents, who are from Haiti, mainly played Haitian music. When I started working on the reading of “Girl From the North Country” at the Public Theater, I remember learning the material and just feeling like the music was tugging on my soul. It was familiar yet very spiritual.
Mare Winningham, 60
Plays Elizabeth Laine
“Blood on the Tracks” came out when I was in high school and remains my “desert island” album.
Luba Mason
Plays Mrs. Burke and is “one of the veteran Broadway actresses in the show”
I saw Dylan at Madison Square Garden on a double bill with Paul Simon about 20 years ago and couldn’t understand a word he was singing. I didn’t know what the fuss was all about. It wasn’t until he won the Nobel that I took another look.
Jay O. Sanders, 66
Plays Nick Laine
I grew up all over the place but I heard a lot of Dylan when I was in Bogotá, Colombia, and I was beginning to play guitar. I was 13, 14, going between acoustic and electric, and he was the god of that.
Simon Hale, 55
Music supervisor, orchestrator and arranger
What springs to mind are “Make You Feel My Love” by Adele and “All Along the Watchtower” by Jimi Hendrix. I didn’t realize they were by Dylan. Growing up [in Britain], I listened to funk, jazz, R&B, so he wasn’t really on my musical radar. I was aware of him and his poetry, but not in terms of details and albums. Americans now tell me Dylan is part of the DNA but I never knew that.
Source: Music - nytimes.com
