Tony-nominated actor Paul Kandel will no longer star in the Old Globe Theatre world premiere of the Twyla Tharp/Bob Dylan musical The Times They Are A-Changin'. Thom Sesma will appear in his place.
"The show developed in rehearsals over the past couple of weeks," a production spokesperson told Broadway.com. "It was mutually agreed that a different actor would be better suited for the role of Captain Arab."
Sesma has appeared on Broadway in La Cage aux Folles, Chu Chem, Nick & Nora, Search and Destroy, Face Value and Man of La Mancha. He previously appeared at the Old Globe in the theater's 1992 production of The Winter's Tale for which he won a Dramalogue Award. His other theatrical credits include regional mountings of Sweeney Todd, Search and Destroy, Dinner with Friends, A Little Night Music, Pacific Overtures, Twelfth Night, The Normal Heart, Romeo and Juliet and The Nanjng Race.
The Times They Are A-Changin' is set within a low-rent traveling circus run by Capt. Arab Sesma, whose wagon hasn't moved from its location in some time--though not by lack of effort from his ragtag band of clowns and performers. One such performer is the animal trainer Cleo Jenn Colella, a young woman exploited by Capt. Arab and loved by his son, Coyote Michael Arden. Coyote longs for a world outside the confines of the family business, and as the circus show plays out, he must decide whether to flee or stay, and if he does stay, how to inspire change within the troupe. At once dark and humorous, this provocative new musical offers an iconic story--of fathers and sons, of leaders and followers, of immobility and change--that uniquely connects the worlds of music, theater and dance.
The tuner is set to run in San Diego from January 25 through March 5.
