 The idea for a dance musical based on Dylan's work was initiated by the artist himself, who contacted Tharp suggesting the collaboration; however, Dylan had no creative input on the eventual production.Tharp spent a year on research for the production, as well as another year-and-a-half on casting, rehearsing and workshopping.The show was described in its Broadway Playbill as "A tale of fathers and sons, of men and women, of leaders and followers, of immobility and change," which "uses prophecy, parable, metaphor, accusation and confession—like the Dylan songs which comprise it—to confront us with images and ideas of who we are, and who it is possible to be.”

Despite the show's categorization as a "dance musical," Tharp did not consider it so