This was our review of the show before the pandemic shut down everything back in 2020.
Very few things feel stable in times of staggering turbulence. I think we can collectively relate to that, especially now. As Bob Dylan coined it in 1962, things may feel like they’re “Blowin’ In The Wind”. Although this hit was not (quite possibly, deliberately) featured in Girl From The North Country, a new musical which eloquently strings the music of Dylan to a beautifully complex book by Conor McPherson — it could be considered to be an overarching allegory as the characters in 1934 America search for some security in a world of uncertainty. I beg you again, sound familiar?
The year: 1934. Place: Duluth, Minnesota (which was the birthplace of Dylan himself) — times are hard, as America is in the middle of The Great Depression. The America portrayed in this opening snapshot is a different America than what we know today. Women did not have agency over their bodies and their decisions, segregation and racism was rampant, mental health not at the forefront of headlines. Okay, maybe things were not too fundamentally different — let’s admit we still have a ways to go as a nation. With this context known, cue the Laine family and their guests.
At the head of the household is Nick Laine (Jay O. Sanders), a proprietor on the verge of bankruptcy. His wife, Elizabeth (Mare Winningham) is suffering from early on-set dementia, but is acutely aware of her husband’s less-than-pure intentions to run away with one of his boarders — Mrs. Nielsen (Jeannette Bayardelle), a confident widow of color, who he is involved with and we can assume — based on their emotionally charged dialogue, that he has been linked to her for quite some time. Nick and Elizabeth have two children, Gene (Colton Ryan) — a lost, but aspiring writer, and their adopted daughter — the strong-willed Marianne (Kimber Elayne Sprawl), who is also pregnant. Guests of the boarding house in addition to Mrs. Nielsen, include “Reverend” Marlowe (Matt McGrath) — a Bible salesman with questionable morals who finds himself at the Laine’s boarding house with Joe Scott (Austin Scott) — an African American boxer, and as we learn, a former convict. We also meet the Burke family — a failed businessman (Tony nominee, Marc Kudisch) and his wife (Lunba Mason), and their grown son Elias (Todd Almond), who happens to be mentally disabled. It’s important to note that we meet a handful of other characters throughout the course of the two hour and thirty minute show, who seamlessly weave in and out of various story lines.
In terms of storytelling, this piece is narrated by Dr. Walker (Robert Joy) and is staged as vignettes of struggle and hope that are all connected by these complex characters and their tragic, yet heartfelt plot lines, a microcosm of the larger Depression-era America. For instance, Marianne’s fleeting romance with Joe and her pregnancy, are both connected to Nick’s futile attempt at a poorly arranged marriage for her to the much older and financially stable, Mr. Perry (Tom Nelis). Throughout Marianne’s journey, we learn more about her progressive thoughts as a woman of color living in a white household, the dynamics of the Laine family, Joe’s Scott’s past and then some. This is just one plot line, so to say that Girl from the North Country is layered would be a vast understatement.
One of the more defining elements of this musical is music itself. Aside from the fact that it’s more than twenty of Dylan’s songs completely re-imagined, McPherson (who also wears the director hat) uses music as an opportunity to provide blatant escapism, which is what art was used for during that time (hmmm wow, this sounds so relevant to today!) Musical numbers are enhanced by lighting (Lighting Design by Mark Henderson) and simplistic staging, highlighting nothing more than the performer and a microphone or instrument. It’s clear that McPherson made the distinct choice to convey raw emotion via completely new arrangements (Orchestrated, arranged, and music supervised by Simon Hale) of Dylan songs such as “Like a Rolling Stone” — although most of the songs included were not Dylan’s most well known, further proving that Dylan is truly one of the greatest contemporary American songwriters.
At its core, Girl from the North Country is a classic American tale of flawed people doing their best to navigate life’s unexpected twists and turns, deeply rooted in hard-hitting truths that depicts the human condition — the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Girl from the North Country opened on Broadway at the Belasco Theatre (111 West 44th Street) on March 5th, 2020 following a sold out run at The Public Theatre in 2018. This show has maintained its intimate Off-Broadway feel, despite its storytelling on a grand scale. This piece of theatre is as relevant as ever in today’s current political and economic climate.
For more information, visit https://northcountryonbroadway.com/.
