🎭 A Depressing Mess | "Girl from the North Country" @ Pantages/BIH

Last night, we saw Girl from the North Country at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages. When I got home from the show, I wrote on Facebook: “Geeze, if I wanted something depressing where everyone dies in the end, I’d see Shakespeare… and Shakespeare has the advantage of having a discernable plot. ” A friend commented back that we did better than they did: They left at intermission. Which, I’ll note, was the same thing that the folks sitting in front of us did, as did a quarter of the audience. Yeah, that good.

Don’t let the ads fool you. You’ll see ads touting multiple Tony nominations (including Best Musical) and that the show is Tony-winning. That win was for orchestrations, folks. Although, to be honest, I don’t see the Pantages pushing this much — certainly now as much as they are pushing later shows, such as Doubtfire, Wicked, or even Peter Pan. One wonders if they realize this one is more of a clunker than The Bodyguard.

But what did you think of the show, Mrs. Lincoln?

Girl from the North Country is an attempt by Conor McPherson to craft a musical from Bob Dylan’s music catalog. Choosing a number of Dylan’s more depressing and slow songs, he created a depression-era musical. That’s certainly how this was staged. The lighting was dark. The tone was dark. The subject (as I could discern it) was dark. It was hard to see and hear. And, in the end, no one ended up happy. Theatre should be joyful. It should lift you up, or at least make you think. This didn’t.

What’s funny here is that—if you read the reviews—critics seems to like it. At least I think that’s what McNulty at the Times was saying. His review was as convoluted as the plot of this show. Perhaps this speaks to those looking for indecipherable art at the theatre. But then again, McNulty liked Kate at the Pasadena Playhouse, which we didn’t.

You may ask: So what’s the plot of Girl from the North Country? Beats me. It’s set in the depression, in a boarding house, in Duluth MN. We meet the cast of characters in the house: the owner, his catatonic wife, son and adopted daughter. The owner has a balloon payment due, and is about to lose the house. His adopted daughter (who is black) is pregnant, but no one knows by wom. We meet a bunch of the folks living there. A doctor. Some black woman, who is having an affair with the owner and might get an inheritance. A family. A shoe shop owner, who wants to do something creepy with the adopted daughter. Things happen. A boxer and a preacher arrive. People interact. But nothing ever causes the audience to invest, or even like, these people. By the end of the show, I don’t think any of the characters have really changed or learned anything. They just moved on.

The show wasn’t helped by the production and staging. The sound design was horrible. There was narration, and people talking on stage, but sitting in row Q (which isn’t that far back), I was really hard to make out what people were saying.  I’m not sure if the problem was amplification, people talking too fast, or people trying to affect accents that impacted enunciation. But the words weren’t clear. The stage was dankly lit, making it hard to see people. Combine that with very similar costuming, and a dark costume design, and clearly distinguishing many of the characters was difficult. The stage requires broad differentiations so that you can tell people apart from the back of the balcony. With this show, your best approach was to sit back and listen to the music. Lastly, the staging never made sense. Actors would go up and sing into big standing microphones. Why? This wasn’t a radio show. There was no explanation for the microphones. They made no sense at all. It was just, depressing and confusing. The choreography was also off. It was more choral movement, but it was understated and depressing dance.

Here’s a good marker: After the show, usually there is a long line at the merch booth. Last night? About 5 people, no line at all.

This show was a failure with the audience. There wasn’t a strong curtain call, no “standing O”.

So, you may ask again: Was there anything good about the show? Well, a few of the performers had lovely singing voices, notably Sharae Moultrie and Matt Manuel. That’s about it.

The show also raises another, equally good, question: What makes a good jukebox musical. I’m not necessarily saying successful, but entertaining. I think the answer is that (a) the songs need to be predominately ones that are well known from the catalog, and (b) they need to serve the story. Item (a) is easy to understand: If the songs aren’t known, they won’t draw people in. Item (b) is a bit harder. Serving the story can mean many things. If you’re trying to build a plot, the songs need to advance the story in some way, even if not a perfect match. If you’re telling the artist’s story, the songs need to represent major milestones or pivot points. Revues can be just a collection of greatest hits, but not a show. Here, the jukebox provided neither. Here, perhaps about 5-6 of the songs were well-known: “Hurricane”, “Like a Rolling Stone”, “Jokerman”, “Forever Young”. The rest aren’t ones I remember from the charts. The songs also didn’t advance the story, but that’s probably more due to a lack of a coherent story to move forward.

So this show just failed on just so many levels. What I don’t get is the praise the show has gotten. All I can think is that the tour staging has destroyed any magic the show had; however, that doesn’t jibe with the poor choice of catalog selection from Dylan. So I just don’t get it. It’s all Kate Berlant to me. But there are times that critics and the audience disconnect (although often it is the other way around). This did have an incredibly low number of performances on Broadway: 117, although that does include a shutdown for COVID. It had high attendance opening week, but never sold out, and it looks like attendance dropped from there to a low of 19% two weeks before closing. To me, this says that word of mouth in New York was horrid: Successful shows should grow, run near capacity for a while, and then peter out as they get tired.  I think the critics were seeing the artistic ambition, and not the entertainment. This is a common failure.

Girl From The North Country continues at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages through June 2, 2024. Tickets are available through the Pantages/Ticketmaster; discount tickets do not appear to be on TodayTix, but it looks like some resellers have them. I can’t recommend this one, but if you’re a Dylan fan, you might think different.

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Girl From the North Country. Written and directed by Conor McPherson. Music and lyrics by Bob Dylan.

Cast (⇓ see “At This Performance”): Alan Ariano Dr. Walker; David Benoit Mr. Burke; Ben Biggers Gene Laine; Jennifer Blood Elizabeth Laine; Matt Manuel Joe Scott; Sharaé Moultrie Marianne Laine; Jay Russell Mr. Perry; John Schiappa Nick Laine; Chiara Trentalange Kate Draper; Jill Van Velzer Mrs. Burke; Jeremy Webb Reverend Marlowe; Aidan Wharton Elias Burke; ⇓ Carla Woods Mrs. Neilsen; D’Marreon Alexander Soloist / Ensemble; ⇓ Ashley D. Brooks Soloist / Ensemble; Kelly McCormick Soloist / Ensemble; Kyle Sherman Soloist / Ensemble. Swings: Rayla Garske, Warren Nolan Jr. , ⇓ Ali Regan, Danny Vaccaro.
At this performance: Ashley D. Brooks Mrs. Neilsen; Ali Regan Soloist / Ensemble.

Musicians (🎭 indicates actor): Timothy Splain Conductor / Piano / Harmonium; Edward Hamilton Associate Conductor / Guitars; Camille Vogley-Howes Violin / Mandolin; Adam Overacker Bass; 🎭 David Benoit / 🎭 Jill Van Velzer Drums; Dean Sharenow Music Coordinator; Randy Cohen Keyboards Keyboard Programmer; Emily Grishman Music Preparation / Adriana Grace / Alden Terry Music Copying.

Production and Creative: Rae Smith Scenic & Costume Design; Simon Hale Orchestrator, Arranger, Music Supervisor; Mark Henderson Lighting Design; Simon Baker Sound Design; Lucy Hind Movement Director; Arc, Inc. Casting; Campbell Young Associates Wig & Hair Design; Justin Myhre Production Stage Manager; Rachel Heine Stage Manager; Katie Girardot Asst. Stage Manager; Barbara Rubin Assoc. Director; Jeff Brancato Production Supervisor; Hudson Theatrical Associates Technical Supervisor; Bond Theatrical Tour Booking; Foresight Theatrical General Manager.

Favorite Credit: For Runaway Entertainment Producer: Miss Maple Syrup Office Dog.

♦ ♦ ♦

Administrivia: I am not a professional critic. I’m a cybersecurity professional, a roadgeek who does a highway site and a podcast about California Highways, and someone who loves live performance. I buy all my own tickets, unless explicitly noted otherwise. I do these writeups to share my thoughts on shows with my friends and the community. I encourage you to go to your local theatres and support them (ideally, by purchasing full price tickets, if you can afford to do so). We currently subscribe or have memberships at: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre; Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre; Pasadena Playhouse; and 5-Star Theatricals. We’re looking for the right intimate theatre to subscribe at — it hasn’t been the same since Rep East died (it’s now The Main, and although it does a lot of theatre, it doesn’t have seasons or a resident company), and post-COVID, most 99-seaters aren’t back to doing seasons (or seasons we like). I used to do more detailed writeups; here’s my current approach.

Upcoming ♦ Theatre / ♣ Music / ◊ Other Live Performance – Next 90ish Days (⊕ indicates ticketing is pending):

• May: ♦ The Play That Goes Wrong at Canyon Theatre Guild
• June: ♦ Jelly’s Last Jam at the Pasadena Playhouse; ♦ A Strange Loop at CTG/Ahamanson Theatre; ♦ Mrs. Doubtfire at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; ♦ You Can’t Take It With You (⊕) at Group Rep; and potentially some ♦ Hollywood Fringe Festival shows, although June is pretty well booked already.
• July: ♦ Peter Pan at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; ♦ The Sound of Music at 5-Star Theatricals;
• August: ♦ Clue at CTG/Ahamanson Theatre; ♦ Company at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; ♣ Postmodern Jukebox at The Magnolia, El Cajon.
• September: ♦ Hamilton at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; Cyrano de Bergerac ⊕ at Pasadena Playhouse;
• October: ♦ American Idiot ⊕ at CTG/Taper; ♦ Little Shop of Horrors at 5-Star Theatricals; ♦ Kimberly Akimbo at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages.

On the Theatrical Horizon:

Season renewals are in process: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre; Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre; and Pasadena Playhouse are all renewed. We’re looking to see what Chromolume Theatre (which is returning) and Canyon Theatre Guild are planning. Other than that, Jason Alexander will be doing Fiddler on the Roof , directed by Lonny Price, at La Mirada in November.

 

 

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