Dylan’s songs, glorious voices enliven ‘North Country’
The cast of the North American touring company of Girl from the North Country, part of the BroadwaySF season at the Golden Gate Theatre. Photo by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade
The music, as you might imagine, is otherworldly in its beauty and emotional power. The story, less so.
That’s the interesting duality of Girl from the North Country, writer/director Conor McPherson’s jukebox musical that recasts the songs of Bob Dylan into an original, hardscrabble story of folks in Dylan’s birthplace, Duluth, Minn., in Depression-era 1934. The overall feel is of a dour play infused with rich vocal performances of songs that feel at once personally expressive while also delving into the soul of a nation. Is it Mamma Mia! meets The Grapes of Wrath? Not exactly.
Girl from the North Country, now at the Golden Gate Theatre as the final show of this BroadwaySF season, is a captivating experience, even if its parts sometimes feel too disparate, and these performers – actors and musicians – are absolutely stunning.
McPherson gathers an array of folks into a family-run boarding house, an efficient way of gaining access to multiple storylines that are made mostly of misery. The Laine family runs the boarding house, but Nick (John Schiappa), the patriarch, is doing most of the work and taking care of his wife, Elizabeth (Jennifer Blood), who is dealing with some kind of dementia that ebbs and flows but gives her an often funny frankness and moments of deep lucidity. Their son Gene (Ben Biggers) is an aspiring writer fallen into alcoholism, and their adopted daughter Marianne (Sharaé Moultrie), is pregnant and keeps the identity of the father a secret. Marianne, a foundling, also stands out as one of the town’s few Black residents, so her dad is trying to give her a secure future by brokering a marriage with a much older shop owner.
Chiara Trentalange (center) and the cast of Girl from the North Country. Photo by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade
Other residents include a widow (Carla Woods) waiting for her inheritance and the Burke Family, whose lush life ended when their business tanked. Mr. Burke (David Benoit) is a wheeler-dealer, while his wife (Jill Van Velzer) says she’s glad her mother isn’t alive to see how far she’s fallen. Both are dealing with their son, Elias (Aidan Wharton), who is full grown but functions as if still a child.
Everyone brings their own personal drama – medical, emotional, financial – but the boarding house, with its shared meals and communal living, allows one drama to weave into another. As if this collection of souls wasn’t enough, McPherson adds in two mysterious arrivals, one going by the name of Reverend Marlowe (Jeremy Webb) and the other, a Black boxer named Joe (Matt Manuel). Marlowe’s function is to stir up dirt in the Burke family’s past, and Joe falls into a plot line with Marianne that suggests a 1930s Mary and Joseph tale with a possible virgin birth.
Sharaé Moultrie and Matt Manuel are Marianne and Joe in Girl from the North Country. Photo by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade
While the plots unfold and tangle, the story pauses for songs. The ensemble, which exists in this world mostly to sing, will bring out ‘30s-era microphones on stands and join in the singing and (mild) dancing (movement director is Lucy Hind). Then the action shifts back into the play, so in some ways, this isn’t like a musical in that it doesn’t use songs to further plot. But then the music turns out to be the evening’s emotional pulse, so even without furthering much in the way of plot or character, the songs are the high points of the 2 1/2-hour show. It would be almost impossible, especially in Act 2, not to be moved by the sheer power of Dylan’s songs (“All Along the Watchtower,” “Make You Feel My Love” and, most powerfully, “Forever Young,” among them) and the utter beauty of the performances.
There isn’t a voice on stage you don’t want to hear more of, with some standout solos coming from Blood on “Like a Rolling Stone,” Wharton on “Duquesne Whistle” and Woods on “Pressing On.”
Once the play-song relationship is established, something interesting begins to happen. Girl from the North Country begins to feel like something other than a play, something other than a musical. It begins to feel like a service where stories are told and hymns are sung in front of a large gathering of people. The brutality of life is fully present, but so is the comfort of music and the undeniable joy of voices joined in song.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Conor McPherson’s Girl from the North Country continues through Aug. 18 at the Golden Gate Theatre, 1 Taylor St., San Francisco, as part of the BroadwaySF season. Running time is 2 hours and 30 minutes (including intermission). Tickets are $49-$150 (subject to change). Call 888-746-1799 or visit broadwaysf.com.
