Thrown Together by Circumstance
A large part
of what keeps Bob Dylan's songs interesting after all these years is how
they're constantly subject to reexamination, reinterpretation, revision. It's
fitting that his songs should inspire a Broadway musical, Girl from the
North Country, which had a long run on Broadway and will be at the Saenger
Theatre now until October 20.
Incorporating about 20 songs from
all over Dylan's expansive catalogue, the show mixes the well-known ("Like A
Rolling Stone" and "Forever Young") and the deeper cuts ("Slow Train" and
"Sweetheart Like You") with an unusual emphasis on Dylan's '80s era material. These
versions can be compelling, with Sharae Moultrie adding a little more gospel flavor
to "Slow Train" or "I Want You" done as poignant duet. Sometimes the group
chorus imbues the '30s era setting with the rich, evocative, jazzy harmonics of
the period.
The fatal flaw of Girl from the
North Country, which clearly aspires to more than belting out celebrated
songs, is that it can't survive as a story. In a clumsy attempt at profundity, Girl
throws too many poorly realized characters into the mix, who do far too
much talking and sometimes wander aimlessly around the stage, missing many
narrative beats. There's too little chance to absorb a character's specific backstory
or motivation, making it hard to understand exactly why we should care about them.
Author Connor McPherson, an acclaimed
Irish playwright, tries too hard to emulate Dylan's enigmatic lyrical
imagination. The premise certainly seems Dylanesque, taking place in a
Depression-era boardinghouse in Duluth, Minnesota, not far from where Dylan
himself grew up. We meet, among others, a ramshackle traveling Bible salesman, a
pregnant Black lady, a shabby wannabe writer, a garrulous wealthy couple, and a
Black ex-con boxer, played by Matt Manuel. He's probably the most fully realized
character, perhaps for being clearly based on Dylan's searing "Hurricane" and
the real-life tragedy of the boxer Ruben "Hurricane" Carter, but I couldn't
quite follow even his character arc. There was too much bustle over the unnecessarily
lengthy two and a half hour running time.
Musicals don't always need that much of a story to work. But
if you're going to really try and tell a story, especially a multifaceted and
slightly surreal one involving so many characters, it really shouldn't be this
convoluted. Ideally, the narrative should load the constant musical interludes
with dramatic depth, making the character's songs more meaningful. Instead, the
music and the storyline are a tangle of jumbled situations and interactions.
The songs sometimes don't fit thematically, dramatically, or aesthetically, as
with an inexplicably twitchy "Like A Rolling Stone." One character explains himself
as having been "thrown together by circumstance." Such randomness can be enough
to sustain interest in a song, as long as it's being done with a sure hand, but
it's not enough to carry an entire stage production.
Girl from the North Country is currently running at the Saenger Theatre, located at
1111 Canal St. in New Orleans. Tickets are available at saengernola.com
and at the Saenger's box office.
