I got discount tickets to this show through TKTS for about 55$ per seat. I sat in the back row of the orchestra, but as the Belasco is a small theatre I was able to see just fine. I have been listening to the soundtrack of this show repeatedly ever since I stumbled on the beautiful rendition of the song “I Want You”. I do not want to spoil too much of this show for those who have yet to get a chance to see it, so I will just be highlighting some of my main thoughts on it. Therefore, this may be more of an analysis rather than a review. There are certainly some things I need to make sense of after seeing this show.
The Girl From The North Country takes Bob Dylan’s music and puts a depressing turn on it. I was not expecting this because lots of the soundtrack is upbeat and calming, but as soon as I entered that theatre it was eerily dark. And I mean it. The lights were so dim, it felt like I was walking through a Hollister. It took some time for my eyes to adjust.
The song “Sign On The Window” makes a lovely opening number. It encapsulates what the audience is in for, for the next 2 hours. The characters sing, “That must be what it's all about, That must be what it's all about”, trying to make sense of life.
Instead of one main plot that slowly leads the sub-plots along, there are a lot of characters to keep track of and a lot of side plots. So much so, I think this musical may do better as a movie-musical because we are constantly switching back and forth between conflicts. This makes things very convoluted. Because there is no clear main plot, it creates a problem: the audience does not know what to focus on. I find War & Peace easier to follow.
Additionally , a lot of the terminology used just expects the audience to have a good background in U.S. History. An example of this is when the narrator refers to “the crash”. It took me a second to think about this, but I realized he meant the crash of the stock market that started The Great Depression. The narrator also discusses that when he got older he fought in “the war”, meaning Vietnam. This tends to be unclear because this story must start around 1920, but the narrator switches between present and past tense.
By the end of Act 1 I realized I did not understand much of what was going on. And the Act 1 closing song did not help. The Act 1 closing song felt lazy. It was just a reprise of the songs we heard before, many musicals do this, but there is typically a point to restating these things. In this case, it felt like a whole lot of nothing.
On the other hand, I really enjoyed the arrangements. I’ve always said I’m a sucker for updating old orchestrations. I find it fascinating how one can move around parts of a song, to create something that sounds entirely fresh. Or how one can add or change instruments, the tempo, and key of a song. It can change the entire meaning of a song. It should be noted that I’ve never been a Bob Dylan fan, in fact I find his voice excruciating to listen to. This is why I loved the way they altered the music in this show. Not to mention, all of these actors had genuinely soothing voices.
When my favorite of the songs came on, “I Want You”, I was a bit disappointed. It seemed as though they sped up the tempo slightly. I did not like this because it made the song feel rushed and this slowness of this song adds to the longingness the characters feel.
Some of the more notable songs were, “Like A Rolling Stone” ,“Hurricane”, and “Duquesne Whistle”. Interestingly, when I’ve listened to “Duquesne Whistle” on the soundtrack it sounds like something I would dance to. It’s fun and upbeat. But when put in context of the story, it’s quite sad. It just was not at all what I was expecting.
Additionally, I think that part of the reason the creators decided to keep the lighting design so dark, is so that the light becomes obvious when representing a sense of hope or spirituality.
Moreover, the sound design was average. I don’t know a lot about sound design, but I do know that I had trouble hearing some of the lyrics over the instruments in a lot of the 1st Act. This improved in the 2nd Act, so I’m not sure if it was just a mistake on the sound technicians or if it’s always like this.
By the end of the show things become clearer, however there are still missing links. I’ve truly never seen a Broadway show end in such a way this one did. So strange. I think they took a long shot with this ending, basically stating that even if all of life is painful, we have to keep going until we die. It’s not exactly an uplifting message. For whatever reason I was crying by the final song. I’m not sure if I was feeling peace or anxiety. Maybe it was more of coming to terms with things. Or the lack thereof. A bit of both?
I believe that this show tried so hard to make something that both Bob Dylan fans and theatre fans would love, but the execution was missing (the plot being the biggest issue). There’s something that felt so unsettling about this show, but at the same time I was at ease. I’m not sure if that was their goal, but either way it was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.
Do I love it? Do I hate it? I think I’d have to see it a second time to figure that out.
Still not over this musical. It's getting a pro-shot and I couldn't be more excited!! So glad Simon Hale won best orchestrations for this at the Tony's. Totally deserved. I stand by the fact that this show is unlike anything I've ever seen before. Unlike most jukebox musicals, it relies on the feeling, tone, and sound of the music to guide the plot. The music really carries the show, but also the plot is quite intriguing. The way Hale reimagined all these Dylan songs is truly breathtaking. Dylan is a masterful lyricist and Hale's orchestrations highlights this. Anyways... who's the "girl" from the north country?
I just want to say that I got the opportunity to see this show again. And I absolutely loved it, I now understand the plot a lot better and I still think the orchestrations are beautiful. I think this was my favorite show of the season! Up close I could see the set and staging a lot better, both which are very beautiful. I also noticed the hidden metaphors that I did not first time around. I still really appreciate the way that they orchestrated the music and I like the creative way they had the songs fit the plot. I can't wait for this proshot to come out!