In 1934, during the height of the Great Depression, everyone was searching for something. In a time-weathered guesthouse Minnesota, an unlikely group of strangers comes together with little other than hope and a need to survive in common.
Only a song can shake off the dust for one group of wayward souls-and old dreams may hold the promise of new beginnings. As they come in and out of each other's lives, their stories awaken with passion, fury and extraordinary beauty. Reimagining the music of Bob Dylan as roof-raising ensemble pieces and soul-stirring solos, playwright and director Conor McPherson weaves this story of faith, family, heartbreak, and love.
An American trail ends at a Depression-era boardinghouse in Duluth, Minn., where a cross-section of desperate Midwesterners washes up. Foreclosure, bankruptcy, impoverishment and a god of false hopes are all beating down the door. Yet in 'Girl From the North Country,' the spiritually rousing musical that marked its official Broadway opening Thursday at the Belasco Theatre, these '30s horsemen of the apocalypse never get us down. Enveloped in the moving lyricism of Bob Dylan's songbook, the show is akin to a poem of uplift - an ode to fellowship forged in adversity. A roomful of gorgeous melodies performed on a landscape of diminishing returns.
No disrespect to Bob Dylan, one of the greatest songwriters in modern American music, but hearing his tunes sung by the melodious voices in Girl From the North Country is a revelation - the second time even more than the first. Moving to Broadway after a hit 2018 run at the Public Theater, this brilliantly conceived project from Irish writer-director Conor McPherson could be called the anti-jukebox musical. Rather than being forcibly wedged into the narrative, the songs are used with imagination and a sweeping amplitude of feeling to deepen the mood, enrich the characters and liberate their inner voices. The result is a rapturous act of theatrical storytelling.
2017 | West End |
Original West End Production West End |
2017 | West End |
West End Transfer Production West End |
2018 | Off-Broadway |
Public Theater North American Premiere Off-Broadway |
2019 | West End |
West End Return Engagement West End |
2022 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
2023 | US Tour |
North American Tour US Tour |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2022 | Tony Awards | Best Book of a Musical | Conor McPherson |
2022 | Tony Awards | Best Direction of a Musical | Conor McPherson |
2022 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Girl From The North Country |
2022 | Tony Awards | Best Orchestrations | Simon Hale |
2022 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical | Jeannette Bayardelle |
2022 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical | Mare Winningham |
2022 | Tony Awards | Best Sound Design of a Musical | Simon Baker |
2020 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Production of a Musical | Girl from the North Country |
Videos