Girl From the North Country at the Peace Center
Crafting a jukebox musical from Bob Dylan’s prolific catalog seems like one of the most daunting yet rewarding undertakings in modern theater.
The legendary singer/songwriter’s work has the potential to go in all sorts of narrative directions, and the path that writer/director Conor McPherson constructs in Girl From the North Country is a joy to behold, simply in discovering what’s selected and how it fits into the story at hand.
Set in November 1934 in Duluth, Minn. — the site of Dylan’s birth a little less than seven years later, and where he’d live the first six years of his life — the musical takes place at the Laine family boarding house and pulls from throughout Dylan’s career, ultimately choosing songs in the 1963-2012 zone.
There’s not much plot of which to speak — the most central conflict concerns various efforts to upgrade the surroundings of the Laine’s Black adopted daughter Marianne (Sharaé Moultrie) in which to raise her unborn child. But much like the bulk of Dylan’s tunes aren’t exactly concerned with a three-act structure, Girl From the North Country finds its storytelling strength in showcasing various people with their own Depression-era struggles, attempting to work them out while passing through the old boarding house.
It’s true ensemble work — everyone takes a bow together at the curtain call, and deservedly so — and features a refreshingly diverse cast, which one might not expect considering the setting. Among the townsfolk and lodgers are hardscrabble character types from Dylan songs: aspiring writers; the mentally ill; and a false prophet bible salesman. Yet the strongest analog is wrongfully-convicted boxer Joe Scott (Hosea Mundi), and once Camille Vogley-Howes’ violin lets loose on the familiar strains of “Hurricane” and Mundi starts singing, goosebumps arise.
When McPherson’s writing hits those era-connecting moments, Girl From the North Country is at its layered best, and while the narrative glue binding the songs together is consistently strong, Dylan’s music remains the true star and finds support from all angles. The phenomenal band under the leadership of pianist/harmonium player Timothy Splain primarily exists nearly out of sight in the corners of the stage, but the rare occasions when they step out are a treat.
In addition to their vocal talents, cast members Jill Van Velzer and David Benoit get to show off their skills on a drum kit, yet those goosebumps return in full whenever the chorus of seven women gather around a mic and harmonize to angelic ends.
While a familiarity with Dylan’s music goes a long way in properly appreciating the show, impressive pacing means that the uninitiated won’t be sitting in their confusion for too long. Girl From the North Country doesn’t leave room for applause between songs, zipping to intermission at just over an hour and reaching the curtain call with similar speed.
If more musicals operated with such economy, the world would be a better place.
Girl From the North Country runs through Feb. 11 at the Peace Center. For details and tickets, visit peacecenter.org.
(Photo by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade)
