The Bridges of Madison County, the new musical based on the
best-selling novel of the same name, is different from many recent Broadway
shows. The production does not have a cacophonous introduction, an
intricately plotted book, a razz-ma-tazz score, or high-stepping dance numbers.
Instead, The Bridges of Madison County
is a quieter, subtler musical with strongly defined central characters the
audience slowly comes to know and embrace. The show stars one of the
consummate Broadway musical actresses of today, Kelli O’Hara, in a performance
far different from her more exuberant roles over the past few years—Nellie
Forbush in South Pacific, Babe
Williams from The Pajama Game, or
Billie Bendix in Nice Work If You Can Get
It. Here, as Francesca, an Italian immigrant war bride living with
her American husband on an Iowa farm in the mid-1960’s, O’Hara displays an
inner strength and determination which propels the poignant and sentimental
story.
The plot, for
those who haven’t read the multi-million selling book or the movie, which
starred Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep, is simple. Francesca’s husband
(Hunter Foster) and two children are off to the state fair, leaving her at home
alone. Later in the day a stranger wonders onto her property who, it
turns out, is a National Geographic photographer named Robert (Steven Pasquale)
looking for directions in order to take pictures of the covered bridges in
Madison County. Her initial thought is to provide assistance and say
goodbye, but she is attracted to the lean, hulking figure and volunteers to
personally lead him. From there, a spark is kindled and blossoms into a
full-fledged affair.
While Kelli
O’Hara is the ying, Steven Pasquale, making his Broadway musical debut, is the
yang to the passionate coupling. Handsome and charismatic, he exudes a
quiet resoluteness and vulnerability that draws him to Francesca as well as to
the audience. The chemistry between the two comes across as genuine
which, for this type of show, is critical.
Hunter Foster
as Francesca’s husband, Bud, is his usual dependable self. As with his
recent roles in Hands on a Hard Body
and Million Dollar Quartet Foster,
once again, demonstrates that he is a steady, reliable performer on the
Broadway stage. Cass Morgan and Michael X. Martin, playing the older,
next door couple, Marge and Charlie, provide some welcome comic relief.
The married twosome also serve as an interesting counterpoint of an
established, comfortably established husband and wife to the impassioned and
lustful couple in the farm house just down the way.
The book by
Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Marsha Norman, is well-structured, tenderly
humorous, and romantic without being too maudlin or overly mawkish.
The score by
Jason Robert Brown is lush, stirring and beautifully set within the
musical. These are not the type of songs that will have much life outside
the context of the show, but are haunting and exquisite nonetheless. I
could not imagine a different grouping of ballads and plaintive numbers then
what Brown has written.
Director
Bartlett Sher, working from a minimally adorned stage, keeps the focus on the
two protagonists. He smartly and delicately builds the momentum of the
story, slowly at first, until the inevitable romance begins. Sher imbues
the few scenes of Francesca talking with her husband over the phone with pathos
and genuine confusion for both, sometimes with very little being exchanged
between them. The end of the production, which could collapse into a
warmed-over mess is, instead, handled with sensitivity and aplomb.
The Bridges of Madison County, a more understated, but worthwhile
musical, now on Broadway.
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