– By Cate Marquis –
Musical “Bridges of Madison County” fills Fox with bittersweet romance
Romance fans will be pleased as the Fox Theater brings another Broadway musical adaption of a film (and in this case best-selling book) to its stage with “Bridges of Madison County.” With music by three-time Tony Award-winning composer Jason Robert Brown and book by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Marsha Norman, the “Bridges of Madison County” musical delivers a warmer, more poignant romantic tale than the movie starring Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood.
The musical has a cleaner start that the film, by dispenses with the framing story about the grown children reading a letter from their late mother. The change allows Iowa farm wife Francesca Johnson ( Elizabeth Stanley) to narrate her own story. Set in the mid-60s, the musical opens with Francesca singing, as she faces middle age and the prospect of an empty-nest, and reflects on her life’s choices with a bit of homesickness and regret.
Her beautiful voice and the song “To Build A Home” sounds more like opera that musical theater. The hint of opera makes the opening number a joy as well as a surprise but it is a fitting choice, as Francesca was an Italian war bride, who met and married an American G.I., Bud Johnson (Cullen R. Titmas), in war-ravaged Naples, then brought her home to his rural Iowa farm. Twenty years on, they has built a quiet life on the farm and raised two children. Bud is well-meaning but stubborn and a bit hard, especially on his rebellious 17-year-old son Michael (John Campione). Michael’s younger sister Carolyn (Caitlin Houlahan) is a bit confused by everything and unsettled, as she hovers on the edge of puberty.
Bud and the teens are preparing to leave for the Indiana State Fair, (changed from Illinois in the movie) where Carolyn has hopes that her steer Stevie will win first-prize. Francesca has chosen to stay behind, anticipating a little solitude, and opera on the radio, during the four days they will be gone. What she is not expecting is a lost National Geographic photographer named Robert Kincaid (Andrew Samonsky) turning up on her front porch, looking for directions to a nearby covered bridge, part of his photo assignment.
The outlines of the musical’s romantic tale of unexpected love is the same as the film, which means that fans of the film, book, or romance stories generally should be pleased with the musical. Those who are less fond of romance stories will find little to change their minds here. However, the stage version does give more rounded characters than the film, and more of Francesca’s backstory, as well as a better sense of her family life.
While the story dispenses with the framing story device, it adds in new characters, neighbors Marge (Mary Callanan) and Charlie (David Hess), to paint a fuller portrait of life in rural ’60s Iowa. Katie Klaus, from the original Broadway cast, rounds out the major cast playing several characters, Robert’s ex-girlfriend Marian, Francesca’s sister Chiara in flashbacks to Italy, and a singer at the State Fair. A chorus of supporting players sing and play townspeople and fair-goers, and a live orchestra complete the picture.
In addition to her fine voice, Stanley does an excellent job as Francesca, who is having mid-life doubts as her children approach adulthood. The one flaw is her accent, which really sounds more Hungarian (a la Zsa Zsa Gabor, darling) than Italian. It creates a bit of a disconnect but her smoldering emotional performance as Francesca (and singing) do a lot to mitigate that.
Samonsky also sings well but his biggest contribution is his warm performance as Robert. He plays the wandering photographer a bit more as a lost soul, who finds unexpected true love in the more unexpected place. It is a more romantic and touching version than Eastwood’s and actually makes the story work much better.
The music is quite good and draws on a larger pool than typical for its musical inspiration, not just the opera-flavored “To Build A Home” that opens the show but the bluesy “When I’m Gone,” a show-stopper sung by Hess as Charlie. It is a refreshing change from the usual musical.
The staging is impressive, with a number of structures transforming the space from the farmhouse exterior to its interior, the covered bridge, the town’s main street and the fairgrounds. A constant is the backdrop, with a large, spreading tree, a rolling farmland backdrop and, near the center, a telephone pole with an old-fashioned wall phone and two chairs. Lighting effects transform the stage from day to sunset to starry night and then dawn over the few days of the romance, a beautiful effect that helps give the story a broader context.
Overall, “Bridges of Madison County” will appeal most to romantics, but also offers good music, clever staging and a bittersweet, touching story.
© Cate Marquis
