Theatre
Written and directed by celebrated playwright Conor McPherson and featuring Tony Award-winning orchestrations by Simon Hale, GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY reimagines 20 legendary songs of Bob Dylan as they've never been heard before, including "Forever Young," "All Along The Watchtower" and "Like A Rolling Stone."
It's 1934 in Duluth, Minnesota. We meet a group of wayward travelers whose lives intersect in a guesthouse filled with music, life and hope. Experience this 'profoundly beautiful' production (The New York Times) brought to vivid life by an extraordinary company.
I was not familiar with this show only with Bob Dylan's music. This is a wonderful story that accentuates the unique music of Bob Dylan to look at a time in American history that shifted many lives. This touring cast is extremely talented and touched my heart deeply.
The vocals in Girl from North Country were outstanding!!! Beautiful voices and wonderful harmonies. However, the story line mixed with the songs was hard to follow. This is a musical that I will not be recommending to anyone nor will I see again.
We all have trails we have to overcome while existing with those around us. This production is a prime example with some unexpected and surprising endings.
Singers were outstanding. Dark and bad story and foul language.
Heard about this but first time seeing it - Loved it - Story line was a little hard to follow but the music was great, where we could hear some of Dylan's harmonies used in a very different way! The ensemble had some great vocals.
Many reviews express disappointment in the musical's departure from Bob Dylan's original context and its utilization of multiple storylines and characters. However, I found the unexpected placement of Dylan's music in the 1930s setting to be refreshing and intriguing. The orchestrations and musical arrangements were not only beautiful but also emotionally charged, resonating deeply with Dylan's core themes of existential wandering in a bleak world. Rather than detracting, the multiple storylines and characters added depth to the overall theme, reflecting the struggles of individuals trying to survive the Great Depression and connect with one another. These intertwined tales were both heart-wrenching and cathartic, portrayed with cinematic nuance by the talented cast against a backdrop of a beautiful set and lighting design, bringing the world to life in vivid three-dimensional detail. I highly recommend you see this!
The cast was phenomenal and the story overall was engaging and unique. The cast and writers did a great job of portraying the desperation of this period in American history. However, I thought there were pieces that were a bit choppy - including some songs that felt a little forced into the storyline. Also, given the size of the cast, I would have liked a little more audience cueing of characters (garment colors, use of names, etc.), as I not only felt but also heard others in the audience struggling to track characters. Worth seeing, but as someone who has attended MANY musicals I saw some room for improvement.
The story was not cohesive and didn’t match the music. The language was bad and didn’t need to be. It really wasn’t even clear who the girl from the north country was. A very disappointing performance and evening.
Too many story lines made it hard to follow and you didn’t feel enough connect enough with individual characters. Claire may have been the only character that I was actually able to connect to. But I feel that she could even had a stronger storyline. The music was absolutely beautiful and the voices were stunning, but it just felt really hard to make the connection between the storyline and the songs, overall, a bunch of very sad stories that never really resolve
Music was good but difficult to follow the storyline. Acting was so so, felt like I was watching a high school play.
Great production great show. All the characters were played and the interaction between them was excellent. Very enjoyable.
the singing in this show was incredible. every characters voice was clear and full of emotion . i was not really that impressed with the story but it did keep me interested until the end.
The music was great, but the story line was hard to follow. People I talked to after all wondered who was the Girl from the North County. I wouldn't recommend this to those who have never been to a show.
Could not believe the use of foul language. Was not necessary . Weird story
Awesome performers, all so very talented From singing , acting, playing Instruments ! Went to the show for Dylan’s lyrics & music ! What a very unique sound and also the lighting was very cool , almost looked like 3 D at times Mayb looked that way from the balcony was pretty far away . And I wasn’t smoking anything !! lol 😂
The voices and the music were very good - that is why I gave it two stars instead of one star - but there is no story line. I would not recommend seeing this show, in fact I have advised others to skip this show.
This story is set during the Great Depression so I knew upfront that it wasn't going to be a feel-good, uplifting kind of musical. It was dimly lit to fit the mood, but for those who have a hard time with night vision, it was hard to see clearly at times. It also made me sleepy. There were a few comedic moments and a couple of standout songs, but overall, we were really confused about the story line and didn't learn much about the characters. The Bob Dylan songs felt disconnected and we only recognized a couple. I wanted to leave at intermission but stuck it out. The 2nd half was a bit better but not great. I don't blame the actors. They didn't have much to work with here. I really hate leaving a negative review as they put so much effort into the production, but hoping this is helpful for anyone who is considering going so they know what they may experience.
I enjoyed the singing because the singers were talented. This was the soul reason I did not leave at the intermission. The plot was not well put together and seemed disconnected from the songs. Though sad it was sort of all over the place.
Interesting hearing Dylan’s music sung at different tempos and with different voices—-But, the acting was so bad, the script so boring, and the production so poorly directed. We couldn’t stand it; it was painful and we were so thankful for the intermission, at which point we left. Whole thing was torture and we had bought good seats. DPAC schedules very C- & below events for some reason, and this amidst a very educated populace. So disappointing.
It is as if Bob said "you can use my music if you attach the songs to a convoluted storyline involving class, race, money, dementia, creepy old guys and kids with learning disabilities. Who die. Set it in the depression and make the links from song lyrics to plot tenuous at best. But sing them really well."
