Review Highlights: GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY - National Tour: ASU Gammage

Ben Biggers, Sharaé Moultrie, Jennifer Blood, and John Schiappa
Photo by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade

highlights from local critics reviews - (click link at bottom of each review to read complete review)

Click here for more information on this production that runs through August 25

"an intriguing but not entirely successful musical that blends Bob Dylan's music with a plot set during the Depression by Tony nominated and Olivier award winning playwright Conor McPherson. While the musical has several standout elements, it ultimately falls short in its character development and storytelling. The national tour is in town for a week long run with a talented cast led by several members who were in the ensemble or understudies in the Broadway production....while the songs are beautifully performed, they don't always seem to drive the narrative forward or deepen our understanding of the characters. Instead, the music often serves as a backdrop, creating a mood or evoking emotions of the characters. Also, shows at Gammage have sometimes had audio issues and while the recent tour of Hamilton had an audio design in which the lyrics and dialogue were crystal clear, here they are muddy, often unbalanced, and hard to understand."  - Gil Benbrook, TalkinBroadway.com (click here to read the complete review)

"The songs are taken from the Bob Dylan catalog of music. While they were written between the '60s to the mid-80s and meant to reflect the time and year in which they were originally released, the musical style of presentation, adapted by Timothy Splain and performed on instruments of the time, is surprisingly effective when used to reflect the bleakness of the Depression in 1934....There's no doubt that the show's high production values, its subdued atmospheric period look and its musical interpretive sound are first-class. But ultimately, as the narrative progresses, the use of Bob Dylan songs – himself a native of Duluth, Minnesota - comes across more as a curious gimmick; something to help market the show rather than based on any real creative, interpretive choice."  - David Appleford, Broadway World (click here to read the complete review)