For the first time in this writer’s memory, Playhouse Square’s KeyBank Broadway Series will exclusively include shows that have never before been staged at the theater complex. The series will include GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY, which opens on Tuesday, October 31 with performances through Sunday, November 19.
The story, set in Duluth, Minnesota in 1934, is written by Conor McPherson (who also serves as the show’s director) and intriguingly, features the music and lyrics written by the incomparable Bob Dylan! The musical includes 20 reimagined Dylan classics including “Forever Young,” “All Along The Watchtower,” “Hurricane,” “Slow Train Coming,” and “Like a Rolling Stone.”
The show first debuted in London in 2017 before becoming an Off-Broadway show in 2018 (before moving to Broadway proper in 2020) and is now touring in the United States for the first time!
Actress Sharaé Moultrie, who plays Marianne Laine in the production that is soon arriving at Playhouse Square, phoned CleveRock to discuss the show!
Moultrie was asked to describe the show’s plot to the uninitiated:
“‘Girl from the North Country’ is a different type of show. It’s a musical, but it really is like a snapshot into the lives of this group of people who are living in this guest house. It takes place in Duluth, Minnesota, and my character, Marianne, is the adopted daughter of the folks who run the guest house, Elizabeth and Nick Laine. It’s a story about their family as well as all of the travelers that come in and out of that guest house and all of the challenges that they’re dealing with, and then also buckets of hope, heart, and love that they experience over a short amount of time. It really is a look into the everyday life of this group of people who are living in Minnesota and are dealing with the aftermath of the Great Depression.”
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Bob Dylan is inarguably one of the greatest songwriters of all time. (Singer? Not so much! But few to ever walk the planet have penned better songs!) Moultrie detailed the relevance of Dylan’s lyrics to the show.
“Bob Dylan, obviously, is a legend and an amazing songwriter, so it’s really cool to be able to sing his songs and sing them in a slightly different way. We have orchestrations by Tony Award-winning Simon Hale, and he really does an amazing job of transforming the songs, making them new, but still holding true to what Bob Dylan is all about; the humanity and the heart of humaness,” she said. “It’s really cool that the songs don’t necessarily push the plot forward, but they help to illustrate and exude the emotion that the characters are feeling at one period of time. That’s really, really cool.”
Every show has showstopping moments, with the ‘best’ part being subjective to each performer and patron. Moultrie was asked for her pick for the ‘best’ moment of the show for her.
“My favorite moment onstage is when we get to do the’ ‘Hurricane’ / ‘All Along the Watchtower’ / ‘Idiot Wind’ medley,” she chose. “Obviously, those songs are absolutely gorgeous and a lot of fun, but there’s something really cool about that number because everyone who’s in the show is on the stage. ‘Girl from the North Country’ is very much an ensemble-based show. That is one of those moments where everyone is on stage, including our band. We’re all dancing; we’re all interacting with each other, and it’s just a really fun time. That’s probably my favorite moment in the show.”
Aside from the obvious storyline, music, and acting, there are many other elements to a theatrical production that are often overlooked by members of the audience. Moultrie chimes in on what to be on the lookout for at Girl from the North Country.
“Overall, the set is absolutely gorgeous, but it is the lighting design that really brings this piece together,” she said. “I think they do such a beautiful job of highlighting certain points and utilizing silhouettes and differences in lighting to really show what’s happening in the show and what you should be focusing on and the beauty of all the characters and their stories. I think the lighting is something that you will notice immediately, and I think if you pay attention to it, it’ll help tell an even deeper story for you.”
Sharaé, a multi-talented actress who, in addition to theater, is a singer and commercial model, has her options for roles she wishes to audition for. ‘Girl from the North Country’ was one she wasn’t too familiar with initially, but soon fell in love with her character.
“I really didn’t have much knowledge about the role or the show at all, but once I did a little bit of digging and heard the songs and the arrangements, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this music is absolutely gorgeous.’ It’s Bob Dylan. Amazing,” she said. “The thing that really attracted me to Marianne specifically, it’s just that she has such an interesting storyline. She’s a black woman who’s adopted by a white family. She ends up being pregnant, which the story explores, and I won’t go into that so I don’t spoil anything, but it really shows how she’s dealing with the challenges of her own life and her family and her need and want for something more. I think that I can relate so much to that just knowing that there’s always something that you’re trying to reach for or things that you want to discover and explore about yourself and about the world. Sometimes things can get in the way of that, but you have to kind of push forward and make what you want a reality.”
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