“Girl from the North Country” – ASU Gammage

Chris Curcio August 21, 2024 Theater 4 Comments

Theater Review – August 21, 2024

DREADFUL “GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY” IS THE WORST MUSICAL TO EVER PLAY ASU GAMMAGE

“Girl from the North Country”
Broadway Across America – Arizona, ASU Gammage
Tempe, AZ

By Chris Curcio
Theater Critic

If you like Bob Dylan tunes, the musical “Girl from the North Country” uses 20 of the composer’s legendary songs in playwright Conor McPherson’s lifeless show that takes us back to 1934 Duluth, Minnesota during the Great Depression.  A group of low life travelers’ blend while staying in a guesthouse punctuated with Dylan songs but the show is miserably depressing even with the score.  These characters are said to have hope but it sure doesn’t materialize.

I’ve never been a Dylan fan but the songs can’t disguise a story where you don’t care about anyone because it is impossible to relate to any of these folk.  The ploddingly directed tale, written and staged dreadfully by McPherson, needs a bit of musical theater magic.

On opening night, a serious audience illness in the balcony during the show’s second act just moments before the ending, caused a water bottle and telephone to cascade down on the main floor audience, stopping the show as ASU Gammage staff panicked causing near pandemonium.  Lots of audience had already walked out during the first act or had left at the intermission.  Even ASU Gammage’s Vice President for Cultural Affairs and Executive Director of ASU Gammage, Colleen Jennings-Roggensack, was seen stopped and wondering what to do in an aisle next to my seat.

Staff apparently had never been trained in how to handle an audience emergency.  Several minutes went by before an announcement was made to “stand by and the show would proceed” after the ill person had been removed.  Chaos ruled, something that should never occur in a theater.  Let’s hope ASU Gammage staff are in training in case another audience mishap occurs.

But back to the dismal show.  The unusually flat musical dragged on and on.  After the incident, the cast tried to pick up the show but the piece is so dreadful that starting it again couldn’t be accomplished.  Plus, the usual ASU Gammage sound problem played havoc with the show’s dialogue which proved unintelligible so the story was impossible to follow.

The cast unsuccessfully tried to portray this assortment of marginal people but they brought little spark or life to the proceedings.  The production was as comatose as the musical.

“Girl from the North Country” opened this year’s Broadway in Arizona season.  A more dismal show has never played a local stage.  The show debuted back in 2017 at the Old Vic in London, followed by an off-Broadway run before moving in 2020 to Broadway.  It has never been a success and so why did it tour.  Oh, the poor Broadway subscribers nationwide who have to endure this dud.

The local Broadway season has more interesting fare coming including the “Funny Girl” revival but without acclaimed Broadway star Lea Michele as Fanny Brice, the thought-provoking “Kimberly Akimbo but not with Tony-Winner Victoria Clark, the musical version of the popular Jack Lemmon/Tony Curtis comedy “Some Like It Hot,” the enormously popular “Wicked,” and, at long last, a local stop of the hit Broadway show “Moulin Rouge! The Musical” in July.  Unfortunately, the touring versions of Broadway hits “Parade,” “Shucked,” “Back to the Future,” and “A Beautiful Noise” are missing but maybe in a future local Broadway series.

“Girl From the North Country” continues through Sunday, August 25.  To order tickets, call the ASU Gammage box office at 480-965-3434 or order tickets online at www.asugammage.com.

Grade: F

 

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4 Responses to ““Girl from the North Country” – ASU Gammage”

  1. K Clark said:

    Aug 22, 24 at 11:07

    There was not an illness, but a serious accident that left audience members on the balcony traumatized, scared, and worried for the safety of the person injured. That is why so many people had to leave then, as well as needing to clear space for EMTs. The staff did an amazing job handling a very scary situation.

  2. Erick said:

    Aug 23, 24 at 17:53

    I wish I would have read this before I attended on Wednesday, 21 August 2024. I paid a high price for my orchestra seats, and was surprised when the price for tickets around me had gone down significantly just weeks later. I’ve seen multiple shows at Gammage and have never seen the crowd this sparse or disengaged. So many people left at intermission, and even more left even before curtain call. I was 10 rows away from the stage and couldn’t hear sufficiently to even know the characters’ names or even keep up with the so-called “storyline”. There were some great singers, but I couldn’t understand the lyrics or dialogue. It was incredibly disappointing and I wish Gammage would provide refunds and not bring these kinds of unimpressive shows to the valley.

  3. Chris Curcio said:

    Aug 24, 24 at 14:59

    Of course, the distressed patron must be handled but so must every other patron to insure safety. A delayed announcement about what happened did not help nor did the lack of anyone checking on patrons hurt by falling objects.

  4. Joe Brekan said:

    Aug 26, 24 at 14:55

    Girl From The North Country, Sunday August 25, 2024 review: The actors and actresses were superb and very talented. All had beautiful singing voices. However, the play was poorly written throughout. Especially, the ending was dark and depressing. Was about the 1930s Great Depression days. Writer made it seem like everyone was having family and morality problems. My parents were born in 1910 and they and my aunts and uncles lived very poorly. Even making dresses from flour sacks. But all found happiness in God and family and individual determination. A total rewrite of history of the past based on today’s Godless and dependency culture.