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An Unforgettable Production of Next to Normal at Round House Theatre
Next to Normal
Round House Theatre
Jordan Wright
February 6, 2024
Special to The Zebra
 The cast of Next to Normal at Round House Theatre (Photo by Margot Schulman) How do you make a story about a bi-polar mother having a nervous breakdown palatable to musical theatre audiences? First, you make the characters poignantly identifiable – Dan (Kevin S. McAllister), a loving husband and father devoted to keeping his family intact; Natalie (Sophia Early), their angsty teenage daughter living in the shadow of her dead baby brother, Gabe, and fighting her own demons; Henry (Ben Clark), her boyfriend committed to seeing her through her pain; and Gabe (Lucas Hinds Babcock), the ghost of the dead child who haunts Diana in her darkest moments. The Pulitzer Prize-winning Next to Normal with its deeply emotional story might seem highly unlikely to resonate with theatregoers, but it truly does. Thanks in large part to the unforgettably lush score by composer Tom Kitt with book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey, the show is impossible to resist.
 Lucas Hinds Babcock (Gabe) and Tracy Lynn Olivera (Diana) (Photo/Margot Schulman) Ignoring the needs of her family, Diana (Tracy Lynn Olivera) is prescribed more and more pills to dull the memory of the loss of her child and heal her break with reality. Her struggle to keep it all together for the sake of her family, is thwarted by Gabe’s constant demands to be remembered. In the song, “I’m Alive”, he tells his mother he must never be forgotten.
As Diana descends into a manic state in a fog of despair from a plethora pills, she begins to question the meds, the therapy, and even her psychiatrist, Doctor Madden (Calvin McCullough), whom she pictures as a rock star – one of the funnier bits. “What happens if the break was not in my mind or my blood, but in my soul,” she asks Dan after the constant “hauntings” by Gabe. Dan, struggling to hold the family and their tenuous marriage together, wonders aloud, “Why would you want to remember the things that hurt you?” In her manic state these questions are impossible to contemplate… and even more difficult to explain.
 Kevin S. McAllister (Dan), Sophia Early (Natalie), and Tracy Lynn Olivera (Diana) (Photo/Margot Schulman) Thirty-six numbers turbo-charge this sing-through with joy, pathos, passion and anguish too. The cast is superb – their voices exquisitely blended and nuanced. Olivera is a well-known, well-respected commodity in area theaters and here her subtly powerful performance is balanced beautifully – shining but not outshining this remarkable ensemble. Audiences will be moved by McCallister’s rich baritone and commanding presence as the father who must keep the family from falling apart at the seams. A surprise casting is the clearly up and coming young actor, Lucas Babcock, as Gabe’s ghost. His voice and performance will tear your heart out. It stopped me in my tracks. This is a big role – physically and emotionally demanding and I’m excited to see what’s next for this straight-out-of-college young actor’s future.
 Ben Clark (Henry) and Sophia Early (Natalie) (Photo/Margot Schulman) Director Alan Paul (Whatever he directs, for god’s sake, just go!) has assembled the best cast with top-drawer performances plus Chris Youstra’s staging that brings it all seamlessly together. This is the one to see now!
Choreographer, Eamon Foley; Music Director, Christopher Youstra; Scenic Designer, Wilson Chin; Costume Designer, Helen Huang; Lighting Designer, Sherrice Mojgani; Sound Designer, Ken Travis; Dramaturg, Naysan Mojgani.
Highly recommended!
Through March 3rd at Round House Theatre, 4545 East-West Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814. For tickets and information contact the box office at 240 644-1100 or visit www.RoundHouseTheatre.org
Tick, tick…BOOM!
Broadway Center Stage at
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Jordan Wright
February 2, 2023
Special to The Zebra
 Brandon Uranowitz and the Cast of tick tick BOOM (Photo by Teresa Castracane) Tic, tic, boom is the sound Jon (Brandon Uranowitz) hears in his head as he feels himself falling into obscurity as a musical composer. Looming large is his 30th birthday. With nothing to show for decades of laying his soul bare in words and rhymes, he ponders the wisdom, or idiocy, of taking a job in the corporate world like his former roommate and best friend, Michael (Grey Henson). Michael is flying high on success and shows Jon that having a luxury penthouse and flashy BMW can erase the pain of failure and a respite from their 6-floor walk-up.
At the same time Jon’s beloved, Susan (Denée Benton), is bent on leaving the city and getting a home in the country where their lives would be less stressful. This is not an option for Broadway hopeful Jon whose raison d’être is inextricably tied to the stage. His keyboard forms the nucleus of the limited props.
 Denée Benton and Brandon Uranowitz (Photo by Teresa Castracane) Playwright, composer and lyricist Jonathan Larson’s real life was a tragedy in itself. Drawing from his own bohemian life and inspired by Puccini’s La bohème, he wrote the wildly successful rock opera Rent. His own poverty and struggle for recognition were undoubtedly its inspiration. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves here since Larson died at 36 years-old on the night before its Broadway opening in 1996.
Fast forward to the 2021 film adaptation of tick, tick…BOOM! which you may have seen on Netflix and is definitely worth your time. It was directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda and roundly praised.
 Brandon Uranowitz and the tick tick BOOM cast (Photo by Teresa Castracane) Director Neil Patrick Harris comes to this stage production with some strong connections to its early-stage iterations when in 2005 he was cast as Jon in the London premiere. He’s performed in Rent and feels a personal connection to Larson’s work.
Bringing this semi-autographical musical tick, tick…BOOM! to a new audience has inspired Harris to re-invent its earlier productions. He has added a four-person ensemble to the three-hander. Why? More voices? More harmonies? It inserts a bit of Broadway pizazz (We’re a musical with song and dance!!!), but at what cost? It’s distracting. In this staging, actors are over-choreographed – shuffling chairs and other furnishings around the stage in a kind of chorus line does not sharpen the mood. Background video projections distract without providing connections to the script. The Georges Seurat painting used as the promo poster for Sunday in the Park with George popped up for a nanosecond, but it didn’t dovetail with any of Jon’s lines referencing his relationship with Sondheim.
 Grey Henson and Brandon Uranowitz (Photo by Teresa Castracane) An accurate reflection on Larson’s lean years, it drips with sarcasm and angst and is reminiscent of Sondheim’s “The Ladies Who Lunch”. It is the heartbeat of his life in New York City and reflects the nucleus of his despair. To be sure there are some very funny bits as in the tune “Sunday” which references Larson’s time waiting tables at the Moondance Diner trying to appease difficult diners during brunch service. As to diminishing its focus, you’re left to wonder if the decision to plump it up with extra actors wasn’t made by an ad hoc committee. If you go, love it for the music which is lush, emotional and extraordinary. Thirteen numbers flesh out the story backed by a four-piece band. It really doesn’t need more than that.
Through February 4th at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 2700 F Street, NW, Washington, DC 20566. For tickets and information call the box office at 202 467-4600 or visit www.Kennedy-Center.org
What’s Onstage in the DMV
Jordan Wright
January 16, 2024
Special to The Zebra
 (Photo/Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade) Annie
Where: National Theatre, 1321 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20004
When: Jan 23 – Jan 28
Find more information at www.TheNationaDC.com
The Lehman Trilogy
Where: Shakespeare Theatre Company
When: Feb 22 – Mar 24
Find more information at www.ShakespeareTheatre.org
Have You Ever Seen the Sun
Album Release
Where: Meade Memorial Church of Alexandria,
When: Jan 28
Find more information at www.YellowDoorConcertSeries.com
Scripts in Play Series
Free readings at Avant Bard
Where: Avant Bard, 2700 S Lang St, Arlington, VA 22206
When: Jan 19 and Jan 21
Find more information at: www.AvantBard.org
Nunsense A-Men
Where: NextStop Theatre Company
When: Jan 12 – Feb 11
Find more information at www.NextStopTheatre.org
Las hermanas Palacios – the Palacios Sisters
Where: GALA Theatre
When: Feb 1 – Feb 25
Find more information at www.GalaTheatre.org
 Mouse on the move (Via Imagination Stage) Mouse on the Move
Where: The Family theatre at Imagination Stage
When: Jan 13 – Feb 11
Find more information at www.ImaginationStage.org
Merrily We Roll Along
Where: Keegan Theatre
When: Feb through Mar
Find more information at: www.KeeganTheatre.com
Washington Revels Jubilee Voices Concert
Free concert
Where: Lyceum Alexandria
When: Feb 18 only
Find more information at https://apps.alexandriava.gov/Calendar/Detail.aspx?si=56832
Mindplay
Where: Arena Stage
When: Jan 19 – March 3
Find more information at www.ArenaStage.org
Tempestuous Elements
Where: Arena Stage
When: Feb 16 – Mar 17
Find more information at www.ArenaStage.og
The Sensational Sea Mink-ettes
Where Woolly Mammoth
When: Feb 4 – Mar 3
Find more information www.WoollyMammoth.net
Torch Song
Where: Dominion Stage
When: Jan 26 – Feb 10
Find more information at www.DominionStage.org
Private Jones
Where: Signature Theatre
When: Feb 6 – Mar 10
Find more information at www.SigTheatre.org
Where We Belong
Where: Folger Theatre
When: Feb 15 – Mar 10
Find more information at www.Folger.edu
 Caroline Bowman as Elsa (photo/Deenvan Meer( Frozen
Where: Kennedy Center
When: Now through Jan 21
Find more information www.Kennedy-Center.org
Tick, tick… Boom!
Where: Kennedy Center
When: Jan 26 – Feb 4
Find more information at www.Kennedy-Center.org
The Girl Who Became Legend
Family Theater
Where: Kennedy Center
When: Feb 2 – Feb 11
Find more information www.Kennedy-Center.org
Ain’t Too Proud – The Life and Times of the Temptations
Where: Kennedy Center
When: Feb 13 – Feb 18
Find more information at www.Kennedy-Center.org
Love, Love, Love
Where: Studio Theatre
When: Jan 10 – Feb 18
Find more information at www.StudioTheatre.org
Lend Me a Soprano
When: Olney Theatre Center
Where: Feb 7 – Mar 10
Find more information at www.OlneyTheatre.org
Romeo & Juliet
When: Synetic Theater
Where: Feb 9 – Mar 24
Find more information at www.SyneticTheater.org
Shutter Sisters
Where: 1stStage
When: Feb 1 – Feb 18
Find more information at www.1stStage.org
A Chorus Line
Where: Toby’s Dinner Theatre
When: Jan 12 – Mar 10
Find more information at www.TobysDinnerTheatre.com
 This Much I Know (Via Theater J) This Much I Know
Where: Theatre J
When: Jan 31 – Feb 25
Find more information at www.TheatreJ.org
Next to Normal
Where: Roundhouse Theatre
When: Jan 24 – Feb 25
Find more information at www.Roundhouse.org
Annie
Where: The Little Theatre of Alexandria
When: Feb 10 – Mar 2
Find more information at www.TheLittleTheatre.com
Passport to the World Music Festival
Where: Creative Cauldron
When: through Feb 3
Find more information at www.CreativeCauldron.org
Tuck Everlasting
Where: Aldersgate Church Community Theater
When: Jan 12 – Jan 21
Find more information www.acctonline.org
Working
Where: Creative Cauldron
When: Feb 3 – Mar 3
Find more information at www.CreativeCauldron.org
Kennedy Center to Celebrate MLK, JR.’s Legacy with Headliners
Nolan Williams Hosts MLK, Jr. Celebration in Song
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Jordan Wright
January 10, 2023
 (Photo/The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts) In a musical tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Kennedy Center will host a celebration of King’s legacy. As an integral part of the Center’s Millennium Stage performance series, the annual program, co-hosted by Georgetown University will feature a musical performance by Jordin Sparks, Nolan Williams, Jr. and Cécile McLorin Salvant accompanied by pianist Sullivan Joseph Fortner, Jr. and backed by the Let Freedom Ring Choir led by Music Producer, Nolan Williams, Jr.
Held in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall, a highlight of the program will be William’s, Jr.’s “Rise Up and Fight”, a civic anthem composed to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Freedom Summer.
 Nolan Williams Jr. Nolan Williams, Jr. is best described as a creative force. An award-winning producer, music director, composer/lyricist, playwright, filmmaker, musicologist, and cultural curator, the multi-hyphenate Williams, Jr. has dedicated his professional career to creating works that illuminate issues of civil rights, social justice, and cultural curiosities. His body of work includes choral/orchestral works premiered by major American orchestras; music for television; the bestselling African American Heritage Hymnal (over 500,000 copies sold worldwide); songwriting credits on two Grammy®-nominated projects; arts and educational festivals produced in partnership with the Kennedy Center and Philadelphia’s Mann Center; cultural programming developed with the Smithsonian, U.S. State Department, and multiple embassies; video/documentary projects, including the star-studded viral video “I Have A Right To Vote” (over two million global media hits); “Becoming Douglass Commonwealth” (winner of ten media prizes); and a slate of theatrical productions, including his critically-hailed new musical Grace – winner of eleven 2022 Broadway World Washington, D.C. awards, including Best Musical and Best New Musical).
(Read my review of Grace here – https://whiskandquill.com/grace)
Local DC resident, Williams, Jr. is CEO of NEWorks Productions, a leading producer of impact-arts programming and entertainment since 2003. He has given musical leadership to this Let Freedom Ring concert since the same year.
In 2019, Williams, Jr. was named the Kennedy Center’s inaugural Social Practice Resident.
 Jordin Sparks Jordin Sparks is a Grammy® nominated, multi-platinum singer-songwriter and actress who, in one of the show’s highest-rated seasons, garnered worldwide attention as the winner of season six of American Idol. Cumulatively, Sparks’ popular singles have sold over 10 million digital tracks in the U.S. Sparks is also a gifted songwriter. Arianna Grande’s smash single, “The Way,” was co-written by Sparks and earned her a B.M.I. songwriting award. She has toured with superstars Britney Spears, Alicia Keys, The Jonas Brothers, New Kids on The Block, and the Backstreet Boys and headlined her own tour.
Sparks has garnered two B.E.T. Awards, one American Music Award, and one People’s Choice Award, and has been nominated for two MTV Awards and a Grammy®. She made her Broadway debut starring in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway smash, In the Heights, and made her film debut playing the lead role in the SONY Pictures film Sparkle, opposite the legendary Whitney Houston. Sparks‘s positive body image, message, and success have impacted people worldwide. She considers philanthropy an integral part of her life and was recently profiled by CNN Heroes and Dress for Success for her charity work.
She has since returned to the Broadway stage as the lead in the TONY® award-winning Waitress with music by Sara Bareilles, to critical acclaim, and Executive-Produced and starred in Hallmark’s, A Christmas Treasure. She is a sought-after successful social media influencer due to her impressive social media following. She has also successfully transitioned into network broadcasting hosting/co-hosting on some of television’s most iconic programs, such as NBC.‘s TODAY Show, ABC.’s Good Morning America, ABC.’s The View, CBS.’ The Talk, PBS’ Great Performances (with John Lithgow), amongst others. She currently holds the position of Governor of the LA Chapter of the Recording Academy (GRAMMYS).
Sparks released two previous albums in 2020. “Sounds Like Me,” and her first-ever Christmas album, “Cider & Hennessy.” She received a Dove, Billboard, and Grammy nomination in 2023 for her #1 single with For King & Country, “Love Me Like I Am”, and released the single, “Call My Name” along with her latest single, “Candy Cane Lane”.
 Cécile McLorin Salvant Cécile McLorin Salvant is a composer, singer, and visual artist. The late Jessye Norman described Salvant as “a unique voice supported by an intelligence and full-fledged musicality, which light up every note she sings.” Salvant has developed a passion for storytelling and finding the connections between vaudeville, blues, folk traditions from around the world, theater, jazz, and baroque music. Salvant is an eclectic curator, unearthing rarely recorded, forgotten songs with strong narratives, interesting power dynamics, unexpected twists, and humor. Salvant won the Thelonious Monk competition in 2010. She has received Grammy Awards® for Best Jazz Vocal Album for three consecutive albums, “The Window”, “Dreams and Daggers”, and “For One To Love”. In 2020, Salvant received the MacArthur Fellowship and the Doris Duke Artist Award. Salvant released her debut Nonesuch Records release “Ghost Song” in 2022; the album went on to receive two Grammy® nominations. Mélusine, an album mostly sung in French, along with Occitan, English, and Haitian Kreyòl, was released on March 24, 2023, and has now been nominated for two Grammy® Awards.
 Anna Deavere Smith The program will feature musical performances by Jordin Sparks, music producer and commissioned composer Nolan Williams, Jr., Cécile McLorin Salvant, pianist Sullivan Joseph Fortner, Jr., Anna Deavere Smith, Rodrick Dixon, Rayshun LaMarr, Benjamin H. Moore, and John Riddle.
In addition, Georgetown University will present the annual John Thompson Jr. Legacy of a Dream Award to Reginald L. Douglas, Artistic Director of Mosaic Theater Company of DC. The aim of Reginald L. Douglas and Mosaic Theater is to use theater to build community and foster change. The award is given by Georgetown University to a local individual who exemplifies the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Mosaic Theater Company produces bold, culturally diverse theater that illuminates critical issues, elevates fresh voices, and sparks connections among communities throughout the D.C. region and beyond.
Mosaic’s innovative education and engagement programming provides opportunities for community members of all ages and backgrounds to engage more deeply with the themes of Mosaic’s plays. As a national leader in new play development work, Mosaic serves as an incubator for stories often untold on U.S. stages. Mosaic is committed to investing in artists and advancing equity practices, which has garnered national attention and served as a model for other theaters.
In its first eight seasons, Mosaic has produced over 10 world premiere plays (with more underway), engaged nearly 4,500 students across all eight wards of D.C. through educational initiatives, programmed over 700 panel discussions and conversations, and commissioned or developed over 30 plays and musicals.
Mosaic has received the John Aniello Award for Outstanding Emerging Theatre Company, and in 2022, Mosaic received 11 Helen Hayes nominations, including three for “Outstanding New Play”.
As part of Georgetown University’s MLK Initiative: Let Freedom Ring! the event builds on the success of the first joint program in January 2003, which featured the legendary Roberta Flack and attracted more than 5,000 patrons. The second, held in August of 2003, commemorated the 40th anniversary of Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, and featured actor and civil rights leader, Ossie Davis. Past concerts have featured Jessye Norman in 2004; Aaron Neville in 2005; Yolanda Adams in 2006 and 2016; Brian McKnight in 2007; Denyce Graves in 2008; Aretha Franklin in 2009; India. Arie in 2010; Patti LaBelle in 2011; Bobby McFerrin in 2012; Smokey Robinson in 2013; Dionne Warwick in 2014; Natalie Cole in 2015; Gladys Knight in 2017; Vanessa Williams in 2018; and Audra McDonald and Brian Stokes Mitchell in 2019, Chaka Khan in 2020 and Leslie Odom Jr. in 2023.
The event will occur on Monday, January 15, 2024, at 6:00 p.m. in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 2700 F Street, NW, Washington, DC 20566.
The ticket giveaway begins January 15 at 4:30 p.m. at the Hall of Nations and will be limited to two tickets per person. This performance will be captioned. If you or a member of your party requires accessible seating or seats in the captioned section, please notify staff when you reach the front of the ticket distribution line. This performance will also be live-streamed on the Kennedy Center’s Facebook and YouTube pages and its website at www.kennedy-center.org.
Disney’s Frozen is a Shimmery, Wintery Ice Palace of Wonder at the Kennedy Center
Disney’s Frozen – The Hit Broadway Musical
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Jordan Wright
December 26, 2023
Special to The Zebra
Caroline Bowman as Elsa (photo/Deenvan Meer) What’s shimmery, glittery and icy all over? Frozen!!! The Disney spectacular indulges everyone’s wintery fantasy with visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads – most especially the adorable tiny princesses that filled the audience in their long tutus and tiaras dressed up like Elsa and waving shiny wands. Did they know the story, the music and all the lyrics? You bet they did, though their parents and grandparents kindly kept them from singing out loud.
Kristen Anderson-Lopez and partner Robert Lopez who together crafted the music and lyrics from Jennifer Lee’s book, keeps the audience in thrall as what was originally the Disney movie by the same name, comes alive in front of eager eyes. From the stage they’re asked if this is their first Broadway show and quite a few gleefully raised their hands. What a scintillating introduction to musicals and, I mused, what a tale they’ll tell their children!
 Lauren Nicole Chapman as Anna and Company of Frozen North American Tour (Photo/Matthew Murphy for Disney) The story of the two sisters, Elsa (Caroline Bowman) and Anna (Lauren Nicole Chapman), brought up in a magnificent kingdom by their caring parents, the King Agnarr (Kyle Lamar Mitchell) and Queen Uduna (Katie Mariko Murray) of Arendelle, is beloved around the world not only for the beautiful story but also the lessons it teaches children – to be kind, to love, to be cautious, but also, when to believe. Along with the charming, life-size Sven the Reindeer (Collin Baja or Daniel Plehal) and Olaf (Jeremy Davis) the goofy, fearfully meltable snowman, Elsa learns to tame her secret magical powers and save her sister from a frozen fate.
But this is no average children’s play, nor a mere evening’s diversion. Backed in full by the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra in concert with the Frozen Touring Orchestra, it is an epic show set in Scandinavia with all the gorgeous scenery reflecting the frigid fjords and alpine tundra. Video projections fill in what the massive sets cannot impart so that it is like being smack dab in Nordic splendor as opposed to sitting in your cozy velveteen seat.
Gowns and balls, maypoles and merriment define the sisters’ lives, until Elsa’s grand coronation when Anna is forced to live in isolation to protect her from Elsa’s dangerous powers.
 Dominic Dorset as Kristoff and DanPlehal as Sven (Photo/Matthew Murphy for Disney) The diverse cast moves effortlessly between ice crystals and shimmery fractals. Comic relief comes from Olaf (Jeremy Davis) and Sven (Collin Baja or Daniel Plehal) and the very silly number, “Hygge” sung beside a wayside chalet by the whole cast who dash in and out of a sauna beating themselves with birch branches to a song about comfort, friendship and conviviality. It is irresistible!
Snow blizzards and the haunting mountain people create just enough suspense to keep you on the edge of your seat. And did I mention Anna and Elsa’s love life? A Prince, Hans of the Southern Isles (Preston Perez), and a kindly mountain climbing guide, Kristoff (Dominic Dorset), are involved – one a straight shooter and one, well, not at all what he seems.
Highly recommended. Embrace the wonder-filled world of Frozen!
 Caroline Bowman as Elsa and Lauren Nicole Chapman as Anna (Photo/Matthew Murphy for Disney) With Annie Piper Braverman or Emma Origenes as Young Anna; Erin Choi or Savannah Lumar as Young Elsa; Evan Duff as Weselton; Tyler Jimenez as Pabbie; Renée Reid as Bulda; Jeremy Davis as Oaken; and Gretel Scarlett as Head Handmaiden.
Additional cast members in the ensemble – Kate Bailey, Kristen Smith Davis, Leigh-Ann Esty, Michael Everett, Jason Goldston, Natalie Goodin, Zach Hess, Adrianna Rose Lyons, Alexander Mendoza, Nick Silverio, Daniel Switzer and Peli Naomi Woods.
Under the direction of Michael Grandage with Orchestrations by Dave Metzger; Sound Design by Peter Hylenski; Puppet Design by Michael Curry; Scenic and Costume Design by Christopher Oram; Lighting Design by Natasha Katz; Choreography by Rob Ashford.
Through January 21st at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 2700 F Street, NW, Washington, DC 20566. For tickets and information call the box office at 202 467-4600 or visit www.kennedy-center.org
Kennedy Center’s Girl from the North Country is Moving and Unforgettable
The Girl from the North Country
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Jordan Wright
December 19, 2023
Special to The Zebra
 Chiara Trentalange (center) and the cast of the GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY North American tour (Photo/Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade) The thing that Writer/Director Conor McPherson understands is the intrinsic value of Bob Dylan’s words. The Words! The Words! And how Dylan’s lyrics reflect the pain of growing up in small town Minnesota – the frustration of an artist who saw and struggled and loved and experienced the inequality of poverty in America. Surprised as McPherson was when given the go-ahead from Bob Dylan to use his songs in a Broadway musical, his gift for Irish storytelling made him the ideal candidate to interpret the music as poetic script.
This musical had such an impact on me that I’ve been processing it for a week before penning my review. Mainly because the subject matter and the songs are weighty and complicated and the beautifully drawn characters leap right out at you. You know these people, or you know of them. There is an empathic intimacy within this story and in the telling too.
 L-R Ben Biggers, Sharaé Moultrie, Jennifer Blood and John Schiappa (Photo/Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade) It is set in Duluth, Minnesota. The year is 1934 as the Great Depression settles heavily upon the nation and those with little to show for their lives of hard work and sacrifice are suffering mightily. The Laine family runs a boardinghouse filled with curious characters down on their luck or running from the law or in love affairs gone sour. Nick and Elizabeth try to keep things in order along with their adopted daughter Marianne and their unemployed son, Gene. But Elizabeth’s mental health is failing, and the place is losing money. Hardships and love affairs threaten to topple the tenuous equilibrium.
Pretenders and desperados live amongst them. A fake holy roller priest, a prison escapee, and a doddering shoe store owner who proposes to young Marianne when the father of her yet to be born child leaves town. References are made to the true story in Duluth when a crowd broke into the jail and hung three Black men. It was hard times.
 Sharaé Moultrie (Photo/Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade) Dylan’s songs are not as he recorded them. Yes, lyric-wise, but not with the same tempo. McPherson gets more heft from slowing them down, changing up some of the notes and phrasing for emphasis and re-imagining their place in the story. You will feel this deeply and appreciate the songs even more when their meaning is placed in the hands, and voices, of this wonderful 17-person cast. When Elizabeth sings Like a Rolling Stone you can feel the undercurrent of trauma, death and mental illness. It is both insistent and poignant.
Dylan’s words were reflective of society’s drift, the ebb and flow of human involvement, of broken women, beautiful women, men on the fringes of society, his own fallibility and the country’s fragility. This is a thinking person’s production with a world of space within its songs to process its meaning.
Highly recommended. Moving and unforgettable.
 Chiara Trentalange and Ben Biggers (Photo/Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade) With Alan Ariano as Dr. Walker; David Benoit as Mr. Burke; Ben Biggers as Gene Laine; Jennifer Blood as Elizabeth Laine; Matt Manuel as Joe Scott; Sharaé Moultrie as Marianne Laine; Jay Russell as Mr. Perry; John Schiappa as Nick Laine; Chiara Trentalange as Kate Draper; Jill Van Velzer as Mrs. Burke; Jeremy Webb as Reverend Marlowe; Aidan Wharton as Elias Burke; Carla Woods as Mrs. Nielsen;
Soloists/ensemble – Ashley D. Brooks, Justin Michael Duval, Kelly McCormick and Hosea Mundi.
Music and Lyrics by Bob Dylan; Music Direction by Wiley DeWeese; Sound Design by Simon Baker; Lighting Design by Mark Henderson; Scenic Design by Rae Smith; Orchestrator, Arranger and Music Supervisor, Simon Hale.
Through December 31st at The Kennedy Center, 2700 F Street, NW, Washington, DC 20566. For tickets and information call the box office at 202 467-4600 or visit www.Kennedy-Center.org.
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