By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
The Perrysburg Musical Theatre’s new production “Bright Star’ is rooted in the folklife of North Carolina with a story based on a ballad that itself is based on a true story.
The musical penned by writer, comedian, and banjo player Steve Martin and singer-songwriter Edie Brickell tells two stories set a couple decades apart.
“Bright Star,” directed by Samantha Henry with musical director by Nicole Spadafore leading a seven-piece on stage string band from the keyboard, will be staged Friday, Feb. 10, Saturday, Feb. 11, and Sunday, Feb. 12 at 2 p.m. in the Juliet Beck Auditorium, in the Commodore Building, 140 East Indiana, Perrysburg. Click for tickets.
At the center of both stories is Alice Murphy, portrayed in the 1940s by Aeryn Williams and in the 1920s by Emma Skaggs.
The older Alice is the publisher and editor of an esteemed literary journal the Asheville Southern Journal. It’s just the place that aspiring writer Billy Cane (Jordan Benavente) wants his work to appear. When he was young his mother would have him copy stories from the journal to learn what good writing is.
Billy sings of his high hopes in the soaring “Bright Star.” He has just returned from World War II, only to be told by his father (Chuck Kiskaddon) that his mother has died. However, his childhood friend Margo (Amber Wilkes) still carries a torch for him. She runs a bookstore and reads and edits all his work. She is crestfallen when he decides to move to Asheville to pursue his literary pursuits.
He moves after muted encouragement from Alice.
Alice comes off as a tough, reserved woman. When her staff and gatekeepers Daryl (Dillon Sickels) and Lucy (Brittany Kupresanin) want her to go out dancing with them, she refuses. This leads her to tell them about an earlier time, 23 years ago, when she did go out and dance.
We meet this young Alice in elaborate flashbacks. Already in love with literature she has found a kindred spirit in Jimmy Ray Dobbs (Wesley Grudzien), the mayor’s son.
His father (Joe Barton) approaches marriage as a powerbroker – an arrangement to help the family’s fortune. And Alice’s own parents (Kris Parker and Gary Miller) don’t look kindly on what they see as their daughter’s wayward approach to life as they express in “Firmer Hand/Do Right.” Of course, what seems right at the time can turn out to be evil as viewers will learn as the plot unfolds.
This plays out in the town of Zebulon, a place, Alice notes, with “a thousand eyes, and a tiny mind.”
Th music in the show does the heavy emotional lifting, animating the characters, and their dreams and disappointments. It draws heavily on old-time mountain music and bluegrass. The melodies are tuneful enough to stick in the ear after one listen. The rhythms get the cast kicking up their heels.
The cast is packed with performers who possess big voices and clear enunciation. Williams as the older Alice belts from the beginning with “If You Knew My Story.” Her voice serves as an emotional touchstone throughout the show. Skaggs, as young Alice, and Grudzien have the range to carry off the playful duet “Whoa, Mama” as well as wistful “I Can’t Wait.”
Wilkes makes the most of Margo’s numbers, “Asheville” and “Always Will,” that bookend her relationship with Billy.
These vocals get firm, colorful support from the band nestled on stage.
Those songs power “Bright Star” delivering a show that’s high spirited and heart-wrenching.
