Bright Star At CAA Theatre
Bright Star, the Steve Martin/Edie Brickell musical, was apparently not a hit on Broadway in 2016, running a mere 109 performances. In the hands of Garner Theatre Productions and their co-producers it is a substantial success at the Mirvish Company’s CAA theatre. Unfortunately, as part of Mirvish’s subscription season, it is doomed to a limited run.
Garner Theatre Productions has a “mandate to cast and celebrate actor-musicians in thought-provoking works.” Bright Star, a southern gothic tale of love, loss, unspeakable cruelty, and eventual redemption certainly fits that bill.
Bright Star opens with Alice Murphy (a smashing Kaylee Harwood) singing “If you knew my story, you’d have a hard time believing me.” That pretty well sums it up and indeed the story sometimes stretches the bounds of credulity.
Alice’s story spans several decades and unfolds in a way that is initially confusing, switching back and forth in time, until its seemingly unconnected threads come together late in the second act.
It’s 1945 and Billy Cane (Nick Dolan) is back from World War II, mourning the death of his mother but filled with anticipation for the life ahead of him. His title song, “Bright Star” is one of the show’s best. He travels to Asheville, North Carolina, short stories in hand, where Alice is the no-nonsense editor of a prominent literary magazine.
Alice, senses something in the unseasoned writer and pays him ten dollars as encouragement. She keeps at him, telling him that to realize his potential he needs to find a story of “sweeping pain and redemption,” which perhaps not quite so coincidentally describes the book of Bright Star.
Back in 1923, in sleepy Zebulon, the underage Alice is in love with Jimmy Ray Dolan (George Krissa), son of the hard-edged mayor (Brendan Wall). As tends to happen, Alice gets pregnant. As also tends to happen, her god-fearing parents pack her off to a cabin in the woods to bear her child.
The plot thickens when Jimmy Ray’s father forces her to give up the child to adoption, or so it would seem. In fact, he hurls the satchel bearing his grandchild into a river from a speeding train, or so it would seem.
A mysterious scholarship takes Alice to college and eventually to success in Asheville. Billy Cane’s writing improves and he becomes a shining star in Asheville’s literary firmament.
Readers who revel in the plot lines of old melodramas may suspect by now that Billy and Alice are more than mentor and mentee. Suffice it to say that there’s a happy ending. Younger folk, jaundiced before their time, may find it sentimental, even schlocky. Those steeped in years and no strangers to loss will experience it differently.
I am a big fan of bluegrass music and Steve Martin, approximately in that order, so I came to Bright Star expecting some rousing bluegrass numbers in the spirit of Earl Scruggs and Vassar Clements and some zingers in the book. (Martin handled the book, while Brickell wrote the music and lyrics.)
The score is better described as bluegrass-adjacent. With the advent of WWII it shades into swing. All of the songs are tuneful, with occasionally jarring lyrics. None I fear are likely to become standards. And, while not a laugh riot, the book has its moments.
What lifts this production of Bright Star out of the ordinary is the way Garner Theatre Productions, true to its mandate, has cast the show entirely with gifted musician-actors who accompany themselves and provide backup to others as they play the various roles in story. It’s an inspired improvement on the original production, which I gather kept the band somewhat separate from the action.
It’s as if a group of “trad” musicians from a North Carolina town had decided to share with us a tall tale from their community’s collective memory. This has the salutary effect of distancing the performers from the less-believable plot elements in Bright Star, making it easier to overlook them, suspend our disbelief, and enjoy the story.
Having all the performers multitask as members of the band also allows for some stunning effects. When Alice’s child had been ripped from her arms, all the female members of the cast stepped forward, their fiddles screaming her pain as only a country fiddle can. Donna Garner, Garner Theatre Production’s artistic director, handled the musical direction.
Director Jacob Wolstencroft has assembled an exemplary cast and conjured compelling performances from all of them. As mentioned earlier, Harwood, whom I last saw in Kiss Me Kate, is terrific. She held the audience in the palm of her hand. Krissa not only looks incredibly buff, but sings beautifully. Wall makes an impression as Jimmy Ray’s not so nice dad.
Some nice work in minor roles comes from Donna Garner (again!) as Alice’s mother while Marie Mahabal Hauer and Jonathan Gysbers provide comic relief as staffers at Alice’s literary journal.
Choreographer Lisa Goebel has perhaps understandably kept the dancing simple and integrated into the story as opposed to staging production numbers. I’m not sure where Wolstencroft’s blocking ends and her choreography begins, but cast members spend an awful lot of time making rapid crosses from one side of the stage to another.
Set designer Brandon Kleiman and lighting designer Jason Hand keep things simple and, blessedly, I didn’t find the sound design by Deanna H. Choi overwrought.
I can’t say I was over the moon about Bright Star, but I came to appreciate the innovative way Garner Theatre Productions has breathed new life into what might have become just another forgotten Broadway misfire. I’m looking forward to seeing more of their work.
Bright Star continues at the CAA Theatre in Toronto through November 2025. For more information and to purchase tickets visit the Mirvish Company website.
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