Enjoying, and Possibly Crying Over, 'The Bridges of Madison County'

Robert (Steven Pasquale) and Francesca (Kelli O'Hara )make a startling discovery in “The Bridges of Madison County.”

BY TAMARA BECK

EVER wonder how you wound up where you did?

In "The Bridges of Madison County," at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre in an open run, the question may never have had to be asked but for a chance meeting.

Francesca (Kelli O'Hara) came to Iowa as a war bride from Naples. She married an American soldier, Bud (Hunter Foster), who soon exchanged his uniform for farmer's overalls. They settle into family life.

As the story opens, Bud and their two teenage children, Michael (Derek Klena) and Carolyn (Caitlin Kinnunen) are off the Indiana State Fair to show off Carolyn's prize steer.

Meanwhile, Robert Kincaid (Steven Pasquale) is on assignment for “National Geographic” to photograph the picturesque covered bridges of Madison County, Iowa. His work takes him to Francesca's driveway looking for directions to a bridge he has missed.

Francesca leads him to it. Afterward, she invites him to stay for supper. Unlike her friends, neighbors – and even her husband who all call her Franny – Robert calls her Francesca. He has recently shot a photo spread in Naples and he brings her a copy of the magazine. Robert reminds Francesca of home and she is homesick.

They talk, they laugh, they fall in love. (See video below).

The story, adapted by Marsha Norman from Robert James Waller's chick-lit novel, is pretty much 50 shades of rich color from blushing pink to deep purple. Jason Robert Brown has given it a lovely score and straight-ahead lyrics that support MN's book. In its musical adaptation, "The Bridges of Madison County" is as believable as, say, "Madame Butterfly" or "La Boheme."

If anyone can sell this "Bridges..." it is the players, KO'H, SP and HF. In an excellent cast and ensemble, directed by Bartlett Sher, there are also strong performances by Cass Morgan as Francesca's understanding neighbor, Marge, and Michael X. Martin as Marge's husband, Charlie.

JRB ventures off into country and torch songs, giving Whitney Bashor as Robert's ex-wife, Katie Klaus, as a state fair singer and the aforementioned CM show-stopping arias.

Michael Yeargan's scenery – with Iowa's flat country painted in the backdrop – is lovely and simple. The ensemble pulls and pushes furniture and fences into each scene change while window and roof frames fall gently from the eaves.

This iteration of "The Bridges of Madison County" is not as insufferably sentimental as its source material nor as schmaltzy as the film starring Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep. That's not to say, however, that "The Bridges of Madison County" the musical won't cause some to shed tears.

It is as much a pleasure to watch and hear as any musical theater work currently on the Great White Way.

Visit http://www.bridgesofmadisoncountymusical.com/ to learn more about "The Bridges of Madison County."

An Outsider Fighting for His Place in 'Golden Boy'

BY TAMARA BECK

EACH generation has to find its own way.

For immigrants’ sons who carry their fathers’ foreignness within them, belonging to America is a struggle. The ambition, like Joe Bonaparte’s (Seth Numrich) in “Golden Boy,” is to “show ‘em all.”

Joe has a particularly thick streak of resentment. His chosen path to glory is with his fists to the dismay of his father (Tony Shalhoub) whose gift to his son is music. Joe, the City’s top young teen violinist, is looking for a very different kind of championship. Clifford Odets’ “Golden Boy,” at the Belasco Theatre in a Lincoln Center Theater revival through 20 Jan., pits the humanism of music against the noisy brutality of prize fighting. (See video above.)

As he commits himself to fighting, Joe also falls in love with Lorna Moon (Yvonne Strahovski), the girl of his manager Tom Moody (Danny Mastrogiorgio).

Joe (Seth Numrich) warms up with Tokio (Danny Burstein) to the seeming satisfaction of Tom (Danny Mastrogiorgio) in "Golden Boy." Photos by Paul Kolnik.

The cleverly designed sets by Michael Yeargan, which truck out on platforms for each scene change, are at once detailed and stylized. Catherine Zuber’s costumes add to the sense of time and place in “Golden Boy.”

Director Bartlett Sher and the superb cast in this “Golden Boy” honor the period of the piece in every facet of the work presented on the stage. In its juxtaposition of music and prize fighting, no one wins. This production focuses on the tragedy of discontent.

These characters speak in Runyonesque tones. YS, an Australian, impresses with her tough talk and no-nonsense demeanor. Her Lorna is blessed with some delicious dialogue, as in an early exchange with Moody. “Go to hell,” Lorna says. “But come back later tonight.”

Tony Shalhoub, Seth Numrich, Dagmara Dominczyk and Michael Aronov bring to life bygone days in "Golden Boy."

In a cast that deftly immerses itself in the 1930s in which “Golden Boy” is set, SN and DM stand out, along with Michael Aronov as Joe’s feisty brother-in-law, Siggie.

In its original production in 1937, also at the Belasco, “Golden Boy” played for two Broadway seasons. The LCT production is both a celebration of CO’s masterful all-American playwriting and a homecoming.

Visit http://www.lct.org to learn more about "Golden Boy."