PNC Broadway’s ‘Girl From The North Country’ Opens at Benedum (Tues., 1/9/24)

Carla Woods (foreground) is part of the talented cast for PNC Broadway’s ‘Girl From The North Country’ onstage at the Benedum. (Photo: Evan Zimmerman)

With a book by celebrated Irish playwright Conor McPherson, Girl From The North Country is a musical featuring twenty Bob Dylan songs as testament to the American dream. In a 1930s boarding house in Duluth, Minnesota (birthplace of Bob Dylan,)  a group of wayward travelers converge to discover they have more in common than not. Set during the aging days of the Great Depression, these common folk share their struggles to survive a winter lasting longer than their patience for better days. The New York Times Review of the original Broadway production (cut short by COVID in 2020) takes exception to early claims that the show is yet another “jukebox musical,” noting that Dylan’s songs and lyrics “do not spring organically from the plot” nor, would it appear, they shape it. Rather, the time, setting and many characters create a kind of poetry of place, one which resonates with significance and indomitable spirit. The show includes such legendary Dylan songs as “Forever Young,” “All Along The Watchtower,” “Hurricane,” “Slow Train Coming,” and “Like A Rolling Stone.” And the musical’s title, “Girl from the North Country,” is also a Dylan song.  Girl From The North Country opens January 9 as part of the PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh through January 14. Benedum Center in the Cultural District, Downtown. 7:30 p.m. 237 7th St. (C.P.O.)

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