Live and in person at the Berkeley Street Upstairs Theatre, Toronto, Ont. Produced by Bowtie Productions. Running: April 3-5, 2025.
Music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown
Book by Marsha Norman
Directed by Haylee Thompson
Music directed by Ethan Rotenberg
Set and props by Quẏnh Diep
Lighting designer, Niall Durcan
Sound designer, Nat Zablah
Cast: Chantalyne Beausoleil
Flynn Cuthbert
Thomas Fournier
Liliana Giorgio
Rob Lachance
Jill Louise Léger
Taylor Long
Suzette Newton-Janse Van Rensburg
Band: Ethan Rotenberg, piano/conductor
Steve Solilo, guitars
Michael Ippolito, electric and double bass
Joshua Warman, drums/percussion
Lia Gronberg, violin 1
Randy Lei Chang, violin 2
Emma Lander, violin 3/viola
Dante Alaimo, cello
I love this young company. Bowtie Productions is a gritty, fearless company that was formed in 2020 to produce theatrical and multimedia experiences for young and emerging artists.
Their production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch was eye-popping in its commitment to doing challenging work; its attention to detail, and its boldness in tackling challenging work.
With The Bridges of Madison County, first there was the novel, then the film with Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood and then the Broadway musical with Kelli O’Hara and Steven Pasquale. The Bowtie Production is based on the musical. It’s an ache of a show.
It’s about Francesca Johnson, an Italian woman who married an American soldier, named Bud, she met in Italy just after the war. She married Bud to escape war-torn Italy. They moved to Iowa where he became a farmer and they had two children. It’s the time of the 1965 State Fair and Bud and the two kids are going, taking their prized steer. Francesca will stay home and enjoy the four days the family will be away. Along comes handsome Robert Kincaid who pulls into her driveway, looking for directions. He has been hired by National Geographic to photograph the seven covered bridges in the County. Robert can’t find the seventh bridge. Francesca takes him to it. He tells her about light, photographs, the perfect picture, the importance of patience in finding the right light and both awaken a need and yearning for love in their lives. It is an intense, life changing four days.
Jason Robert Brown’s music is lush, stirring, heart squeezing and highly emotional. His lyrics establish the emotional lives of all concerned. These ae good people (Marsha Norman’s book is embracing) in emotional situations. The passion and grip of the songs swirl people along to its emotional climax.
Every person involved in this production is also committed to illuminating every emotional moment. Because it’s a concert version and not totally staged does not diminish the accomplishment of this bracing show. Quẏnh Diep, the set and props designer, has the cast sit in a semi-circle in mismatched chairs as you would find on a farm perhaps. Interspersed with the chairs are small tables holding props (bottles of beer, a bottle of brandy etc); a phone receiver is hooked onto a lectern. It’s an efficient use of space. Director Haylee Thompson directs with style and her attention to detail is impressive. In one song when Robert (Taylor Long) is singing, Suzette Newton-Janse Van Rensburg who plays Francesca sits upstage, and she is delicately fingering her wedding ring. That says everything about how Francesca is feeling about this emotional situation with Robert, while married to Bud. It’s such a small detail, that twirling of her wedding ring, but so telling. That is a smart director.
The cast of eight are stellar, strong voiced, with Suzette Newton-Janse Van Rensburg as Francesca and Taylor Long as Robert being emotionally grounded and very moving. They also sing with passion. The band also plays with artful commitment, lead by Ethan Rotenberg. But I have a concern. The Berkeley Street Upstairs Theatre is small, seating 167. The problem here, and often with other musicals, is the balance between the band, that is microphoned, and the cast, that is also microphoned. Too often this well playing eight-piece band drowned out the lyrics. That’s not a good thing. Why is there a band of eight providing the music and not a more manageable sounding piano accompaniment, considering how small the venue is? The band would not be out of place perhaps in a room seating 900 but for one so small???? I think the size of the musical accompaniment should be rethought in future shows. And I hope there are many more Bowtie productions. I want to see every one of them.
Bowtie Productions Presents:
Plays to April 5, 2025.
Running time: 2 hours 15 minutes (1 intermission)
www.bowtieproductions.ca