The lights go down. The audience settles in, and the play is about to begin. Slowly Alice Murphy (Missy Wise) walks onto the stage, and crosses to the piano in the orchestra section. She takes a seat, and begins to sing the opening lines of If You Knew My Story:
“If you knew my story you’d have a hard time
Believing me, you’d think I was lying
Joy and sorrow never last
I’ll die trying not to live in the past
If you knew my story
My heaven and my hell…”
As an audience member, you might find yourself astounded by Wise’s power-house belt that rings through the theater – but be careful not to become too absorbed. It's best to listen very closely to the words, because these opening lines perfectly set us up for that which we are about to see. This is a story about hardship and hope, and how the secrets of our past can take us in mysterious and unexpected directions.
BoHo Theatre Kicks off 15th Season with Bright Star
With book by Steve Martin and music, lyrics, and story by Martin and Edie Brickell, Bright Star follows Billy Cane (Jeff Pierpoint), recently returned from World War II, and ready to start the next stage of his life as a writer. Enter Alice Murphy (Missy Wise), editor of the Asherville Southern Journal, and willing to take a chance on this young author. As Billy explores his small-town childhood for inspiration, Alice takes her own trip down memory lane, and the two realize that two seemingly separate paths might find their inescapable connection.
Bright Star brings together moments of love, heartbreak, and even hope, creating a musical with twists and turns no one quite sees coming. The score heightens the emotional intensity, taking the audience through a range of jaunty tunes including Another Round and Woa, Mama, while also highlighting the heartbreak and depth of the story in pieces like So Familiar/At Long Last and Please, Don’t Take Him.
Show-Stopping Numbers and Skillfully Staged
Director and Choreographer Ericka Mac creates a fast-paced story that is in constant motion, even utilizing transitions to physicalize the idea of time passing and moving locations. The title song, Bright Star, appears early in the musical, and details the moment that Billy decides to take the next step in his career. As he leaves his small town and heads to Asherville to meet Alice Murphy, the ensemble moves set pieces around him, dismantling his childhood friend Margo Crawford’s (Kiersten Frumkin) bookstore, building a car with benches in which Cane travels, and finally reassembling Murphy’s Asherville Southern Journal. Pierpoint never skips a beat – wowing the audience with yet another stellar voice, and all the while, Mac moves ensemble members and set pieces around him to further us along in the story. The ending result is, in this writer's view, flawless, inviting us to keep engaged in the storytelling.
While Mac utilizes some numbers to further the journey, others offer over-the-top choreography that creates an atmosphere full of life and fun. Another Round is Lucy Grant’s (Rachel Whyte) big solo in which she and Darryl (Dwayne Everett) test Billy Cane to see if he is up to the challenge of living in a big city where the party never stops. Mac’s choreography takes the ensemble through lifts and fan kicks that jump on tables, and even enters the realm of couples dancing. Whyte and Pierpont are a joy to see as they become consumed in the fun of the piece, even adding a level of comedy that keeps us laughing along.
Moments of Impressive Emotional Depth
Martin’s musical certainly makes for an evening of amusement, but there are darker undertones at the center of the piece, providing a heartbreaking story about a woman who hungered for agency in the early stages of her life. When the story begins, we meet Alice Murphy as a grown woman who runs a successful business; however, we slowly learn that the young woman has a past that was not so easy. Wise, in this writer's view, masters the challenge of playing a woman in two very different stages of her life.
Whoa, Mama is the first moment that we meet young, 16-year-old Alice, as well as meet her love interest, Jimmy Ray Dobbs (Josiah Robinson). The number offers a window into the care-free nature of their young love, and Robinson and Wise share an honest and fun chemistry. As exciting as the number is to watch unfold with Mac’s cat-and-mouse choreography, the piece is almost heartbreaking in hindsight as we see the trajectory of the relationship. Alice and Jimmy live in a society that is run by class and money and this helps set up the story's roller coaster ride of emotions. At the heart of this musical is a story about a woman who made the most of what little options she had, but managed to find strength and hope when it was most needed.
An emotional score with a dark yet hopeful twist of a story makes Bright Star an excellent choice to kick off BoHo Theatre Company’s 15th Season. This writer is certainly curious to see what comes next.
RECOMMENDED
Note: This is now added to the Picture this Post round up of BEST PLAYS IN CHICAGO, where it will remain until the end of the run. Click here to read – Top Picks for Theater in Chicago NOW – Chicago Plays PICTURE THIS POST Loves.
Cast
Alice: Missy Wise
Billy: Jeff Pierpoint
Daddy Cane: Peter Robel
Margot: Kiersten Frumkin
Jimmy Ray: Josiah Robinson
Daddy Murphy: John B. Boss
Mama Murphy: Jenny Rudnick
Mayor Dobbs: Scott Danielson
Lucy/Ensemble: Rachel Whyte
Darryl/Ensemble: Dwayne Everett
Dr. Norquist/Ensemble: Mike Weaver
Stanford/Ensemble: Max Kramer
Edna/Ensemble: Brittany Sue Hines
Max/Ensemble: Kelan Smith
Florence/Ensemble: Jennifer Ledesma
Crew:
Director: Ericka Mac
Music Director: Julie B. Nichols
Asst. Music Director: Andrea Swanson
Scenic Designer: Lauren M. Nichols
Lighting Designer: G. Max Maxin
Asst. Lighting Designer: Sam Van Loon
Costume Designer: Robert S. Kuhn
Sounds Designer: Joseph Palermo
Properties Designer: Lacie Hexom
Technical Director: Will Hughes
Dance Captain: Rachel Whyte
Stage Manager: Dalton Long
Production Manager: Lindsay Brown
Producer: Meg Love
When:
Running through May 5, 2019
Thursdays at 8:00pm
Fridays at 8:00pm
Saturdays at 8:00pm
Sundays at 2:00pm
Running Time: 2 hours and 30 minutes, with intermission.
Where:
Greenhouse Theater Center in Lincoln Park
2257 N Lincoln Ave.
Chicago, IL 60614
For Tickets
For tickets and information, see the BoHo Theatre website.
Photos: Cody Jolly and Katie Stanley
Note: Picture This Post reviews are excerpted by Theatre in Chicago
About the Author:
Lauren Katz is a freelance director and dramaturge, and new to the Chicago Theatre Scene. She recently moved from Washington DC, where she worked with Mosaic Theater Company of DC in Company Management, as well as directed around town with various theaters.
Click here to read more Picture this Post stories by Lauren Katz.
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