Review: GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY at Wilbury Theatre Group
Production Runs Through June 21
The Wilbury Theatre Group wrapped up it's 2025-2026 season with Conor McPherson's Tony-nominated stylistic musical "Girl From The North Country".
Set in an a Depression-era Duluth, Minnesota boarding house in 1934, McPherson weaves a tale of multiple families lives converging together at the house, many carrying their deep-rooted secrets who are within hours of reaching a life-altering turning point that will forever change the course of their lives.
The ultra-talented Jim O'Brien plays Nick Laine, who is trying desperately to keep his floundering boarding house while tending to his mentally-ill wife Elizabeth, played by the incredible Trinity regular Anne Scurria, along with Carlin Fournier who plays the Laine's drunken son Gene and Kimstelle Merisma, who plays Nick's 5-month pregnant daughter Marianne, all three who are making their Wilbury debuts . "What The Constitution Means to Me" actor Ricky Waugh plays an incredible role as Mr. Burke, who along with his wife, Mrs. Burke played by Tanya Martin and mentally-challenged son Elias, played by Jon Mael, are dealing with a family business that has collapsed under the weight of the Great Depression. Look for Waugh's incredible drunken speech about the struggles of parenthood that is nothing short of magnificent.
In addition to wonderful prose, McPherson intermingles reimagined Bob Dylan songs throughout the musical, not as a buffer between scenes but as a way to also tell the story through each character. McPherson calls the move "emotional portraiture" where the songs aren't use to explain a plot point but instead are used for the character to get their story out via songs. Instead of the songs adding to the musical, they are a mechanism to continue the storytelling.
But the great part about the Dylan songs McPherson chosen is that many are not famous at all besides "Like A Rolling Stone", you'll hear others you may have never heard before like "Went to See the Gypsy", "Hurricane", "Slow Training Coming" and others, many of them that felt like they were written just for this production. Look for an incredible version of "Like a Rolling Stone" from the suddenly lucid Scurria, Fraza's "Slow Training Coming" and the entire cast's poignant version of "What Can I Do For You?"
While the story takes place during the Depression it could just as well have taken place now as we find common themes of depression, dealing with diabilities, loneliness, financial ruin and more. "Girl From North Country" is a striking musical that hits at the heart of the secrets we keep and why we keep them, a musical festival for our soul.
Other Wilbury debuts include Mael, as well as Jessica Gates who plays boarding house renter Mrs. Neilsen who has a deep thing for Nick, Philip Iredale as the bible salesman/preacher Reverend Marlowe, and a voice we could not get enough of-Carrie Tully who played Kate, who sang a haunting rendition of "I Want You" with Fournier.
Rounding out the incredible cast is Matt Fraza as Dr. Walker/narrator, Scott Levine as the 69-year-old widower Mr. Perry who is longing for companionship with the pregnant Marianne and the incredible voice of Rodney Witherspoon II as Joe Scott, a former boxer who comes to the boarding house one night after being released from prison for a crime he didn't commit. The production includes a number of other musicians but what's also cool about this production is that some of the actors also play musicians like Tully on piano.
With incredible acting and stunningly-precise music to move the plot along, "Girl From The North Country" is a rare musical gem that strikes a forever chord with young and old theatre-goers. This 2 hour and 15 minute production with one intermission will have a way of impacting you in ways you never saw coming as will the music, a wonderful sidetrack to our own lives and the secrets we too keep.
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