Bluegrass and Broadway Bring Steve Martin's BRIGHT STAR to Elm Street This April
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Starting April 12th Elm Street Cultural Arts Village takes a musical journey with the opening night of Bright Star, a new bluegrass musical written by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell. When a young soldier visits literary editor Alice Murphy just after World War II, he brings back haunting memories from her past and the child she lost. Throughout the course of the musical, she sets off to better understand her past through a series of flashbacks to her life in 1920s North Carolina.
"Bright Star was a script I never could read without weeping," says Annie Cook, the show's Director and Music Director. Cook's upbringing in North and South Carolina has allowed her to connect very personally with the musical's roots and its take on a true story. "Because it is true, it will reaffirm your belief that good will overcome evil and that miracles can still, even in these strange times, happen. It's a tale of love, despair, and miracles, with a bit of Steve Martin humor thrown in."
Based on the 1902 story of the "Iron Mountain Baby" who was thrown off of a train and the 2013 Steve Martin/Edie Brickell bluegrass album Love Has Come for You, the Tony and Grammy-nominated musical opened on Broadway in 2016 and ran for a little less than 3 months. Since then, Bright Star has toured nationally and is being performed in theaters across the country as well as Canada.
Bright Star features a large, 16 member cast that seamlessly transports the stage, as well as audiences, from one location and time period to the next. Cook adds that this contemporary style of storytelling is crucial to the piece, as it shows how our past influences and informs our present.
The musical runs for three weekends from April 12th through April 28th and is perfect for bluegrass fans, musical theatre aficionados, and anyone who appreciates moving, beautiful stories. Bright Star is rated PG-13 for mature themes and mild language.
The complete performance schedule is as follows:
Friday/Saturday April 12th, 13th- 7:30pm
April 19th, 20th - 7:30pm
April 26th, 27th - 7:30pm
Sunday April 14th - 2:30pm
Saturday April 20th - 2:30pm
Sunday April 28th - 2:30pm
Tickets are on sale now at www.elmstreetarts.org. Prices are $15 in advance and $18 at the door.
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