Theater Review: New Age on Broadway, in The Bridges of Madison County
8 / 10
The Bridges of Madison County, though based on an insipid novel, is a very serious musical indeed, both rapturous and moral, with a gorgeous score by Jason Robert Brown. It is also one of the few recent Broadway shows to take up the challenge laid down by the great midcentury works of R&H and their cohort: to tell stories that weld important sociological upheavals to personal conflicts and somehow make them sing...the leading performances, shaped by Sher to preserve a sense of character modesty within the vocal extravagance, are exemplary. Kelli O'Hara, who plays Francesca, is never better than when working from loss and confusion; her prettiness has always contained more than a hint of hurt, which gives her voice its richest colors...And barihunk Steven Pasquale, as Robert, who starred opposite O'Hara in Far From Heaven off Broadway last spring...at last gets a chance to be heard singing on Broadway. He was worth the wait.
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