This is a bluegrass musical set in the comfortable hills around Asheville, NC and outlying districts. In the 1920s in Hayes Creek, NC, a young girl, Alice, falls in love with Jimmy; in the 1940s, just after the war, Alice is in Asheville editing a southern journal, looking for new writers, Jimmy is still back home, and a young man appears with a gift for story-telling. The show switches seamlessly between the time periods until all is laid bare and forgiven.
It’s an engaging arc, and based on a true story that became the inspiration for a 1900s folk song and a 2013 collaboration between Martin and Brickell. The cast participates not just in the singing and dancing, but also steps in and out from the band, adding to the rich bluegrass music with their individual instruments.
The show is performed sweetly and sincerely. Some actors are well-known faces to Seattle, and some are newer, rising stars for the Seattle theatre. Brenna Wagner is Alice, and she is stellar, and the rest are quite good as well.
If you pay attention in the first act, there are a few subtle clues for the climax in the second act—a climax that is satisfying, funny, poignant, and emotionally real. I won’t spoil the details about the events, but I will say that at one moment in the show there is an involuntary gasp from nearly every member of the audience, a gasp that, according to a member of the orchestra, is repeated every night.
There are some details about the structure of the show that I felt could be tightened, especially the first act. All the details are part of the slow build-up, however, and most of them pay off in the second act.
The is a joint collaboration between Steve Martin (yes, that Steve Martin) and Edie Brickell, and if you didn’t know that Steve Martin likes banjo music–well, there are some hints in this show.
BRIGHT STAR plays at Taproot Theatre, Seattle, through the 24th.
http://taproottheatre.org/shows/2019/bright-star/