Steve Martin, now 70 years old, is a man of many abilities and accomplishments: stand-up comedian, actor, producer, musician, playwright, art curator …
Surprisingly, he has never acted on Broadway. But with the new bluegrass musical “Bright Star,” which was cowritten by Martin and singer-songwriter Edie Brickell, he can add Broadway composer and book-writer to his resume.
Compared to other new Broadway musicals, “Bright Star” is a total anomaly. It’s wholly original and unashamedly sentimental and romantic, with a country-folk score and no well-known actors in the cast.
Set in post-World War II North Carolina, young soldier Billy Cane (a fresh-faced A.J. Shiveley) returns home with the goal of becoming a writer, which puts him into contact with sharp literary magazine editor Alice Murphy (an assured Carmen Cusack), whose own painful coming-of-age story in the 1920s, in which a brief romance resulted in an unexpected pregnancy, is displayed in a series of flashbacks.
The storytelling can be jumbled, improbable and sappy, and the characters are undeveloped. Nevertheless, it is a heartwarming and crowd-pleasing musical, sporting many pleasant country songs (backed by piano, guitar and banjo), a sunny disposition and a Southern Gothic flavor.
Watching it, I couldn’t help but think of other romances set in the midcentury South like “The Notebook” and “Big Fish,” which also relied heavily on flashbacks. It’s safe to assume that if you liked those novels or the films based upon them, you’ll enjoy “Bright Star.”
Walter Bobbie’s attractive production is marked by vibrant performances, brisk movement (including but not limited to square-dancing) and a backwoods visual design (which includes a cabin that spins around the stage and houses the band).
In addition to Cusack and Shiveley, the winning cast includes fine turns from Paul Alexander Nolan (“Jesus Christ Superstar”), Michael Mulheren (“Kiss Me, Kate”) and Jeff Blumenkrantz.
