Review: The Sweet Taste of Secret Love Flourishes In THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY - Elizabeth Stanley and Andrew Samonsky Are Electricifying

Warm and golden. Flat and tranquil. A field of grain sweeps across Iowa's plain. A motif, frozen for a moment in time and accentuated by Jason Robert Brown's soaring lyrical melodies and the ascendance of unexpected love. As a series of brilliantly framed montages defines the landscape of one family's life in a place aptly named Winterset, a whirlwind of passion upsets this bucolic balance that is the setting of THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY.

Elizabeth Stanley and Andrew Samonsky are electrifying as the star-crossed lovers, Francesca and Robert, who challenge the boundaries of fidelity in this magnificent and moving musical. For four heavenly days that interrupt the doldrums of a housewife's life, in the background of every forbidden but irresistible embrace, there is the Family ~ Bud, the steady and country-wise husband (Cullen R. Titmas) and the kids, Michael (John Campione) and Carolyn (Caitlyn Houlahan). All the loving while, in one of the most tender twists of the story, Francesca is under the watchful eye of her eavesdropping neighbor Marge, played with verve by Mary Callanan. (Callanan's version of Get Closer is a show-stopper!)

Tyne Rafaeli has excelled in recreating Bartlett Sher's original direction and staging a powerful and technically flawless production. She is blessed ~ and so is the audience ~ with a spectacular cast.

THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY continues its run at ASU Gammage in Tempe through February 21st.

Photo credit to Matthew Murphy