With her family away at the 1965 state fair, Francesca Johnson looks forward to a rare four days alone on her Iowa farm. But when ruggedly handsome National Geographic photographer Robert Kincaid pulls into her driveway seeking directions, what happens in those four days may very well alter the course of Francesca's life. Based on the best-selling novel, and developed by a Pulitzer- and Tony Award-winning creative team, this new musical captures the lyrical expanse of America's heartland along with the yearning entangled in the eternal question, 'What if...?'"
The Bridges of Madison County stars four-time Tony Award nominee Kelli O'Hara (South Pacific, The Pajama Game) and Steven Pasquale (Rescue Me, reasons to be pretty). It features a score by Tony Award winner Jason Robert Brown (Parade, The Last Five Years) and a libretto by Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winner Marsha Norman (The Color Purple, The Secret Garden). It will be directed by Tony Award winner Bartlett Sher (The Light in the Piazza, South Pacific), who reunites with his celebrated Tony Award-winning South Pacific design team, including scenic designer Michael Yeargan, costume designer Catherine Zuber, and lighting designer, Donald Holder. Sound Design is by Jon Weston (How to Succeed..., The Color Purple).
As devised by its creators, this slow, static and quiet adaptation of Robert James Waller's bestselling romance novel, which was previously adapted into a hit film with no less than Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood, is a snooze and a misfire. It revolves around an unexpected tryst between Francesca, the Italian war bride, and Robert, a magazine photographer visiting her small town in 1960s Iowa for just a few days.
[O'Hara's] openhearted performance is as believably acted and immaculately sung as anything she's ever done...She's so fine, in fact, that she casts a shadow over Mr. Pasquale, an excellent singer who lacks the redeeming touch of mystery that Mr. Eastwood brought to the too-good-to-be-true role of Robert, the photographer (and who is a decade too young for the part)...Up to a point, Mr. Brown's warm, expansive score is an equally strong selling point for 'Bridges.' Parts of it are as musically exciting as anything heard on Broadway since Stephen Sondheim's glory days...But Mr. Brown is rather better at writing scenes than songs, and except for 'Another Life,' a sweetly folk-flavored ballad sung in a flashback by Robert's ex-wife (Whitney Bashor), none of the songs in 'The Bridges of Madison County' has a clear-cut, boldly shaped melodic profile-or, for that matter, a truly memorable lyric.
2014 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
2015 | US Tour |
First National Tour US Tour |
2019 | West End |
Menier Chocolate Factory's West End Premiere Production West End |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2014 | BroadwayWorld Awards | Best Score | Jason Robert Brown |
2014 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Actor in a Musical | Steven Pasquale |
2014 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Musical | Kelli O'Hara |
2014 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Book of a Musical | Marsha Norman |
2014 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Director of a Musical | Bartlett Sher |
2014 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Lyrics | Jason Robert Brown |
2014 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Music | Jason Robert Brown |
2014 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Musical | The Bridges of Madison County |
2014 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Orchestrations | Jason Robert Brown |
2014 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical | Jon Weston |
2014 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Kelli O'Hara |
2014 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Steven Pasquale |
2014 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Musical | The Bridges of Madison County |
2014 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Musical | Kelli O'Hara |
2014 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding New Score (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | Jason Robert Brown |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Lighting Design of a Musical | Donald Holder |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Orchestrations | Jason Robert Brown |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre | Jason Robert Brown |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical | Kelli O'Hara |
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