"The Bridges of Madison County" at Artistry

As frequent readers of this blog may know, I'm not generally a fan of turning movies into musicals. And I'm not sure that the 1995 movie The Bridges of Madison County, adapted from the 1992 best-sellimg novel by Robert James Waller, was crying out to be a musical. But I am sure that Jason Robert Brown's score is one of the best musical theater scores ever written. And not just because it's absolutely stunning to listen to, but also because it so effectively expresses the emotions of the characters. The music makes you feel what they feel, so much so that I was blowing my nose into a tear-soaked tissue at the end of Artistry's regional premiere production. This is perhaps a story that plays better on a smaller stage, tender and intimate, so I'm thrilled to finally see a #TCTheater production. Artistry has assembled simply the best local cast you could ask for and created a show so gorgeous that it's not to be missed. As I wrote about the tour a few years ago, and is even more true now, "If you're a fan of music-theater, or just music in general, go see this show to experience one of the best scores coming out of Broadway in recent years, wrapped up in a sweeping romance."

"The Bridges of Madison County" on Tour at the Orpheum Theatre

I'm not usually a fan of turning movies into musicals, but when Jason Robert Brown is the composer, I'm on board. I've been listening to the exquisite cast recording of the 2014 Broadway musical The Bridges of Madison County (adapted from the 1992 best-seller novel by Robert James Waller and the 1995 movie) since hearing a few songs at Musical Mondays last month, and I'm obsessed. It was a thrill to hear this gorgeous score live and watch the story play out around and through it, a story of impossible but life-changing love. The show inexplicably ran only a few months on Broadway, but lucky for us the first national tour is stopping at the Orpheum Theatre this week. If you're a fan of music-theater, or just music in general, go see the show to experience one of the best scores coming out of Broadway in recent years, wrapped up in a sweeping romance.