The Bridges of Madison County: Original Cast Recording
The Bridges of Madison County
(Ghostlike/Sh-K-Boom Records)
September 30, 2014
Reviewed by Elizabeth Ahlfors for Cabaret Scenes
Although the Broadway production of The Bridges of Madison County had a short run, Jason Robert Brown’s score is forever. Composer/lyricist Brown created some of his most lush, emotional music for outstanding performances by Kelli O’Hara and her skilled counterpart, Steven Pasquale. With sensitivity, the intelligent lyrics support the mature yearnings and tensions of the lovers. The score is theater sophistication mixed with Americana earthiness. Listen, and you will be in the grip of this music and the story it tells.
Like the music, Brown’s orchestrations are extraordinary and rich, with conductor Thomas Murray and only nine musicians on rhythm and strings. O’Hara as Francesca, starts the story, leaving Naples with her new husband, an American soldier, Bud (Hunter Foster), off “To Build a Home” in Iowa. With expanding lines, the music communicates her nervousness, the ocean liner “over lost and churning water” and the train crossing the vast country. With shifting motifs, Francesca builds a life over almost 20 years, developing strength and know-how, yet there are conflicted feelings of sameness and boredom. She admits, “I change my words/ I change my name” adding, “For eighteen years/ It stays the same,” yet she ends with “I’m proud I came/And built myself a home.” O’Hara’s crystalline operatic soprano is thrilling with trenchant emotion, warmth and believability. In Act Two, “Almost Real” adds further nuances to Francesca’s character, explaining her early life and her need to leave Italy with its harsh post-WWII life offered to women.
Steven Pasquale as Robert, the National Geographic photographer, is “Temporarily Lost,” both on the road to a bridge he wants to photograph and in his life. He accidentally meets Francesca when Bud takes the children to the Iowa State Fair. Francesca is surprisingly affected by Robert’s vulnerability and strength that she reveals in a folk-like “What Do You Call a Man Like That?” An expressive tenor, Pasquale, while not in the stellar realm of O’Hara, brings a rough musical palette of colors to his character’s and Francesca’s lives. It is easy to sink into their feelings through the music, leading to the inevitable “Falling Into You,” their passionate duet that ends Act One. Beginning a cappella, Act Two’s “One Second and a Million Miles” soars, building on their passion and need for each other.
Supporting players also have notable moments. Whitney Bashor as Robert’s ex-wife, singing about her marital failure in a wistful “Another Life.” Francesca’s husband, Bud, muses about life and admits Francesca is still “Something from a Dream” to him. Cass Morgan, as the nosy next door neighbor, Marge, scores with the ‘50s sound of early rock ‘n’ roll in a bluesy “Get Closer.” Michael X. Martin, as Marge’s husband, Charlie, puts across the rhythm and blues of “When I’m Gone.”
Such a romantic story could have a cynical edge, but Ghostlight/Sh-K-Boom Records’ recording of Jason Robert Brown’s score keeps you rooting for this adult, believable love affair, from Francesca’s opener, “To Build a Home,” to the heartbreaking finale proving that love is “Always Better.”
Category: Music, Music Reviews, Musical Theatre Reviews
