Overview
Head interstate to see a big show, or cross your fingers that it comes to Melbourne? When it comes to huge theatre productions, that's the regular dilemma. Thankfully, the musicals and plays that don't premiere on our turf tend to make their way here eventually — and, just like Hamilton, West End and Broadway hit Girl From the North Country is one of them.
For Bob Dylan fans, that name will be familiar. It's the title of one of the legendary folk singer's 1963 songs — a tune that features in this musical, naturally. Indeed, the entire show uses Dylan's tracks, including everything from 'Like a Rolling Stone' and 'Hurricane' to 'Slow Train' and 'I Want You', all weaved throughout a story of American life during the Great Depression.
Girl From the North Country will make its Australian premiere at the 2022 Sydney Festival; however, to save you the trip north, it's coming to Melbourne as well from April. So, block out Friday, April 29 in your diary, as that's when its season will get started at the Comedy Theatre.
Story-wise, the musical is set in a guesthouse in the US state of Minnesota in 1934. The narrative revolves around owner Nick, who is deeply in debt; his wife Elizabeth, whose mind is fraying; and their pregnant daughter Marianne — as well as a bible-slinging preacher and a boxer endeavouring to make a comeback.
Overseas, Girl From the North Country has enjoyed sell-out seasons since it first debuted in London in 2017 — heading from The Old Vic to West End, next leaping to the US for an off-Broadway run, and then hitting up Toronto, returning to West End and premiering on Broadway before the pandemic in early 2022.
Locally, the debut Aussie season will star Lisa McCune (The King and I, South Pacific), Zahra Newman (The Book of Mormon, Wentworth), Terence Crawford (Escape From Pretoria, 1984) and Helen Dallimore (Wicked, Legally Blonde).
Girl From the North Country will open at the Comedy Theatre, 240 Exhibition Street, Melbourne from Friday, April 29, 2022. For further information or to buy tickets from Wednesday, December 15, head to the musical's Australian website.