Leland Burnett in The Bridges of Madison County.
The Timber Lake Playhouse’s The Bridges of Madison County, directed by Christian Fleming and with music direction by Ashley Grace Ryan, is here to prove that the Iowa plains are more than just cornfields. They’re also the perfect setting for a swoon-worthy romance. With its music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown and book by Marsha Norman, Fleming’s production brings the poignant characters of Robert James Waller’s bestselling novel (and its 1995 film adaption) to life. Set mostly in 1960s Iowa, the musical follows Francesca Johnson (Kristin Wetherington), a lonely Italian-American housewife, whose life is forever altered when she meets traveling photographer Robert Kincaid (Leland Burnett). The story uses their brief but intense connection to explore love, regret, and the choices that shape our lives. We attended the opening-night performance on Friday, September 12.
Mischa: In a show with this premise, a lot depends on having a sympathetic Francesca who can sing her heart out – and Wetherington absolutely delivered. From start to finish, she commanded the audience’s attention, with carefree positivity at first, then convincing anguish as the story reached its emotional climax.
Kitty: I was also really impressed by her ability to maintain a consistent, believable Italian accent throughout, both in her speaking and her singing. It’s tough to use accents authentically in performance, and sustaining one while singing adds an extra layer of difficulty. Wetherington did a beautiful job.
M: Now, Burnett’s singing was equally impressive, and you could certainly understand Francesca falling for him. But his character came across as maybe too sensitive, given that his backstory tells us that he has shut himself off from human affections.
K: Yes, we need to talk about this. Now, I know this is hypocritical considering how much I love Gothic romance, but I couldn’t take the “I’m a tortured soul and it’s my whole personality” character arc. On top of that, Robert Kincaid, in this musical, is kind of the personification of the Ryan Gosling “Hey, girl” meme.
M: Also, the way the story constantly goes back and forth between Francesca (in Iowa) and her husband Bud (Daniel Pippert), who’s in Indiana with their two children Michael (Matthew Hommel) and Carolyn (Tori Tiernan), actually ended up making me feel much worse for the husband than I think you’re supposed to.
K: The story was kind of disjointed in that way. The primary focus was on the whirlwind romance happening on the Johnsons’ farm, which was very steamy and dramatic. But then there were these occasional shifts where it was like, “And now let’s check in with the folks at the state fair!” It was kind of like if Bridgerton were intercut with scenes from The Apple Dumpling Gang.
M: The music shifted back and forth, too, between a kind of dramatic musical-theatre style and a rootsy Americana/country feel.
K: Which I actually really liked!
M: Oh, me too. I think it worked really well. I loved how they had a great live orchestra deployed on the far right and left sides of the stage, totally visible and wearing jeans and plaid outfits that fit perfectly with the setting.
K: I really liked the song “State Road 21,” especially Darcie A. Hingula’s performance. Hingula was a featured singer in a number of songs, but this one was especially fun and upbeat. Although, again, it was a stark contrast from the primary mood of the show, which I can best describe as angsty longing.
M: Hingula was great! She was featured in one Joni Mitchell-esque folk number, “Another Life,” that was one of my favorite songs in the show, actually.
K: My least favorite was “Falling Into You,” not because it was performed badly, but because the whole time I couldn’t shake the feeling of “Wait … why does this feel like Spring Awakening?” And then, as if in answer to my question, a bed appeared and was dramatically placed center stage. So, you know … . Subtle.
M: The set and the stage layout were quite remarkable, though. The playing space was a rectangle, with inactive characters often sitting on the edges watching, and set pieces lined up around the space waiting to be brought into scenes for use. The most elaborate set was the kitchen, with a table and chairs, refrigerator, and so on. The first time they brought it on, the process was smooth, quick, and almost magical, as they wheeled the pieces around in a circle before they came to rest. But eventually I got tired of the kitchen being repeatedly set up and taken down.
K: Yeah, it didn’t feel like there was significant reason to dismantle everything only to replace it in the same arrangement a couple scenes later. On top of that, we really didn’t need the projection informing us that this was “The Kitchen” every time there was a scene change. I think the refrigerator and stove clued us in.
M: I liked the projections (by Brian Pacelli) more than you did – I found them intriguing and often effective. Apart from the simple location labels, they included a lot of black-and-white images evoking a sense of place and setting, and often became a “live stream” video: a camera operator (Elena Patterson) would set up in place or walk around the stage, the images captured by the camera then appearing on the screen. This allowed the actors to be viewed from multiple perspectives at once, and I especially liked it when their images were superimposed on other backgrounds.
K: But there were moments when the actors were playing directly to the camera, which made me feel disconnected from the live performance. It felt strange, as if I should be watching a screen rather than experiencing the action unfolding right in front of me.
M: Bottom line? While there were a few things that didn’t work so well in this show, there were still a lot of things to love.
The Bridges of Madison County runs at the Timber Lake Playhouse (8215 Black Oak Road, Mt. Carroll IL) through September 21, and more information and tickets are available by calling (815)244-2035 and visiting TimberLakePlayhouse.org.
