'Girl from the North Country' pulses with Dylan's songs, but lacks a tight connection to the heart

A guesthouse in 1930s Duluth, Minnesota, pulses with music from travelers who are down on their luck, in line for a payday, or trying to figure out what’s next for their lives in “Girl from the North Country” at the Emerson Colonial Theater through March 24.

Written and directed by Irish playwright Conor McPherson (“The Weir”), the show offers orchestrations by Simon Hale, reimagining 20 Bob Dylan songs including “Forever Young,” “Hurricane,” “Slow Train Coming,” and “Like A Rolling Stone” as well as many lesser-known songs.

The travelers in the show, set during the Great Depression, seek momentary stability. They wind up at Nick Laine’s boarding house to find some semblance of it. But Laine is trying desperately to stave off foreclosure, handle his wife Elizabeth’s dementia, get his failing-to-launch son out of the home, and marry off his and his wife’s adopted (sort of) Black daughter Marianne. Marianne is also pregnant and won’t say much about the father. Gene Laine (Ben Biggers) sets Marianne up, without her permission, to a much older man. That man is the very funny shop owner, Mr. Perry (Jay Russell).

“Girl From the North Country” features projections on semi-opaque screens that mimic movement from one room to another. There are shots of the neighborhood, the siding of the home, and a gorgeous projection of a never-ending body of water flanked by mountains. Scenic and costume design were created by Rae Smith, with lighting by Mark Henderson and sound by Simon Baker.

Here's a sense of the production:

Dylan fans have been pleased by the re-arranged tunes sung by the extremely talented ensemble, some of whom double as vocalists and instrumentalists throughout. McPherson has said, “It strikes me that many of Mr Dylan’s songs can be sung at any time, by anyone in any situation, and still make sense and resonate with that particular place and person and time. When you realize this you can no longer have any doubt you are in the presence of a truly great, unique artist.”
 
That said,  the narrative lacked emotional resonance for this audience member. Despite the two-hour run time, there were so many characters, each with snippets of their own backstories, that didn’t have a chance to develop, thus making the show a little incoherent.

However, the excellent Jennifer Blood is a scene-stealing Elizabeth Laine. The snappy delivery of her lines, her vocal prowess and physical comedy make her riotously fun. Blood’s time with the wonderful Jeremy Webb as the slick Reverend Marlowe onstage make for some of the show’s best moments. Marlowe is also a bible-selling thief with an odd speech cadence that makes the character most memorable. Another standout moment is when cast member Jill Van Velzer as Mrs. Burke plays the drums.

When the ensemble performs together, the harmonies and voices are gorgeous, and Lucy Hind’s movement direction augments each number. But even as the magnificent voices filled the theater with gilded gold for the rousing final number, “Pressing On,” I struggled earnestly to find something to hold onto.

Broadway in Boston’s presentation of “Girl from the North Country” at the Emerson Colonial Theatre runs through March 24.

Correction: An earlier version of this story mixed up the names of two characters. We regret the error.