Anyone who has followed my writing for any amount of time knows how much I love the musical Bright Star. It is quite possibly my favorite musical, and I have seen it over 20 times at this point. So I was naturally very excited when I heard Terrace Plaza was going to be putting it on and even more excited when I heard the amazing cast they have assembled. Last night I had the chance to see the Zebulon cast and unsurprisingly I loved it!
The biggest challenge within Bright Star is finding talent that can sell Alice Murphy and Jimmy Ray as both young and mature versions of the characters. Often I leave feeling one side works better than the other but Teaira Burge and Porter Beesley are believable in both versions of the characters and have terrific chemistry together. I also really liked Bryson Wanner and Riley Plott as Billy and Margo. They are very flirty together from the beginning which helps make their friends-to-lovers dynamic all the more effective.
Given I have seen this show so many times it was interesting because I happened to be seated next to two women who were completely unfamiliar with the material. Watching their shocked expressions particularly at the close of Act 1 was a lot of fun and reminded me of why I love this show so much to begin with. This production is directed by Bryant Larsen and he puts his large ensemble to work with dynamic and energetic choreography throughout (choreographer Kaylee Wheeler.) I also really appreciate the period accurate costumes (Jacci Olsen Florence) and hair (Jamila Lowe.)
The most effective sequence of the show is that Act 1 finale with “A Man’s Gotta Do (Reprise)” Lighting designer Laura Crossett uses red and white lightning bolts to create the feel of a speeding train and like I said the shock of the women sitting next to me added to the immersive feeling of the scene. David Storm brings an extra level of manipulative villainy to the role of Mayor Josiah Dobbs and he owns the pre-meditated coldness of that song.
I do prefer when Bright Star can have some live music. It doesn’t have to be a full band. Some community theater productions I’ve seen have had a trio performing and that would have added a layer to the experience at Terrace Plaza. I also wish they hadn’t felt the need to use the AI projections. I understand when dealing with a fantasy setting like Urinetown but when royalty free stock images in a real-life setting could be used that would be my personal preference. In fact, I didn’t really see the need for the projections at all? The wood frame that surrounds the back of the stage is beautiful, and like I said with the close of Act 1, I was fully immersed and on that train just with lighting, sound and choreography.
One of the more challenging numbers of this show is “Another Round.” I understand why the makers felt a need to break the heaviness at that moment but it can come across as jarring in the wrong hands. I like the way Larsen stages the song here with tables in the Shiny Penny and then we have dancers on top of the tables. It helps make the sequence more memorable and unique to this production. Also Kirsi Jarvis is believable as little tipsy Lucy which isn’t always the case with Utah performers (we sometimes don’t do drunk that well in the Beehive state.) Jarvis particularly delivers the lines about her dreaming of becoming a censor with nice comedic timing.
At the end of the day Bright Star comes down to the journey of Alice Murphy and Burge delivers that full life of the character. When she sings “At Last” at the end we feel the relief because we have been on this journey with her from beginning to end, young to old. This is the experience one gets with Terrace Plaza’s beautiful production of Bright Star and it is playing through November 14th. Tickets can be purchased here.
Bright Star has music and lyrics by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell with lyrics by Brickell and book by Martin. It premiered on Broadway in 2016 and was nominated for 5 Tony awards (it would have won some if it wasn’t up against Hamilton I’m convinced of that.)
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