Girl from the North Country

Girl from the North Country is running at the Arden Theatre Company through October 25, on the F. Otto Haas Stage at 40 N. 2nd Street in Philadelphia. It's a musical written by Conor McPherson with music and lyrics by Bob Dylan, directed by Terrence J. Nolen.

The story is set in a run-down boarding house in Duluth, Minnesota, during the Great Depression. Strangers cross paths there and experience love and loss, filling the guesthouse with music, hope and soul. More than 20 Dylan songs were adapted for the production, including 'Forever Young', 'Hurricane' and 'Like a Rolling Stone'. The music and drama sit side by side rather than in the style of a revue or a bio-musical, and the arrangements are orchestrated to sound true to 1934. The New York Times called it 'profoundly beautiful. This ravishing and singular musical hears America singing.'

Arden's staging breaks from the 2020 Broadway version and the national tour by using actor-musicians: a 13-member ensemble plays more than 40 instruments. The show is staged as a radio drama, with characters speaking into old-fashioned microphones. Tickets are $37 to $67, and the production runs through October 25 at the F. Otto Haas Stage, 40 N. 2nd Street.