Girl From The North Country

See it if You can forgive a rather ludicrous cliche ridden and wooden book in order to experience great music beautifully staged and sung.

Don't see it if You cannot forgive a bad book.

See it if you like the music of Bob Dylan and don't mind it being used in a weak, disappointing book.

Don't see it if you want to see a first class musical or prefer drama.

See it if You’re willing to enjoy good singing and acting almost randomly put together; you love Dylan’s music in any context

Don't see it if You know Dylan’s repertoire and expect his music to be presented in some semblance of its original context. Want a great/uplifting storyline

Also Story felt a bit cobbled together around the music. Or was the music pulled in to fill out the story? Kept wishing the words to the songs made sense in the context... Read more Read less

See it if a man owns a boarding house on the verge of bankruptcy and makes some desperate choices for his family...

Don't see it if tone is unnecessarily depressing; the book doesn’t allow you to care for the characters; songs don’t compliment the storyline. Disappointed

See it if See it if you enjoy hearing Dylan's songs sung well.

Don't see it if Don't see it if you want the story to blend with the music and lyrics.

Also The lighting design and the movement director did a wonderful job. The band was talented. But I found the story rather common--heard it before--and found myself thinking of other things during the show. Some of the people around me liked the show; others thought it was so-so. The acting was very good, but none of the characters made me feel for them even though they had hard lives. When they sang, I felt they were out of character as the words they sang did not convey what was happening in their lives as closely as the words should have. I would have preferred two shows--one of Dylan's songs and another of the bleak life these people lived in the 1930s.... Read more Read less

See it if You're a Dylan fan and want to see how his songs were incorporated into a drama--except they weren't. The songs brought the action to a stop

Don't see it if You want a coherent story in which the songs amplify the story, not interrupt it. Singing & acting superb, but the project was misconceived.

See it if you're a Dylan fan, and would enjoy hearing his songs beautifully sung in arrangements you haven't heard before.

Don't see it if you want the story onto which the songs are grafted to be as compelling as the songs (it isn't).

See it if If one is captivated by the Bob Dylan music and doesn't mind that the book is not very good and slow.

Don't see it if One doesn't mind a confused and slow plot which is not particularly well directed or acted.

See it if you want to hear Bob Dylan songs sung beautifully.

Don't see it if you don't want to be bored.

Also An extremely disappointing theatre experience. The play is fairly awful. It takes place during the depression in a boarding house and is depressing. I'm not sure why this story was told. Several stories going on and I wasn't engaged in any of them. I did not see how most of the songs fit the play. A wasted Marc Kudish. A wasted Stephen Bogardus. Luba Mason playing the drums? A fantastic performance by Sydney James Harcourt. The best thing about the show is the singing which is beautiful. Also why is it called Girl From the North Country? I just didn't get it.... Read more Read less

See it if if you like moody, rambling, no-plot, multi-thread musicals with little emotional connection to the large cast of characters.

Don't see it if If you like linear, plot focused musicals where you develop an emotional connection with the characters. I ended with, "so what, who cares"

See it if enjoy jukebox musicals that involve a more serious tone.

Don't see it if slow, rarely humorous, dramas mixed with songs are not your idea of something you'd like.

Also Very talented singers are constantly interrupting the story with songs from Bob Dylan. The script seems to just bop along until the author decides to stick a song in. That is ok, but every song is sung the same way. With a low-key blandness. After a few of the songs they begin to seem more an interruption rather than help and they drag the show to a snore.... Read more Read less

See it if You want new arrangements of Bob Dylan songs; if you like atmosphere more than plot; if you like character-filled stories

Don't see it if You need the mixture of songs and plot to make sense (it felt like 10 min of play then 5 min of Bob Dylan then back to the play)

See it if You love Dylan lyrics in a stylized rendition to fit the script of depression era tales played by talented actors, singers and musicians

Don't see it if You are not a Bob Dylan fan and don't love multi plot lines delivered with music

See it if You want to listen to great covers of Dylan’s music and see some excellent aco.

Don't see it if You are looking for an engaging story.

See it if you're familiar with Dylan's music, but not a huge fan. You want to see something with a lot of positive buzz that will likely transfer

Don't see it if you are a big Dylan fan or are expecting a cohesive story. Every character has the most minimal development, the songs feel shoehorned in

Also Songs rarely matched the context, in content or tone. Zero character development. Narrator that provided too little support. The orchestrations were pretty and everyone had nice voices. I was so, so disappointed in this one... Read more Read less

See it if You love Dylan's music. The songs are strong, and two or three are absolute show stoppers.

Don't see it if The "book" is every cliché about the Great Depression, used to introduce Dylan songs. Very disappointing for a fan of Conor McPherson.

See it if You love Dylan's music re-interpreted. Can't wait for the cast album. Excellent singing

Don't see it if you want even the tiniest bit of hope about life. Couldn't be more depressing. Desperate in freezing cold Minn. -- lot sof them dying.

See it if The music and singing were beautiful and astonishing. The arrangements were lovely and when they were singing the show was wonderful.

Don't see it if But the play seemed jammed in and didn’t coalesce into one thing. The stories were melodramatic and some of the acting was with a capital A.

See it if Great cast and Bob Dylan.

Don't see it if The book was really bad. I EXPECTED A LOT and had to fight falling asleep. I did not like the story or characters. AWFUL!

See it if You like Bob Dylans's music and you'd like to see some great performances (though uneven)

Don't see it if you're expecting something other than an overall "mood" to experience.

Also All of Dylan's music has been orchestrated beautifully, but unfortunately made to all sound very similar which is a big missed opportunity. The show also manages to oddly romanticize this particular time period, though it doesn't seem to have been the ultimate aim.... Read more Read less

See it if If you are a true Dylan fan, even the obscure stuff.

Don't see it if You don’t want to have to increase your antidepressants

See it if You like or are familiar with Bob Dylan’s music

Don't see it if You are expecting to be wowed or be moved by an emotional story or fleshed out characters

Also The show was so disappointing. There was so much potential for where it could go but unfortunately the story was overshadowed by too many disjointed songs that failed to tell the story...whatever the story was.... Read more Read less

See it if The singing is great. Dylan songs are reflective. Band terrific. Set terrific. Story is sad, sad, sad. A tone poem.

Don't see it if Dylan songs do not lend themselves to action.

See it if You love hearing Dylan songs sung well and don't care that they don't blend in with the story, and stories about poverty in the depression

Don't see it if If you want an interesting story with songs that move if forward. If you expect to hear someone sing the title song. It never happens.

See it if If you like Bob Dylan. The songs and arrangements were well done. Intimate theater at Public Theater

Don't see it if Story so convoluted. Who is the girl in the title? The songs didn't make any sense with the plot - they were just stuck in there. Meh