With music and book by Steve Martin and music and lyrics by Edie Brickell, BRIGHT STAR is based on an original story by Martin and Brickell and features direction by Walter Bobbie.
Inspired by an astonishing true event, the wholly original new musical BRIGHT STAR tells a sweeping tale of love and redemption set against the rich backdrop of the American South in the 1920s and 40s. When successful literary editor Alice Murphy meets an ambitious young soldier just home from World War II, their connection inspires Alice to confront a shocking incident from her past. Together they discover a long-buried secret with the power to transform their lives.
Steve Martin is famous for wild-and-crazy antics. But in his debut as a Broadway author and composer, he drops the arrow-through-the-head zaniness. He and co-writer Edie Brickell aim straight for the heart in a new musical about love, loss, family and forgiveness. Called 'Bright Star,' the show isn't a bullseye. But it's sweet and tender and boasts a fine cast...Martin and Brickell's bluegrassy score is mellow and pretty. But it's also repetitive -- melodically and lyrically...Director Walter Bobbie ('Chicago') and choreographer Josh Rhodes keep the show chugging along...Cusack, a Broadway rookie, consistently shines -- even when 'Bright Star' doesn't.
Fans of Martin's wide-ranging gifts as comedian, author, movie star, art collector, playwright (count me in) have seen his avocation as expert picker blossom with the singer-songwriter Brickell. Their work is suffused with an irresistible chemistry of longing and optimism and even a kind of countrified mysticism that divines hope in sorrowful corners of the soul. So my advice is to spend an evening with Love Has Come For You and the new album, So Familiar, and skip Bright Star, the unfortunate musical they have brought to the Cort Theatre...If you can recall the take-no-prisoners lunacy of Martin's play Picasso at the Lapin Agile, you may be doubly disappointed by this earnest but soggy mess.
2016 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
2017 | US Tour |
First National Tour US Tour |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2016 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Musical | Carmen Cusack |
2016 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Costume Design for a Musical | Jane Greenwood |
2016 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical | A.J. Shively |
2016 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical | Paul Alexander Nolan |
2016 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Music | Edie Brickell |
2016 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Music | Steve Martin |
2016 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Orchestrations | August Eriksmoen |
2016 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical | Nevin Steinberg |
2016 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Carmen Cusack |
2016 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Musical | Bright Star |
2016 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Musical | Carmen Cusack |
2016 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Book of a Musical (Broadway or off-Broadway) | Steve Martin |
2016 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Choreography | Josh Rhodes |
2016 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Costume Design (Play or Musical) | Jane Greenwood |
2016 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Director of a Musical | Walter Bobbie |
2016 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding New Broadway Musical | Bright Star |
2016 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding New Score (Broadway or off-Broadway) | Edie Brickell |
2016 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding New Score (Broadway or off-Broadway) | Steve Martin |
2016 | Tony Awards | Best Book of a Musical | Steve Martin |
2016 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Bright Star |
2016 | Tony Awards | Best Orchestrations | August Eriksmoen |
2016 | Tony Awards | Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre | Steve Martin |
2016 | Tony Awards | Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre | Edie Brickell |
2016 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical | Carmen Cusack |
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