‘The Bridges of Madison County’ Stops Into Ahmanson

T.S. Leonard

Many gripe that no new stories are told anymore. By this metric, “The Bridges of Madison County” is perhaps the most guilty. The new musical is based on an older book, one that spawned the very beloved 1995 movie starring Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep. While all that may seem like a tired tale that does not warrant repeating, the musical treatment of the brief encounter provides an original romantic spin on the familiar story.

Francesca (Elizabeth Stanley) is an Italian bride who has been living a contented but perhaps unfulfilling life on an Iowa farm with her dependable husband and children. When they leave for a weekend trip to Indianapolis and Francesca stays behind, she has a chance encounter with Robert (Andrew Samonsky), a National Geographic photographer who has come to Iowa to take pictures of the titular bridges. What ensues is a lost weekend of courtship between Robert and Francesca that leaves the two questioning their decisions and desires.

The romance in “The Bridges of Madison County” is a delicate one, of stolen glances and imagined paths. It is an intimate look at quiet lives. Yet the simmering of the forbidden love between Francesca and Robert possess its own power, and the stakes of their encounter seem crucial and immediate.

Much of the show’s magic is owed to the big-hearted score. Jason Robert Brown – who won the Best Original Score Tony for his work here – uses strumming guitar and earthy melodies to evoke a distinctly Midwestern soundscape. There are elements of chamber music and operatic solos that lend Francesca’s soliloquies an Italian flavor.

Brown draws from his past successes, too. Some of the regional dialectic pieces recall his modern masterpiece “Parade,” which was set in a very Southern-sounding Georgia. The more lovesick moments beat with the same sleeve-worn heart of his devastating relationship study “The Last Five Years.” Brown has established himself in the last two decades as one of the foremost composers of the American stage, and perhaps the most romantic.

The show’s run at the Ahmanson is the second stop of the musical’s inaugural national tour. It kicked off at the end of November in Des Moines, Iowa, appropriately, and will make stops around the country, including D.C.’s Kennedy Center, through next summer. The show has in Stanley and Samonsky two proven stars, and game for taking on the challenge of filling roles originated by Broadway darlings Kelli O’Hara and Steven Pasquale.

Stanley herself has made a unique impression with her diverse performance chops, from playing in the orchestra to commanding cabaret stages with her solo act. She played the role of April in the award-winning 2006 revival of “Company,” a production famous for its orchestrations being performed by the ensemble. When not in her own scenes, Stanley played a number of wind instruments.

With big shoes to fill from O’Hara’s Tony-nominated performance and Meryl Streep’s redition of Francesca, Stanley carves out her own piece of “Bridges” legend with a tender, empathetic performance. The romantic, entrancing production is a welcome revisit to Madison County, reminding audiences why this story continues to endure. And with Jason Robert Brown scoring it, wondering what could’ve been has never sounded so lovely.

“The Bridges of Madison County” opens at the Ahmanson Theatre Dec. 8, 2015 to Jan. 17, 2016.