Bright Star shines at Rosebud Theatre
By Laureen F. Guenther Times Contributor
Photo Courtesy of Rosebud Theatre
At the end of World War II, a young soldier named Billy (played by Felix LeBlanc) has returned to his childhood home in the Blue Ridge Mountains. He wants to become a published writer, so he takes his stories to Alice Murphy (Alix Cowman), the tough middle-aged editor of the Asheville Southern Journal, who’s published some of the era’s great writers.
Billy’s writing is not good yet, but Alice sees his potential. Billy keeps writing, and Alice keeps rejecting, until one day, she agrees to publish one of his stories.
As the stories of Billy’s and Alice’s own lives unfold, we see that they’ve been woven together by much more than a mutual interest in writing.
But the story of Billy and Alice’s relationship is only one of the stories told in the multi-layered Bright Star. The characters are diverse and complex, and they grow and change in ways that surprised me. Though I had a sense of where the story was going, I kept being surprised by its twists and layers.
The stories are told through well-crafted dialogue and rich, emotional music, in a style that’s almost-but-not-quite bluegrass. All of the 14 performers sing. All but one has at least one acting role, and 11 of them also play instruments – upright bass, cello, drum, guitar, piano, fiddle, viola, harmonica, accordion, autoharp, banjo, mandolin or harmonica. I loved watching the performers segue smoothly from acting to instruments and back into acting, just as much as I loved hearing the music itself.
I was fully emotionally engaged in Bright Star and inspired by how these characters thrive despite incredible odds, in some ways that seem so unbelievable, they remind me that real life is more unbelievable than fiction. Their obstacles, their courage, their determination, all remind me of the everyday heroes whom I see all around me.
Bright Star takes place in the 1920s and 1940s, but its issues are still red-hot in 2019.
Courageous but uncertain parents still try hard to do what’s best for their children. Hurting but hopeful young people still determine to set aside their past in order to accomplish something meaningful in the world. And people of all ages still fumblingly reach out to each other with sorrow and forgiveness and, sometimes, reconciliation.
If you love a heart-breaking, happy-ending story; if you love soaring, heartfelt music in rich, warm voices; if you can relate to themes of loss and restoration, of heartbreak and healing, of surrender and adoption and reconciliation, Bright Star is a story for you.
The show is performed in matinee and evening performances, Wednesdays to Thursdays, until May 25. For tickets and more information, go to rosebudtheatre.com or call the Box Office at 1-800-267-7553.