The year is 1934, and the place is a wintry guesthouse upstate in Duluth, Minnesota, occupied by travelers and passersby from all different walks of life. Money has vanished, the nation is crumbling, and times are getting desperate as personalities clash inside the four walls of the boarding house.
Set during the Great Depression, playwright Conor McPherson’s jukebox musical Girl from the North Country, composed entirely of Bob Dylan songs, seems like it would be nothing but a dreary vignette chronicling America’s past. Yet, despite all the odds, the show proves to be the exact opposite. In a world where everything is out of their control, the characters utilize song to keep on moving and continue hoping—even if that hope is faint.
This hopeful feeling couldn’t be accomplished without the stellar works of the cast, including one Jay Russell, the actor playing the role of Mr. Perry, a shoemaker. A Minnesota native himself, Russell has performed in shows on and off Broadway all across the country, and is returning to his home state just in time for the first stop in the musical’s national tour, which kicks off at the Orpheum from October 8-14. We talked to Russell about his past as an actor, what makes this musical stand out from other ones he’s done, and what it means to perform a Tony-award winning show in the same state he was born and raised in.
How would you describe Girl from the North Country? What’s it all about to you?
It’s really a tough one to describe. It has drama, humor, and beautiful music, and great characters, but presented in a unique way that I think audiences will be intrigued by. It’s not your song-and-dance, Golden Age kind of musical, it’s like a musical for today.
You play a character named Mr. Perry. What’s his role and driving force in the musical?
The show takes place in Duluth in 1934, and Mr. Perry’s a native. He’s the local cobbler, so at a time like the Depression he’s one of the few people actually doing fairly well, because people always need their shoes. He gets drawn into the story because Nick, who runs the boarding house, decides it would be a good idea to marry his adopted pregnant daughter, because it would help her financially and give her a possible future. Even though I’m in my 60s, and she’s 19, I’m convinced that I’m doing the charitable thing and ask her to marry me. As you would imagine, it doesn’t go as smoothly as you might think.
On a surface level, the musical’s plot revolves around a group of people during the Great Depression who are struggling to make ends meet. On a deeper level, what do you think the message is that the show is trying to convey?
It’s about staying hopeful amidst really challenging conditions. Bob Dylan’s music, the lyrics, the way they’ve been orchestrated for this show, I think it lifts the whole experience up to a kind of transcendence. They’ve chosen a good deal of his sort of gospel related songs, so it has a really powerful spiritual message, I’d say. But unlike a lot of shows, it’s really up to you what you make of it. You’re not banged over the heads that you’re supposed to feel a certain way. I think it’s going to be unique for each individual person, which I think is pretty rare in this business.
What is it like coming back to perform in Minnesota again, in your home state, where everything started for you?
It’s incredibly rewarding and nostalgic. I’ve been really lucky to perform all over the world, but to come to the place where I first fell in love with the idea of being an actor so many decades later, it makes me feel like I made the right choice. Obviously my mother’s over the moon, and my sisters and my friends. They made the perfect choice starting [the tour] here, because I get to spend time with my family and they get to come see me perform. And it’s such a perfect place for the show to open, too, because Bob Dylan is from here!
What’s your favorite Bob Dylan song?
“Forever Young” is just so beautiful. And also the way it’s done in our show, I have a beautiful little speech about no one choosing to get old, so I think that inside and outside of the show it’s probably my favorite… today. If you asked me in a month, who knows!