Music Theatre International (MTI) has announced the licensing availability of “Girl from the North Country.” The Tony Award-nominated musical may now be licensed by amateur, professional and school theater companies.
“Girl from the North Country” is set in a Duluth, Minnesota boarding house in 1934. Its proprietor, Nick Laine, struggles to keep the boarding house open amid declining finances, his wife’s mental illness, his daughter’s pregnancy and his son’s instability. Various guests at the boarding house lend their unique points of view as they come and go.
The musical features a book by Conor McPherson and the songs of folk legend Bob Dylan alongside orchestrations by Simon Hale. “Girl from the North Country” premiered in 2017 at London’s Old Vic before transferring to the West End. It had its North American premiere Off-Broadway at the Public Theater the following year, and opened at Broadway’s Belasco Theatre on March 5, 2020. It was nominated for seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, winning Best Orchestrations for Hale.
“I’m delighted that MTI will be licensing ‘Girl from the North Country,’ making it available for a wider audience and shepherding its future life,” said McPherson in a statement. “Creating this show has been a very special journey full of surprises. From the moment Bob Dylan’s management approached me, entrusting me with his magical songs, through to our world premiere at the Old Vic and our Broadway opening, ‘Girl from the North Country’ has constantly surpassed our wildest expectations. It’s been a privilege to work with so many great artists along the way and to make so many wonderful friends. I look forward now to seeing artists around the world get the opportunity to work with MTI and make this show their own.”
“This musical is a magnificent blending of Conor McPherson’s moving and darkly humorous boarding house drama with Bob Dylan’s incredible songs,” added Drew Cohen, MTI’s president and CEO, in a statement. “Far from a stereotypical jukebox musical, ‘Girl from the North Country’ is a work of art that demands to be seen and heard. Thankfully, so many audiences have already seen the show on Broadway and on tour and now many more will have the chance to do so on stages around the world.”
MTI was founded in 1952 by composer Frank Loesser and orchestrator Don Walker. The licensor provides scripts, musical materials and other theatrical resources to over 100,000 professional, community and school theaters worldwide.
