Utah Repertory Theater gives ‘The Bridges of Madison County’ a lyrical production that testifies to the undying power of love

One thing you can count on is the perennial popularity of a love story, especially when that love is fated to be lost. Robert James Waller’s “The Bridges of Madison County” was on the best-seller list for three years after it appeared in 1992 and became a successful film starring Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood in 1995.

So it’s not surprising that it showed up as a Broadway musical in 2013. Now, Utah Repertory Theater is giving the show its Utah premiere in the new Eccles Theater Black Box space in downtown Salt Lake City.

The Broadway production received mixed reviews, but the two strengths that really sold the show to audiences are the same ones that work so well in Utah Rep’s production: the soaring lyricism of Jason Robert Brown’s Tony Award–winning score and the immediacy and power of its two leading performances.

In case there’s someone who doesn’t know the plot, “Bridges” focuses on a brief but life-changing affair between an Iowa housewife and a photographer who comes to document the area’s covered bridges in 1965 for National Geographic magazine. Francesca is an Italian war bride who has never totally assimilated into Iowa farm life in spite of the friendliness of her neighbors (the downside is that they’re also extremely nosy). What impresses her about Robert, the photographer, is that “he looked at me as if he really could see me.” After a failed marriage, Robert has become a loner who describes himself as “temporarily lost.” “I never get too close,” he tells Francesca. With her husband and teenage children away at the state fair, the door is open for the two to connect, and they do dramatically.

Brown has given the couple some intensely emotional and poetic love songs, and Erin Royall Carlson and Kevin Goertzen capitalize on them beautifully. Carlson’s Francesca is a touching mix of innocent and seductive, and Goertzen has the appealing air of a lost soul begging to be found. The two inhabit their characters so comfortably that they seem like everyday people and evolve a chemistry that sustains the show and compensates for its weaknesses.

One of these is Marsha Norman’s book, which sets out to broaden “Bridges’ ” world by adding characters. Directors Johnny Hebda and Chase Ramsey try to integrate them by placing them onstage to witness some of Francesca and Robert’s scenes, but Norman doesn’t flesh them out enough to become individually unique or interesting. And she’s tacked on scenes from Francesca and Robert’s subsequent lives from Waller’s sequel to the novel that make the show go on too long. Once Robert and Francesca have parted, audience interest and emotional involvement wane.

Brown has also given some of the auxiliary characters songs to make them an active part of the story, and Elizabeth Hansen as Marge, Francesca’s supportive, but snooping, neighbor; Josh Richardson as Bud, Francesca’s husband; Gary Pimentel as Charlie, Marge’s husband; and especially Amanda Van Orden as Marian, Robert’s young ex-wife, do a nice job with these. The live band, under the able musical direction of Jeanne McGuire, is a welcome addition.

Set designer Ramsey uses slides to supplement his movable set pieces, but the Black Box’s space is challenging; there’s no place to put anything, and offstage space is limited, so the ensemble spends a lot of time moving things around, which is distracting. David Anthony-Ken de Carolis’ flexible lighting supplies mood and focus, and Michael Nielsen’s costumes have a down-home, rural look.

“The Bridges of Madison County” is not a perfect show, but this production and especially Carlson and Goertzen’s simpatico performances compensate nicely for its limitations and reaffirm the enduring power of love stories.