What a good boy!
Dog Bowdie wins hearts in the marvelous musical ‘Winn Dixie’ at Goodspeed
A musical s a theatergoer, it’s initially difficult not to be distracted by the sheer adorableness of the star of the latest
at The Goodspeed. Those soulful eyes! That alert manner! That ruffle-able fur!
You know where I’m going with this, right?
Bowdie is a mixed-breed dog who is playing the title character in Goodspeed’s “Because of Winn Dixie.” It’s based on the beloved 2000 novel by Kate DiCamillo, and it’s pretty darned wonderful.
You can see why Bill Berloni, the legendary dog trainer who started his career at Goodspeed in 1976 with “Annie,” adopted Bowdie after Berloni’s wife, Dorothy, found the canine on Craigslist. Bowdie was being given up by his family because he was too large for where they lived, and he was essentially out of control.
What Bowdie clearly also is: smart. Under Berloni’s guidance, he has been trained and seems to exist happily onstage, relaxed and confident. In “Winn Dixie,” Bowdie barks, runs in the rain, and affectionately licks an actor’s cheek, all on cue. He is even alone onstage at the start of the show, trotting to a pile of “garbage” where the homeless Winn Dixie unearths some food for himself and then ambles offstage.
(Bowdie’s previous credits include being Nana in “Peter Pan Live” on NBC and Schnoodle in “Elmo’s World” on “Sesame Street.”)
The Berlonis realized the story of “Winn Dixie” (more of the plot details later) provided the chance for a dog to be a leading character in a stage show — something that hadn’t been done before.
All that is well and good, but if the rest of the show didn’t hold up, “Winn Dixie” would wilt.
Thank goodness that “Winn Dixie” is graced by a heartwarming but not saccharine tale, fine direction by John Rando, and, most of all, an irresistible score. The songs, many bubbling with a folk-pop sound, are so good, I was ready to buy a CD of them at intermission … if only a CD existed. (The show is still in development, so no CD yet.)
The alchemists behind this sonic gold are composer Duncan Sheik,
who won a Tony and a Grammy for his work on “Spring Awakening,” and book writer/lyricist Nell Benjamin, who was nominated for Tonys for co-writing the songs for “Legally Blonde: The Musical” and for writing the lyrics for the stage adaptation of “Mean Girls.”
Sheik’s music is infectious. Benjamin’s lyrics are clever. (I was looking forward to being able to examine those lyrics on a CD jacket.)
You’ll leave the theater singing the cheerful, appreciating-one-another tune “What I Got Is You” — or, if you’re a parent, you might leave humming “Sulking,” a hilarious lament about children’s amazing ability to sulk.
The story it tells
Opal (played by Josie Todd) is a 12-year-old who moves with her preacher father (J. Robert Spencer) to a small town in Florida. Opal’s mother has left the family, and Opal doesn’t want to be in their new home.
She feels like a stray — and then she finds a real stray, in the form of an unwanted dog. She names the pooch Winn Dixie, for the grocery store where she found him, and adopts him, against her father’s wishes.
Through Winn Dixie, Opal starts to meet the people in town, many of whom feel like outcasts, too, and have suffered some damage in life. They slowly develop a trust and fondness for one another, forging friendships and a community.
As you can tell, this show doesn’t boast the kind of concrete dilemma that is usually found in a musical comedy. Sure, Winn Dixie runs away during a thunderstorm, prompting everyone to pitch in to find him, but the revelations here are more about tension dissipating as characters begin to understand each other better.
As noted previously, the show is still being developed, and a few tweaks could be made to the script. The library scenes could be trimmed or even cut. The second act could be tightened a bit, and it could benefit from lightening its heaviness with some of the comic wit so prevalent in the first act. But, in general, this endearing version of “Winn Dixie” is in fine shape.
All about the actors
Todd brings a spitfire spirit to Opal. Her connection with Bowdie is just as moving as Opal’s is to Winn Dixie.
While all the actors acquit themselves well, I was particularly partial to the kids in the cast. I loved their realistic and amusing world of bantering and arguing, going on adventures and becoming pals.
Jamie Mann and Jay Hendrix, as irrepressible brothers, get to the heart of boys who are both goodhearted and knuckleheaded (and isn’t that most
boys?). They go to town on the rambunctious tune “Ballad of the Crazy Pet Store Man.”
Pint-sized Sophia Massa is a hoot as Sweetie Pie, who dresses in sparkles and everything pink and who crushes on one of the boys.
Chloe Cheers makes an impression in the quieter role of a girl who tries to hold the world at bay by retreating into books. She is emotionally damaged by her brother’s drowning, and by her parents’ refusing to talk about the tragedy. Cheers uses that despair to fuel her character’s dramatic “No One Watching” power ballad, in which she questions if there is a God; if there is, how could He allow her brother to die?
As for the adults, Spencer neatly portrays the Preacher’s mix of sternness and love for Opal — and his struggle to deal with her distress and anger over her mother’s leaving. Spencer’s reedy voice is particularly effective on the church music of “Raise Your Voice” and “O Lord of Pilgrims.”
In the role of a pet store owner who has done prison time, David Poe brings wryness to the dialogue and a folk touch to the songs “Searchin’” and “You Can’t Run.”
When it comes to powerhouse singing, well, few compare to Roz Ryan. She plays Gloria Dump, who, the town rumors have it, is a witch. The kids learn that she is just a woman who struggled with alcoholism (and the resulting bad choices) earlier in her life; she has hung empty booze bottles from a tree in her yard, as a reminder of her past. Ryan finds just the right world-weary humor in her character, and she turns “Bottle Tree Blues” into an absolute showstopper.
Speaking of that bottle tree, it is quite a sight to watch those branches with clinking bottles descend from the rafters into view above the stage. (In general, the scenic design by Donvale Werle provides the appropriate down-home feel.)
And the projection design by Olivia Sebesky is cool; the projections illustrate books in the library and the shadow of a bear as a bear story is being told, but, most stunning of all, they somehow make the leaves on a tree seem to be dancing in an unseen breeze.