Bright Star & Daddy Long Legs

Two shows: one is a brand new showstopper, written by Hollywood royalty and the other is an off-Broadway production that’s been touring around the world before finding its home in New York. Seemingly two different productions bound by a common thread, and while on the outside they couldn’t be more different, their message of young women finding themselves and simultaneously creating an enduring love connects to us all.

The highly anticipated Broadway musical with the music, book and story written by Hollywood heavyweights Steve Martin and Edie Brickell opened last month featuring a talented cast led by Carmen Cusak, making her Broadway debut as Alice Murphy and Paul Alexander Nolan as Jimmy Ray Dobbs.

The musical is unlike any other on Broadway currently—it’s an understated message with haunting Bluegrass music that takes you on one couple’s journey to recapture a loss of love that neither of them could ever be whole without.

Nolan, who grew up on a grain farm in Saskatchewan, Canada almost missed the opportunity to play Jimmy Rae. He auditioned simultaneously for Bright Star and Off-Broadway play called Daddy Long Legs when he was cast in the leading role of the latter. The day after the show opened, he received a message from his agent that he had the offer to play Jimmy Rae. Read more