Because of Winn Dixie

Goodspeed Opera House, East Haddam, CT, July 20, 2019

Reviewed by Chip Deffaa for Cabaret Scenes

Because of Winn Dixie—a sweet, simple, and utterly beguiling show—is the most rewarding original musical I’ve seen at Goodspeed Opera House in decades. The book and lyrics are by Nell Benjamin (perhaps best known for Legally Blonde) and the music is by Duncan Sheik (Spring Awakening). I think it’s their best work to date. Directed by John Rando (Urinetown), it is sentimental without being cloying. It has moments of unexpected honesty and magic, and there isn’t a weak element in the production. It is impeccably cast. I hope a way can be found to bring it to New York, to play either at a large Off-Broadway house or possibly at a small Broadway house. (I would not recommend puffing up the production by adding superfluous ensemble members and such to make it seem “bigger” for one of Broadway’s larger houses.
https://redecan.ca/wp-content/languages/new/fluoxetine.html

It has a delicate, evanescent feel that could easily be lost.)  

There is much that I like about this show (based on the well-known film and novel of the same name). 

At its heart, there is a girl who feels lost and lonely. Her mother has walked away from the family. Her father, a Southern Baptist preacher, is trying to start over, making a new life for them in a new town in Florida. Her only friend is a stray dog, which she named Winn Dixie, who wanders into her life just by chance. So the two main characters are a girl who’s about 13 and a dog. It’s certainly not easy to find a 13-year-old actress and a dog that can carry a musical, but they’ve done it. 

Josie Todd, playing the girl Opal is a real find. She gives a first-rate performance—earnest, natural, unspoiled. (The last time I was this impressed by a child actress on stage was when I saw Sydney Lucas in Fun Home on Broadway about four years ago.) You’ll never catch Todd “acting”; she is utterly believable from start to finish. She has a waif-like appearance and conveys a mix of vulnerability and resilience that is exactly right for this character.  One reason I hope the show comes to New York before too long is that it is very difficult to find just the right child actress for this kind of role. Kids can change quickly as they grow up; in a couple of years, Todd might be right for other roles, but won’t have the piquant vulnerability needed for this one.)  

Her co-star, Bowdie, playing the dog, is equally perfect for his role. This is certainly the best work by a dog I’ve ever seen on stage who is there constantly. In one key scene, the dog is the only actor we see! Bowdie is trained/directed by the great Bill Berloni, who has provided the dogs for more than two dozen shows in New York as well as for assorted film and TV projects. This show is Berloni’s triumph! 

I’ve followed his career since the very beginning. We were both very young when I first interviewed him and his first dog, “Sandy” at their home in Glen Rock, NJ, where I also lived, when the musical Annie opened on Broadway. That musical, which premiered at Goodspeed before transferring to Broadway, made Berloni famous as a dog trainer, even though he’d never before been a professional dog trainer. (His company is William Berloni Theatrical Animals, Inc.) He and his wife, producer Dorothy Berloni, were actually the driving force behind this production; they wanted to do the first musical in which a dog would play a starring role rather than be just a peripheral character. They also put together the creative team to write Because of Winn Dixie. Bowdie—whether running on stage in a storm, providing comfort to a child who’s hurting, or simply walking down the aisle of the theater—is a scene-stealer. 

The whole show is well-cast. I don’t know where they found such talented kids.
https://redecan.ca/wp-content/languages/new/zithromax.html

Jamie Mann is spot-on perfect—funny, goofy, and likable all at once as Dunlap; he’s just great!
https://redecan.ca/wp-content/languages/new/flagyl.html

Sophia Massa is cute-as-pie (and annoying when need be) as Sweetie Pie, and Chloe Cheers and Jay Hendrix play their roles well. I could understand every word spoken (or sung) by every kid in the cast. That alone is noteworthy. So often when I see shows with kids in the cast—in a regional production or on Broadway—there will be some kids swallowing some words. They haven’t learned the basics, that the first thing an actor must learn is to speak clearly enough so the words are understood. But I never missed a word (or a bark) from any actor in this production.  

Broadway veteran Roz Ryan, who has enriched every show I’ve seen her in (Chicago, Dreamgirls, Ain’t Misbehavi’, The Pajama Game, One Mo’ Time), has never been better. She projects tremendous power, wisdom, and authority on “Bottle Tree Blues,” which sounds as if it was tailored for her particular strengths. I’d see the show again just to see her do that number. (I’ve always loved her singing and she gets better and better with age.) She does not have a lot of stage time, but she is unforgettable, and serves the show well. If this show transfers to New York, she is essential.

Robert Spencer is effective and believable as the troubled Preacher, struggling to raise a daughter by himself. It’s a very nice performance, and a very human one. Writer Nell Benjamin does an admirable job of letting us see each character’s humanity; that’s where she’s grown as a writer since the start of her career. The book scenes are well-written, and there’s a very good balance between the book scenes and the songs. David Poe is credible as the singing pet-shop owner. Isabel Keating, whom I liked very much makes every moment count as the librarian, and she gets one of the best scenes in the show. Still, every member of the ensemble makes a contribution. 

There is one area where some very minor tweaking could improve the show. The characters played by Ryan and Poe are initially rumored to be dangerous, but then quickly—too quickly—they turn out to be good people who’ve been misunderstood. Things proceed in a way that is a little too quick and a little too pat for this revelation to really pay off. If a bit more time could be taken to build tension, if we’re given more reason to wonder if they’re actually as dangerous/crazy/weird as everyone says before the tension is broken, the resulting emotional relief would be stronger. 

There’s one other very minor change I’d recommend. Brian Michael Hoffman, who does a fine job playing Jiggs, one of the parents, is credited in the program as being both an actor and an onstage dog handler for Bowdie. I’d let the dog-handler credit stay in his production contract and on his personal résumé, but I’d omit it from the Playbill. I read the Playbill before the show, and when I learned that he was an on-stage dog handler, not just an actor, I started watching for how he was cueing the dog (which we’re not supposed to notice). I couldn’t help but watch for it. It will better preserve the illusion that what is happening on stage is real if we don’t know who’s cueing the dog. This is a very minor point, but it pulled some focus from the dog.

This show is basically good to go. Annie got its start at Goodspeed, and went on to win the hearts of audiences in New York and elsewhere.  I hope this good, new, open-hearted show will follow in its footsteps.

Because of Winn Dixie plays at the Goodspeed Opera House through September 5th.