Kate Baldwin Starring In 'Bridges Of Madison County' At Playhouse

NEW HOPE, PA — Tony-nominee Kate Baldwin (“Finnian’s Rainbow” and “Hello, Dolly!’) and Nicholas Rodriguez (“Company”, “Tarzan,” and “The Sound of Music” national tour) lead the cast of the Tony-winning musical, “The Bridges of Madison County” now on stage at the Bucks County Playhouse through September 10.

Directed by Bucks County Playhouse Artistic Associate, Hunter Foster (BCP’s “Million Dollar Quartet”), and winner of two 2014 Tony Awards, “The Bridges of Madison County” features music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown (“Parade”) and a book by Pulitzer Prize and Tony-Award Winner
Marsha Norman (“The Secret Garden”).

Baldwin is recreating her performance from Foster’s 2022 mounting at Axelrod Performing
Arts Center, Deal Park, N.J. Nicholas Rodriguez is a new addition to the Playhouse cast. Foster is revisiting a musical for which he has a long history. Foster originated the role of Bud, Francesca’s husband, in the Broadway cast and brings considerable experience and insight from having
worked with the original creative team.

“I am deeply moved by Hunter’s production of ‘The Bridges of Madison County,” says Executive Producer, Robyn Goodman. “The show has some of the most beautiful music written for the stage. You may have read the book or seen the film, but there is nothing like the live depiction of this romance onstage.”

Kate Baldwin as Francesca, and Lucy Horton as Chiara in “The Bridges of Madison County” at Bucks County Playhouse through September 10. (Photo by Joan Marcus)

Kate Baldwin as Francesca with the cast of “The Bridges of Madison County” at Bucks County Playhouse through September 10. Photo by Joan Marcus.

“I’ll never forget discovering Kate Baldwin in ‘Finian’s Rainbow’ on Broadway: Beautiful, charming, quirky with a quicksilver voice. And now it is a delight to work with her here at the Playhouse. She is the quintessential professional and the audience reaction to her is just the
way I felt many years ago,” says Producing Director Alexander Fraser. “Nicholas Rodriguez is the perfect pair for Kate in this show. When I first saw him, his ‘Some Enchanted Evening’ blew me away at the Maltz Jupiter’s ‘South Pacific’, and then as a dashing Captain von Trapp at
the Kimmel Center.”

The Tony-Winning musical romance, “The Bridges of Madison County,” is a rapturous love story based on the best-selling novel by Thomas Waller. Francesca Johnson, an Italian woman who married an American soldier to flee war-ravaged Italy, looks forward to a rare four days alone on her Iowa farm when her family heads to the 1965 State Fair. Her plans change, however, when a chance encounter with a ruggedly handsome, National Geographic photographer, leads to a whirlwind relationship that forever alters the course of Francesca’s life. This sweeping romance
features the 2014 Tony-Winning score by Broadway’s Jason Robert Brown (“Parade”).

Kate Baldwin as Francesca, and Nicholas Rodriguez as Robert in “The Bridges of Madison County” at Bucks County Playhouse through September 10. (Photos by Joan Marcus)

The production has music direction by Keith Levenson (Broadway’s “Annie”), scenic design by Anna Louizos (Broadway and BCP’s “Dames at Sea”), lighting design by Paul Miller (Broadway’s “Amazing Grace” and “The Illusionists”), costume design by Lauren Roark (BCP’s “Million Dollar
Quartet”), hair and wig design by Jared Janas (Broadway’s “Good Night, Oscar” and “Sweeney Todd”), and sound design by Jeff Sherwood (Theater Aspen’s “Jersey Boys”). Jackie Mariani is Production Stage Manager. Kellian Frank is Assistant Stage Manager. Casting is by Paul Hardt.

Tickets start at just $39 and can be purchased at BucksCountyPlayhouse.org or by calling 215-862-2121.

Kate Baldwin as Francesca with the cast of “The Bridges of Madison County” at Bucks County Playhouse through September 10. Photo by Joan Marcus.

Nikki Yarnell as Marge, and Mark Megill as Charlie in “The Bridges of Madison County” at Bucks County Playhouse through September 10. Photo by Joan Marcus.