Pressing On: Bob Dylan’s Girl from the North Country and Broadway’s Rebirth

The incredible journey of a musical from potential disaster to success, and the Broadway industry that managed to stay alive during the pandemic shutdown of 2020-22.

Despite historic, seemingly insurmountable setbacks of four openings, Bob Dylan and Conor McPherson’s musical Girl from the North Country became a critical Broadway hit. Hailed as an experience ＂as close as mortals come to heaven on earth,＂ by The New York Times, the musical weaves two dozen songs from the legendary catalogue of Bob Dylan into a story of Duluth during the Great Depression, to create a future American classic.

Opening on Broadway in the middle of an unprecedented moment, Slow Train Coming is a book about pressing on in the face of extreme adversity. Todd Almond’s behind-the-scenes oral history weaves his personal first-hand account of starring in the show with exclusive interviews and reflections from fellow cast members and the creative team.

Together they follow the show from its beginnings at New York’s Public Theater where it emerged as an underdog-of-a-show, through a fraught jump to Broadway against a backdrop of the emerging Covid-19 pandemic and the longest shutdown in Broadway history, which resulted in the theatre industry’s subsequent fight for survival.

Told through personal stories, anecdotes from the cast, production shots, behind-the-scenes photos, and insights from the creators, this book is both an inside look at a perilous moment of one of America’s proudest institutions, Broadway, and a true story of American grit and determination lived by the company of this quirky musical-that-could.

Todd Almond is an acclaimed performer, songwriter, and playwright. His recent performance on Broadway in Girl from the North Country was called ＂stunning＂ by The Washington Post and ＂roof-raising, uplifting, and invigorating＂ by Hollywood Reporter. His musical The Odyssey, for which he wrote the book, music and lyrics, was hailed as ＂brash, funny and heart-stirring＂ by The New York Times. His theater piece Kansas City Choir Boy was called ＂awesome, slyly punk rock＂ by Rolling Stone.

Almond is known for his singular songwriting in addition to his work as an accomplished performer. He recently toured the U.S. in his original musical Kansas City Choir Boy starring alongside rock icon Courtney Love and starred in three of his original musicals at the famed Delacorte Theater in Central Park (The Tempest, The Winter’s Tale, and The Odyssey). His musical Girlfriend - based on the Matthew Sweet album of the same title - is a perennial favorite for theater companies around the country, and he is currently collaborating with producer David Foster on a new, original musical. He has previously collaborated with Sarah Ruhl (Melancholy Play: A Chamber Musical), Jenny Schwartz (Iowa), Laura Benanti (In Constant Search for the Right Kind of Attention), Sherie Rene Scott and Norbert Leo Butz (＂Twohander＂), Kelli O’Hara (＂Live at Carnegie Hall＂), and Andrew Rannells (＂Live from Lincoln Center＂).
As a composer and orchestrator, Almond has written and arranged music for Noises Off! on Broadway, Iowa at Playwrights Horizons, Fucking A at Signature Theatre, and How to Transcend a Happy Marriage at Lincoln Center Theater, Kelli O’Hara Live at Carnegie Hall, and the recent film adaptation of Michael John LaChiusa’s Hello Again. Other New York acting credits include Stage Kiss by Sarah Ruhl at Playwrights Horizons, People Are Wrong at the Vineyard, Piece of Meat opposite Sherie Rene Scott, and Law and Order: SVU. Currently, Todd can also be seen starring in Gossip Girl on HBO Max. As a musical director, Almond tours with Laura Benanti and Judy Kuhn, and recently made his PBS debut with Andrew Rannells in ＂Live From Lincoln Center.＂