Chiara Trentalange is living a dream.
The Southampton native and Gwynedd-Mercy Academy graduate is not only doing what she loves, but she’s about to return home to show it off.
Trentalange is playing one of the main characters in “The Girl from North Country,” the Tony-award winning musical based on the music of Bob Dylan, at the Forrest Theater through March 10. Tickets and more information: www.ensembleartsphilly.org/events-and-tickets/2023-24/broadway/girl-from-the-north-country
“This is the best of all worlds,” said Trentalange before the play opened. “It’s going to feel so good to get to spend two weeks at home. I get the opportunity to spend some time with family and a nephew and a year-old niece. So, it’ll be really, really nice to hang out with them and spend some time in Philly. It’s kind of like a break, but a working break.”
Not that Trentalange is looking for any kind of break from performing.
“After college, I came back to Southampton to waitress until I could save enough money to move to New York,” Trentalange said. “I got a role in the Broadway version of ‘The Girl from North Country’ and it opened in March of 2020.”
A few days later, everything shut down, so Trentalange has had enough down time.
“Yeah, that was an interesting time,” said Trentalange. “When I found out they were taking the show on the road, I jumped at the opportunity. We’ve been traveling for a while. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. It’s just so neat to get the chance to see all these different cities and see the way of life and all these different parts. Plus, you get paid to do it. It’s a great gig.”
“The Girl from North Country” is a musical with a book by Conor McPherson and songs with music and lyrics by Dylan. It is the second show to use Dylan’s music after Twyla Tharp’s “The Times They Are a-Changin’.”
“The story takes place in 1934 in Duluth, Minnesota, and it sort of follows this family, the Lane family and the patriarch of the family, Nick Lane, and he runs a boarding house,” Trentalange said. “It’s sort of just about him trying to keep it all together. It’s Thanksgiving, he has guests coming in and out. You learn about the family. You learn about all the relationships that they all have with the guests. It’s really about the struggle of trying to get through such a tough time of the Depression and ultimately persevering.”
Part of enjoying the play is having a deep love of music.
“The people I’m around share the same,” Trentalange said. “I remember when I started at places like the Bucks County Playhouse (in New Hope), it was such a wonderful community, and I remember thinking, ‘I have to stay in this.’ These people mean so much to me. It’s awesome when you can find something you like that much and keep doing it. Oh my gosh, it’s the best.”
