Six weeks of rehearsal and eight performances of the stage musical, Bright Star, have given me some insights into the nuances of the script. It turns out to be an indictment of the masculine; every male character is flawed, one is forgiven, one damned, and one redeemed.
The major male characters are, in no special order, Jimmy Ray, Billy Cane, the Mayor, Poppa Murphy, Daddy Cane, Sanford, and Dr. Norquist. Each of them exemplifies untruthful, unethical, immoral, or illegal characteristics.
Jimmy Ray's line: "Ten more minutes in my arms, won't do any harm," sets the stage for all the harm that befalls the involved families. His immoral act, albeit with the full cooperation of Alice, leads to the birth of a bastard child. To his credit he never denies his fatherhood but fully embraces the prospect. He eventually marries Alice, twenty-odd years after the fact.
Billy Cane, who on the surface is a nice young man, lies his way into the publishing company. He is otherwise a good person.
The Mayor, Jimmy Ray's father, is morally bankrupt. He pushes his son towards a marriage of convenience that will further the family business. When Jimmy Ray reveals his complicity in the pregnancy of Alice, the Mayor abducts the child with the promise of a fully legal and anonymous adoption but throws him from a train in an attempt to kill him and remove the inconvenience.
Poppa Murphy fully regrets not employing corporal punishment to get his daughter, Alice, to behave properly, "Should've raised you with the back of my hand!" Shows contempt for her by saying she's brought shame upon the family. He signs over custody of the baby to the Mayor in order to remove the baby from the scene. The script doesn't say it but it is implied that he was paid off by the Mayor to affix his signature to the release document. He later atones to Alice for his actions.
Daddy Cane, upon finding the bruised and abandoned baby, with his wife secretly raise him as their own. They allow the neighbors to think that his wife had a later-in-life pregnancy. Young Billy goes through life, until in his twenties, thinking that he and Momma Cane are his parents; until Alice stumbles upon the truth.
Sanford, the mayor's toady, is ready to do anything to aid and abet the mayor in his nefarious plots. He assists in the abduction of the infant.
Dr. Norquist, local physician, suggests abortion to "undo" the pregnancy. A suggestion that is rejected by Alice and Poppa Murphy. Then he offers a cabin in the woods, far removed from the vicinity, where Alice can hide until the baby is born.
Alice, Momma Murphy, Margo, and Lucy, the major women in the script, are handled with care and affection. Alice, headstrong and intelligent, is victimized by the Mayor. Momma Murphy is brushed aside in her attempt to save the infant. Margo's chaste love of Billy is finally rewarded. Lucy, on the other hand, is left out of the picture after an unsuccessful, albeit chaste, run at the hero, Billy.
Of the men: Jimmy Ray got redemption, Billy Cane went on as the basically good person he is, the Mayor got the death sentence, Poppa Murphy got forgiveness, Daddy Cane got understanding, Sanford got oblivion, and Dr. Norquist continued to tend to the good people of Hayes County.
A dark plot is camouflaged, for the most part, by bright and cheerful music. But has a fairy tale ending where everyone lives happily ever after and the "Sun Is Gonna Shine Again."
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