Jane Eyre is awesome

[BroadwayPhil]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 4:19pm

Bought this CD, Since many here have good things to say. Really like it. Great performances, very nice music. I'll be listening to this for a while. Thanks !! and Happy Holidays..

Updated On: 12/21/05 at 04:19 PM

[broadwaybelter]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 4:26pm

i was curious whether to pick this up or not, thanks for the advice!

[BroadwayDoc]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 4:35pm

Glad you enjoy it. It's a wonderful show, that never really found it's audience.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 4:50pm

yeah i was thinking of getting this, so its worth it?

[Kitzarina]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 4:52pm

The show had its first premiere in my hometown when I was 10 years old, and I've followed it ever since. I never cared much for the Broadway cast, but if you can get your hands on a copy of the Toronto recording, I highly suggest buying it. Anthony Crivello IS Rochester, end of story.

[Mother's Younger Brother]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 5:26pm

YAY!! I agree. I saw Jane Eyre and loved it, and it also had one of the best ensemble casts I've ever seen in a show. As a listening experience, the music is so lush, romantic, and poetic...one of my favorite CD's.

[BWAYboi_yes]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 5:37pm

I'm not familiar with the show, but are there any big reasons why the show didn't make it? Poorly directed or written or what? Is there hope for it to be revived at some point?

[theonlyone]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 5:41pm

You can download the Toronto CD online; I'll post the website if I can find it again.

[Kitzarina]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 5:50pm

Honestly, I feel that they made too many changes before transfering it to Broadway. I have a very special place in my heart for this show. I saw it 3 times before it closed in Wichita and it is a huge part of why I'm so into theatre to this day. I think the score is beautiful and always evokes images of the book in my mind. And I dare anyone to say something negative against Marla Schaffel, who is pure genius.

[Marguerite Chauvelin]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 6:55pm

I bought the OBCR, the music is beautiful, and the singing is top-rate. James Barbour has one of the prettiest voices I have ever heard, I wish I could have seen him in the role.

[BroadwayDoc]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 6:56pm

I agree Kitzarina, the Witchita production was the best out of the four major productions.

[TheatreDiva612]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 7:01pm

Can you please correct the spelling in the title?

[Mother's Younger Brother]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 7:10pm

Personally, I think it was a case bad timing. Jane Eyre came out just as Broadway was being taken over by lighter, more self-aware, in-your-face musical comedy. The complaint I heard the most from friends who saw it was that it was "too dark." Had Jane Eyre arrived 5-10 years earlier, it could have been huge. As it was, people just dismissed it a Les Mis clone -- which it most certainly isn't -- and didn't think they needed to see it.

[crzyrocket]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 7:16pm

Timing was everything. The British invasion of dark, melodramatic musicals was waning away. Like Mother's Younger Brother said, musical comedy was slowly making its way back. The Full Monty opened to great acclaim that season, and less we forget, along came The Producers. I adored the show beyond belief, but it didn't have a chance that season. The '99-'00 season was weaker in the New Musical category, and I'm sure the show would have fared so much better if it had opened only a year earlier.

[Piazzaslight]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 7:28pm

My Oma said she saw this. She thought that it was really good. I would've liked to have seen this. Unfortunately, it closed about three months before I became a Broadway fanatic.

Ah, well. The Toronto cast recording is very rare, and impossible to find, and the Broadway cast recording is easier to find. I found it in a store in NYC, and I asked my dad to buy it for me, which he did! You can easily get a copy of it off amazon.com. To anyone wondering if they should buy this, if you generally like Les Miz, Phantom or Woman in White, you'll like this score. This score beats them all out for best one, though. :)

[Kitzarina]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 12:56am

How did you hear/see the Wichita production? I have a tape of it (video and cassette), but they're both bootlegs my aunt got me because she was music director. By the way...if anyone from Center for the Arts contacts you, I TOTALLY don't have those

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 1:45am

What were the four major productions? I'm guessing one was Broadway, but why did it have so many productions before coming to Broadway. Also, why would they open a Broadway-transfer type show in Wichita?

[eslgr8]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 1:52am

CALL ME JAYNE!

I had no idea that Jane now spells her name Jayne, as in Mansfield!

[BroadwayPhil]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 9:02am

K... fixed.. I'm a lousy speller. Saw the one tune 'Sirens' on the Toney's that year and was impressed. Wish I saw this..

[Kitzarina]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 9:50am

I'm not sure why they did the premiere in Wichita, but my aunt and a lady named Kathy Page-Hauptman opened up a theatre here called Stage One with the express purpose of workshopping Broadway-calibur shows. Other shows that have premeired here are Jungle Man, Silver Dollar, and Urban Legends. Of course, with Wichita audiences being what they are, Stage One is B.R.O.K.E. It is a common fact that their checks bounce, so they pretty much only use actors who have worked with them before.

I know Jane Eyre also workshopped in Toronto before Broadway...the other city escapes me.

[sports620]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 9:56am

Was it LaJolla, CA?

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 10:08am

I loved the Broadway production. Marla was ROBBED of the Tony. James Barbour was outstanding as Rochester. And Mary Stout delivered a memorable performance in a thankless role. The staging was absolutely brilliant. The use of the carousel lighting, projections, and turntables brilliantly supported the memory concept as employed in the narrative. I remember there was very little marketing for the show at the time. Other than the marquee at the theatre, I never saw anything else advertising the show when I was in NYC. The reviews were mixed, with several critics criticizing the show as rather cold and sterile, which I did not see. Jane and Rochester are not warm characters, to be sure, but I felt the score and direction created an atmosphere of symphathy for both of them. Much more so than in the recent film version with William Hurt. With the success of The Full Monty and the eventual invasion of The Producers, Jane Eyre simply didn't stand a chance. It opened during the holiday season and audiences were flocking toward lighter fare. Jane Eyre limped through spring, but simply couldn't hang on through the summer. I would love to see it come back, but with the original staging, which was innovative and unique. Far more creative lighting and set design than any other show that season.

[Kitzarina]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 10:10am

Yep, it was LaJolla.

Wow...I never realized how tall on my high horse this show got me. Probably because I was the dorky kid in 5th grade with my Jane Eyre tshirt and my Les Miz hat...*sigh*

[crzyrocket]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 10:48am

The staging was just breath-taking. It was one of the first shows I ever saw and the scrims of light moving seamlessly across the stage brilliantly evoked the atmosphere of the piece. Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer deserved the Tony that year for Lighting Design. Don't get me started on Marla Schaffel, I'm still shocked that she didn't win.

[Mother's Younger Brother]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 10:55am

I was disappointed that Marla didn't win that year too. Actually, even while I was watching the show, I had a funny feeling that audiences might not "get it," and it might be the wrong time for this kind of show. But the one thing I was sure of was that Marla would win a Tony for it. I remember talking about that as we left the theatre.