Revised Jane Eyre musical in Cleveland

I'm going to Cleveland next week and while checking out things to do, I noticed that there's a newly revised Jane Eyre musical there starting tomorrow! From looking more into it, I noticed Andrea Goss is cast as Jane Eyre!!! She recently performed as Sally Bowles in the national tour of Cabaret and she was the understudy for Sally Bowles on Broadway (saw her as Sally Bowles back in 2014 when Michelle Williams was out and thought she was great.)

Just curious if any of you who live in Cleveland area are planning to watch this production? I know the musical was a flop back in 2000 but I actually liked Paul Gordon's score back then and am curious on what this production will revise.

I'm not familiar with regional theatre since I live in nyc but from this youtube video it looks like a new equity musical theater company is presenting this production so good for them and I wish them the best!

Updated On: 8/30/18 at 10:06 AM

lmao yes I agree with you on those two songs: Mary Stout's "Perfectly Nice" and James Barbour's "Gypsy"... the songs that I liked are "Sweet Liberty", "As Good as You", and of the course the duets "Secret Soul" & "Sirens".

I'm curious which songs they'll cut as it is evident in the video that they plan to take all the 'fat' and unnecessary parts out and trim it down.

I attended a lecture by Alan Stanford, who adapted the much more popular straight-play version of "Jane Eyre," and he talked about the fact that his adaptation cuts the infamous gypsy scene. "Everyone always asks why I cut out the bit where Rochester disguises himself as a gypsy. They always say they remember that part- the crucial thing is, no one ever actually says they remember it fondly, and the story is better off without it."

I absolutely LOVED the Broadway production. The cast was wonderful (Schaffel was robbed of the Tony) and I thought the staging was both innovative and inspired. True, Gypsy was my least favorite number musically, but I like the scene itself for revealing insight into Rochester's character, just as it does in the novel. And I loved Mary Stout in the show! To me, this is one of the most beautiful scores of the the 21st century thus far. I may just have to make a weekend jaunt to Cleveland to see this.

Wick3 said: "I also remember how its lighting/scenic design was using more technology at the time and I just wanted to share this article that tlaks about its pros and cons:

https://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/17/movies/behind-the-scenes-and-above.html"

What a great piece! Thank you so much for sharing; I am endlessly fascinated by this sort of thing. Does video of this set exist anywhere? Now I'm dying to see it.

Updated On: 8/31/18 at 09:38 AM

^FWIW, in addition to the forthcoming 'Emma' stream, as you may know there was a reading of Paul Gordon's new 'Pride and Prejudice' musical in California recently: https://theatreworks.org/new-works-festival-2018/

My husband and I just produced this musical at our high school and it had SUCH a stunning reception. I've loved it since it came out but finally had the right group of students to direct it. We had planned on seeing it in Cleveland but his mom is sick, so we can't make the trip. I am very anxious to hear about how it is re-envisioned (especially with Paul Gordon involved!)!

I have a copy of Daddy Long Legs, but hadn't heard about these other shows until recently. I can't find Sense and Sensibility for sale (or resale) anywhere. What a shame! Here's hoping I'll stumble across them soon.

(And I have seen some clips from videos of the original production and between the dim lighting and angle from above, the set design is really nebulous for the viewer. That worked in my favor as I had nothing to compare our design to, but I can only imagine how stunning it must have been on Broadway!)

Elizabeth Moore said: "My husband and I just produced this musical at our high school and it had SUCH a stunning reception. I've loved it since it came out but finally had the right group of students to direct it. We had planned on seeing it in Cleveland but his mom is sick, so we can't make the trip. I am very anxious to hear about how it is re-envisioned (especially with Paul Gordon involved!)!"

Jane Eyre was required summer reading when I was in high school for English literature class so I was excited to see its musical adaptation when I was in college here in NYC back in the day. I'll admit I was a bit skeptical on getting tickets to see this show at first but after watching that video and seeing that Paul Gordon was involved in the revising/editing process, I went ahead and got tix. Oh and I'm familiar with Andrea Goss's work so I'm glad she's cast as Jane Eyre! I'll be seeing this show next weekend!

I was able to see this yesterday. The creative team has been able to retain the wonderful things from the Broadway production and revise it into a show that is more accessible to theater companies. The smaller cast of 10 could be easily expanded, if desired. Some of the more challenging orchestrations have been changed; however, I did not notice a difference during the performance. The song "The Finer Things" has been replaced by a one that is shorter with a less operatic sound, yet still fits the character and plot. I am glad that the creatives have taken another look at this show and I wish it a future full of productions.

Didn't James Barbour's backstage behavior during this show get him jail time? To me, it will always be tainted because of that.

Hum a tune - Got it. It sounds very intriguing. I only wish I could see this new production. My only regret in seeing the Broadway production was that I wasn't able to see it more than once.

Thanks for the video - this looks like a show I'd love!