Revised Jane Eyre musical in Cleveland

[Wick3]

Posted: 8/30/18 at 10:06am

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

[newintown]

Posted: 8/30/18 at 10:23am

I remember very little about this show, except that it seemed to me to be lugubriously dull, sincere in an utterly unimaginative way; but there were two moments of attempted humor that do come back, merely because they seemed to me to be so ridiculously ineffectual. One was poor Mary Stout trying to act out a string of emotions that were the lyrics of a particularly awkward list song, with the result being a rather embarrassing class in hammy indicating. The other was James Barbour as Rochester pretending to be an old gypsy fortune teller, a gruesome experience of unfunny vocal schtick.

[Wick3]

Posted: 8/30/18 at 10:38am

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.

[markypoo]

Posted: 8/30/18 at 1:03pm

Marla Schaffel was nothing short of excellent in the original; imho.

[darquegk]

Posted: 8/30/18 at 1:09pm

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."

[newintown]

Posted: 8/30/18 at 1:17pm

It's interesting that we rarely question works of art that are widely called "classics." How many people know that Jane Eyre, although a best seller when released, was excoriated by critics, many of them feminists, in terms that make it sound as though it was seen as that age's version of Fifty Shades of Gray?

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 8/30/18 at 1:24pm

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.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 8/30/18 at 11:35pm

I would have loved a complete recording of the original Broadway score before they go about making changes and cuts. Oh, well.

[scripps]

Posted: 8/31/18 at 12:31am

I just listened to the Broadway cast album on a road trip recently. It was a long car ride and we had time to kill!

I do remember seeing the show and it was quite a gloomy affair, but damned if "The Propsal" didn't have fabulous vocals by James Barbour. Chills!

[Wick3]

Posted: 8/31/18 at 8:38am

I also remember seeing the show as gloomy but I also recall being emotional during certain scenes thanks to the vocals and acting of Marla Schaffel and James Barbour. 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

The last line stated tickets were $50-$86 back in 2000 ---- ahhh the good 'ol days before 'premium' pricing.   

Anyway, I bought a ticket for next week and am quite excited!

[Lot666]

Posted: 8/31/18 at 9:38am

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

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 8/31/18 at 3:25pm

The only video I've found of the show is really too dark to see 90% of it.  I don't think any video could appropriately capture the effect of that massive cyclorama, the multi-turntables and that lighting carousel (which also projected images and dropped scrims and set pieces).  The narrative style of the book is in memory and the staging of the musical was a stunning representation of a memory piece.  To me, the "gloominess" was apt.  It's a mostly gloomy story.  The majority of her life in the book is filled with despair and disappointment.  "Happiness" and "love" were mostly just fanciful notions reserved for fiction.  

Obviously, I could talk about the show and the story endlessly.  I may just have to listen to the score again this afternoon.  And if you like Paul Gordon, see if you can snag a copy of the cast recording of Sense and Sensibility from the Shakespeare Theatre in Chicago.  It still needs some work, but the score contains many beautiful gems.  Wayne Wilcox continues to make me swoon in my seat, Sean Allan Krill simply steals your heart in precisely the way you wish to have it stolen (the video clip in the review below produces the same goosebumps I had when I saw the show and every time I listen to the recording) and Sharon Rietkerk continued her performance perfection, carried over from her Fiona in Brigadoon at the Goodman.  The design was quite stunning as well.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/theater/reviews/ct-sense-sensibility-review-20150430-story.html

More Paul Gordon, please.  *sigh*

Updated On: 8/31/18 at 03:25 PM

[Fan123]

Posted: 8/31/18 at 9:25pm

^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/

[Wick3]

Posted: 9/1/18 at 8:08am

Paul Gordon certainly has a way of writing musicals of classic English literature! :) 

@Lot666, back then I was a college student in nyc and I remember reading that article and how excited I was to see the show on Broadway. I agree with mistermatt that the set was 'gloomy' and any video recording probably wouldn't represent what it was like to be there (which makes sense since it's so hard to videorecord/capture light in dark settings.) Either way, the score is so beautiful that when I listen to it I can feel what the characters are feeling. That reminds me to start listening to the cast album again at some point this week.

[Elizabeth Moore]

Posted: 9/1/18 at 6:47pm

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!)

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 9/2/18 at 1:17am

newintown said: "It's interesting that we rarely question works of art that are widely called "classics." How many people know that Jane Eyre, although a best seller when released, was excoriated by critics, many of them feminists, in terms that make it sound as though it was seen as that age's version ofFifty Shades of Gray?"

Not to mention the 200 pages wherein Jane wanders in the snow, feeling shocked and appalled after discovering Mrs. Rochester! I've long thought that passage was proof that the Victorian middle class had too much free time.

[Wick3]

Posted: 9/2/18 at 9:50am

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!

[Wick3]

Posted: 9/3/18 at 8:17am

Saw this review of the Cleveland revised production and from a 3 hour show it is now a little bit over 2 hours! It loved Goss's performance as Jane Eyre. I'm quite excited!!!

Jane Eyre revised musical review

[Hum a tune]

Posted: 9/3/18 at 5:33pm

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.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 9/4/18 at 12:33pm

What about the Children of God sequence?  Was this rewritten or cut?  I was trying to work out how they would include it with only a cast of 10.  I can't imagine there would be more than two young girls in such a small cast.

[nfrjikgovf]

Posted: 9/4/18 at 12:46pm

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]

Posted: 9/4/18 at 2:05pm

The "Children of God" sequence is staged more like a memory tableau (I'm sure that's probably not the correct description, but I hope that helps you envision it).  During the intense driving music of the opening of that song, in place of the turntable, a large basic wooden staircase is brought out and moved around so that the headmaster stands atop and sings toward the audience. The only child is Young Jane, but it is very clear that there are other children at the school.  Helen is played by an ensemble member quite convincingly as the older student/friend.  Young Jane has to stand on the stool with the word Liar hung around her neck.  She and Helen are punished and have to clean the floor.  The wonderful thing is that any theater company could add additional children to the scene, but it is no longer a necessity.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 9/4/18 at 2:56pm

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.

[Wick3]

Posted: 9/6/18 at 9:57am

The theater just published this trailer!

 

[Lot666]

Posted: 9/6/18 at 10:11am

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