Saturday night, I had the pleasure of seeing one of the best new musicals I've seen in a long time. Theatreworks, the best local theatre company South of A.C.T. is currently running (extended through this week) Emma, story by Jane Austen, music and adaptation by Paul Gordon. I highly recommend it.
Given the success of the recent film adaptation of Pride and Prejudice and this year's movie, Becoming Jane about Jane Austen, writer also of Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park and Persuasion, all of which have been made into films at one point or another including Emma, it should come as no surprise that someone would try making one of Austen's works into a musical.
Having generally high expectations of musicals, I tried to lower mine assuming for a local theatre production we would be lucky just to have the principals sing on pitch, but I was pleasantly surprised. In fact, I liked this musical more than some recent musicals I've seen on Broadway and in the West End. I wouldn't be surprised if the script is picked-up and produced next in New York, so get tickets here.
A little about the playwright/composer/lyricist - Paul Gordon is best known for writing "Next Time I Fall" sung by Peter Cetera and Amy Grant. He also wrote the theme song for "Ally McBeal". He also adapted Jane Eyre as a musical for Theatreworks in 2003. In Emma, he selected a nice mix of scenes to keep with the story line, and he infused a rich level of humor both in the dialogue and the music. The show flew by.
The actors in the Theatreworks production are superb, and the set - although minimal - quite appropriate and well designed. It's a period piece, so you'll see that in the costuming and hear it in the language. The actors do a good job with accents and their singing impressed me as someone who has performed in musicals in the past.
The real key for me was whether I would like the music. Some musicals, like Blood Brothers and Rent frankly never impressed me for their music. So I was happy when the reprise of one of the songs, "Emma," was still in my head the following day. The songs are original and musically interesting, rather than stagnant or following some cookie-cutter pattern often seen in today's musicals. They blended well together, but they didn't all sound the same. Offering a broad range for those singing and accompanied by light piano and strings, Emma brings a breath of fresh air.
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