Gordon & Caird's Jane Eyre in Marietta

A student production of Gordon & Caird's Jane Eyre: The Musical opens today, January 30, at the Marietta College, Marietta, Ohio:

Jane Eyre: The Musical

Music & Lyrics by Paul Gordon, Book by John Caird
Directed by Stephen M. Rader
Musical Director by Daniel Tadlock

All performances are in the Friederich Theatre of the Hermann Fine Arts Center on the Marietta College campus

Charlotte Bronte's beloved tale of a girl who loves a man she believes is beyond her reach, set to a glorious and moving score that will have you humming along.

January 30, 31, February 1, 6, 7 at 8:00 p.m.
February 8 at 2:00 p.m.

Of the production, senior musical theatre major Britney Koser in the role of Jane Eyre says, “this is a nice approach to a classical story and the music is just beautiful. There are very sweet moments mixed funny moments.”

EDIT (30 January 2009):
The Marietta Times gives more information:

For principal performers Brittney Koser and Jim Vogt, "Jane Eyre: The Musical," opening this weekend at Marietta College, offers beautiful music and fine drama within a classic love story.
"The music is amazing," said Vogt, who portrays Rochester, the leading man. "It makes your work so much easier. You bring yourself to it." (...)
"I think that the biggest challenge for me in any performance, any role, is connecting with my character," Vogt said. "There was a bit of an age difference (18 vs. 40s) that I had to deal with."
Koser, 23, a senior at Marietta majoring in musical theater, said the novel "Jane Eyre" was one of her favorite books when she was growing up.
"I absolutely loved it," she said.
Unlike his leading lady, Vogt had never read Bronte's dramatic, sometimes dark, novel prior to this production.
"Now I have read it and liked it very much," he said. "Reading it filled in the blanks for me. I did have some questions about the story after the first reading, and the novel gave me background."
Vogt, a freshman and fine arts major, said a challenge outside of "finding" the sometimes brooding character is liking him.
"I find that one of the more essential things about playing the part is that you have to like what you are doing," Vogt said. "You have to like the character you play. You have to embrace it."
For Koser, a veteran of the musical stage, the role of Jane Eyre is not the kind she usually portrays.
"The biggest challenge for me is that I don't typically play a young leading lady," Koser said. "The music was all new to me, although I've taken voice lessons since I was 8 years old."
There is also plenty of dialogue between the music - and some more light-hearted moments.
"The biggest thing we've noticed is sometimes, not often, the dialogue seems a bit melodramatic, almost like a soap opera at times," Koser said. "It follows the novel somewhat, but some things had to be omitted, obviously, because of time constraints."
The Theatre at Marietta College production is directed by Stephen Rader with musical direction by David Tadlock. (Connie Cartmell)

Categories: Jane Eyre, Music, Theatre