The Brontë Boy and Bernard J. Taylor's Wuthering Heights

A couple of Brontë-related plays open today, April 8:

1.  A Encore Drama production of a new text by Michael Yates:

The Brontë Boy
by Michael Yates
Directed by Colin Lewisohn

A Yorkshire story of genius and madness that thrilled the world!
The Brontë Boy is the tragic account of the life of Branwell Brontë, it is the ultimate Victorian failure story.
Groomed from childhood to be the family genius, he was doomed to failure among his marvellously talented sisters, slipping ever more quickly down the road of drink, drugs and despair.

The company goes on Yorkshire tour:

Bradford
Friday 8th and Saturday 9th April at 19.30
Bradford Playhouse Theatre,
Leeds
Thursday 14th, Friday 15th and Saturday 16th April at 19.15
The Carriageworks
Halifax
Wednesday 20th and Thursday 21st April at 20.00
Square Chapel Theatre
Wakefield
Wakefield Drama Festival
Tuesday 31st May at 19.30
Theatre Royal

More information on BBC Leeds. A trailer of the production can be watch on YouTube.

2.  In Ashland, Kentucky, a production of Bernard J. Taylor's Wuthering Heights musical:

Ashland Community & Technical College presents

Wuthering Heights

Book, Music and Lyrics by: Bernard J. Taylor
Direction by: Edward Figgins
Musical Direction by: Kathy Saltsman
Orchestra Direction by: Eric Akers

April 8, 9, 15, 16 at 8:00PM
April 10, 17 at 2:30PM
in the J. B. Sowards Theatre

Blaine Roberts, a sophomore at Raceland-Worthington High School, is “Heathcliff” and Lauren Saltsman, a junior at Greenup County High School, is “Cathy.” ACTC Theatre major Alana Mullins from Russell is the narrator “Nellie,” and ACTC Associate Professor and Director of Theatre Edward Figgins is “Hindley.” (Cast)

The Brontë sisters need no introduction: their lives and works are known not only to the English-speaking nations but to the world as a whole. Wuthering Heights is an intensely dramatic work, charged with emotion; it is not surprising that many dramatists, choreographers, lyricists and composers have been drawn to recreate it for stage and screen. There have been seven major films between 1920 and 1991 and in addition there has been a ballet (1982), and opera (1967) and numerous adaptations and plays, including several for television — and not forgetting Kate Bush’s song “Wuthering Heights” which topped the charts! Bernard J. Taylor’s work marks the first time that the true spirit and drama of Emily Brontë’s masterpiece has been captured in a musical. Was there ever a real Wuthering Heights?
Taylor's musical was the first stage adaptation of the story to be given the approval of the Brontë Society. The concept album was released by Silva Screen records in 1992, and opera star Lesley Garrett also used two of the songs for one of her best-selling solo albums. A 1994 amateur performance in the Netherlands was very successful and generated discussions for possible other productions. It has been running in repertoire in Poland since 1996 and Rumania since 1997. It debuted in Australia in 1998. ACTC Theatre’s production will be the first college to the present the musical.

More information in the Huntington Herald-Dispatch.

Categories: Branwell Brontë, Music, Theatre, Wuthering Heights