Bicentenary minus one

The Western Courier reviews the Western Illinois University’s production of Jane Eyre the musical.

Whitney Willard plays Jane Eyre and her voice is flawless. Throughout the production Willard plays a perfectly witty Jane. This musical has Jane Eyre being a bit more passionate than the books, and it works.
Mr. Rochester, played by Grant Brown, is a comical character, with his stern moments. It is quite a different take on the traditional version.
The play opens with Willard introducing her young life. Her parents pass away from infection and she is shipped off to live with her Aunt and Uncle Reed. Once her uncle passes away, she is left neglected and tormented by her family. Eventually, they send her away to Lowood School for Girls.
Young Jane, played by Shannon Fields, is a passionate ball of fire. All she wants in life is fairness and love. However, her friend Helen teaches her the art of forgiveness.
When Jane grows up, she becomes a governess at Thornfield Hall for a man named Mr. Rochester. That is when Jane’s life changes forever.
The best part of the play by far, and perhaps the main reason I plan on seeing the play again this Wednesday, is when the gypsy comes to Thornfield and tells the fortunes of the residents at the hall. The singing and acting during that performance was spectacular.
Also, Kellie Nolan’s character Bessie is hilarious. She plays such a wonderful comedic relief character, and she could not do a better job. [...]
Western’s production of “Jane Eyre” is fantastic and definitely deserves to be watched over and over until it is gone. (Jessie Sheley)

Chicago Now's Big Words and Little Birds looks into the 'birth of horror' and passes through the Gothic genre.

[S.T.] Joshi states that while Walpole's work served as a basis or a framework for the gothic novel, many gothic writers "consciously departed" from his model, and thus the genre sees works that improve upon and better the elements present in Otranto, from minds such as Ann Radcliffe, Shelley, Poe, Henry James, and the Brontë sisters. (Melissa Baron)

The Galloway Gazette features a forthcoming talk/tour, 'Discovering Crockett’s Galloway' on the novels by SR Crockett and the real-life backgrounds where they were set.

Nowadays SR Crockett is best known for his novel “The Raiders” - his stirring tale of smugglers and gypsies which ranges from Heston Island on the Auchencairn coast to the fastnesses of the Galloway Hills, the Silver Flowe and Loch Neldricken. However Crockett wrote many adventure and romantic tales featuring the history, characters and folklore of Galloway , including sequel and prequel to “The Raiders” – “The Dark o’ the Moon” and “Silver Sand;’ and “Men of the Moss Hags” about the Covenanters and the Killing Times. All of these novels feature lovely, evocative descriptions of the countryside, sometimes using real place names but on other occasions tantalisingly masking the real places with fictional names. Cally has done the work to untangle this and will lead the audience into the world of Crockett’s Galloway from the 17th to 19th century with the aid of extracts from the novels and visual images.
Joan Mitchell. Chair of the festival committee said: “Some novelists have the ability to make the landscape setting an integral part of their story, conjuring up vibrant images of the countryside so that some areas of the country are for ever associated with these writers. Thomas Hardy’s Wessex and the Yorkshire Moors of the Brontë sisters are good examples. SR Crockett, writing in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, did the same for Galloway but unfortunately his work, which was hugely popular in his time, has fallen out of favour, at least until now when thanks to Cally’s work it is beginning to enjoy a revival.

Coincidentally, there's another Galloway in the news today as The Herald Scotland has George Galloway discuss 'the diverse and controversial Bradford West seat', described as

a constituency where mosques stand alongside churches, derelict mills crumble next to modern apartment blocks, independent shops and businesses line the streets and the famous rugged countryside of the Brontë sisters lies just minutes away from the terraced houses of the city.

Jezebel has an article on the 'doomed' relationship between Calvin Harris and Taylor Swift:

Romeo and Juliet. Heathcliff and Cathy. Taylor Swift and Calvin Harris. Some relationships are doomed from the start.
While most tragic romances are torn apart by feuding families, wars, or the untamable Yorkshire moors, Calvin and Taylor face a very different problem: Calvin is allergic to Taylor Swift’s beloved cats. (Madeleine Davies)

And finally, today is of course Charlotte Brontë's 199 birthday. Her bicentenary minus one and both BBC News and the Yorkshire Post extract from the Brontë Society's press release what to expect next year. Frock Flicks posts about Jane Eyre costumes in films and series. BookRiot has a guest post from Patricia Park, the author of Re Jane: A Novel, a Korean-American retelling of Brontë’s Jane Eyre set in Queens, Brooklyn, and Seoul (forthcoming with Pamela Dorman Books/Viking, Penguin on May 5). Hard Book Habit revisits Jane Eyre.