BrontëBlog

It captured the essence of the story

2008-05-17T17:13:00.004+02:00

A review of the new musical based on Jane Eyre recently premiered in Redlands, California has been published in the Redlands Daily Facts:

LifeHouse's new musical "Jane Eyre" accomplished what I think is most important in the adaptation of a book: It captured the essence of the story.
"Jane Eyre," the 46th new musical in the theater's 14 years, is based on the novel by Charlotte Bronte. Of all the books I had to read in high school, it was one of the few I liked. I have read it a few times since then.
Jane (Jennifer DeWitt) has a Dickensian childhood and becomes a governess at an estate in England. She and the master of the house, Edward Rochester (Tedd Smith), fall in love and plan to be married before the revelation of a mystery and Jane's morals force her to leave.
LifeHouse is, of course, a Christian theater, and works Christian themes into all its productions. In the case of "Jane Eyre," it was in line with the book. Producer Wayne Scott in his message in the program cited Jane's reliance on God in the novel.
Blending Christian themes into "Jane Eyre" enhanced the show and stayed true to the source material (why change a good story?). I could tell that some of the dialogue came straight from the book, which I thought was cool.
The production depicted some of the key scenes very well, such as Rochester's and St. John Rivers' proposals to Jane. The scene in which Rochester disguises himself as a fortune teller to discover Jane's true feelings was funny - I could tell Smith particularly got a kick out of that scene.
LifeHouse made good use of the theme of God caring for orphans and the lonely. This was particularly embodied in the character of Helen Burns, Jane's school friend.
The action moved quickly and hit all the main points of the story. The one deviation was that Rochester stays at the ruins of Thornfield instead of living in a smaller house after the fire. The scene when Jane comes back is one of the best and most satisfying in the book, and LifeHouse handled the second half of that better than the first. Rochester's physical condition in the last scene was also a departure from the novel - but I won't give anything away.
DeWitt did well as Jane - reserved yet outspoken at times, intelligent, compassionate. Her character made the most of her circumstances, an important trait Jane has in the novel.
Smith as Rochester was robust and lively, not quite as stormy as Bronte paints him. Both of them have good singing voices.
Shannon Michel as the servant Hannah was funny and Jeremy Yeo as St. John played the straight arrow well. Michelle Nelson as young Jane was very good, both acting and singing. Kayla Curtis was endearing as Adele, Rochester's ward.
Garbiel Arroyo as Mr. Brocklehurst, Nicole Prusa as Grace Poole and JulieAnn Thomazin as Blanche Ingram gave good character performances.
Because I've read the book a few times, I focused more on the story than the songs. A few of the songs were memorable - "Work Song" and "Could He Love Me?" played in my head after I left. Unlike some musicals, which seem to have songs wedged into the story, the songs complemented the story. The script, music and lyrics were by Jana Smith and additional music and lyrics were by Scott and Brad Roseborough. "Jane Eyre" was directed by Deborah Race.
The choreography by Dustin Ceithamer was appropriate for the scene - the orphan girls were more solemn than in "Annie," for example. "Perfection," an ensemble number, was fun and lent comic relief.
The show started 10 minutes late and the spotlight seemed slow in following the action. But it was opening night, so I will leave a little wiggle room for jitters and glitches.
One last point: I know LifeHouse is in the business of musicals, but I think it would have been interesting if "Jane Eyre" hadn't been done as a musical. It is a good enough story to stand on its own without songs. But as I said before, the songs didn't detract anything, either. (Joy Juedes)

Categories: Jane Eyre, Music, Theatre

Roaming Haworth Moor in quest of their alter ego

2008-05-17T17:00:00.003+02:00

First, some reviews of books with Brontë references more or less relevant: Stevie Davies (author of Emily Brontë: Heretic or Four Dreamers and Emily) reviews Anne Donovan's Being Emily for The Guardian:

Like the world of Wuthering Heights, Being Emily is built on the grave of a mother: "with her gone, things had got intae a guddle". In Emily Brontë's novel, the guddle takes the form of a romantic maelstrom of volcanic proportions in which God and man are called into question by the needy protagonists, Catherine and Heathcliff; who, seeking one another, fly asunder.
What sane person would actually want to be Emily Brontë? Even Emily Brontë did not always seem to savour it. But generations of Brontë readers have entertained the same fantasy, roaming Haworth Moor in quest of their alter ego, to encounter foul weather and return with a head cold. Sociopathic, riven, angrily shy, Emily acknowledged as her sole law the desire to go "where my own nature would be leading". Homeward.
In Being Emily, Anne Donovan leaves behind (but never very far behind) the quirky conceit of Buddha Da, which featured both on the Whitbread First Novel and Orange Prize shortlists. The new novel is a tender, lyrical coming-of-age narrative, its people drawn with love in that singing Glasgow voice that is Donovan's signature and which threads and unites all her characters' voices. Fiona O'Connell grows up the bookish and dreamy daughter of a Catholic family in which she has always played a maternal role, nurturing her almost supernaturally irritating identical twin sisters, Rona and Mona, and encouraging her sweet but helpless father. All the O'Connells are marked by mourning, as they suffer the death of the mother in childbirth.
Thinking herself into the mindspace of Emily Brontë is a way for the child Fiona to cultivate artistic identity and to call her soul her own in the midst of heaving domestic tumult. "Ah'd read that she baked the family's bread and learned German at the same time, book in fronty her." Emily, who probably spoke with an Irish-inflected Yorkshire brogue and could write a feisty, peaty Yorkshire vernacular, had created a subversive fastness for creative identity at the heart of family life. Fiona is mad on Emily. She goes to Haworth. Later, visiting the National Portrait Gallery, she sees that Branwell's portrait of Emily is a lie - a romanticisation. This is one step on the path to releasing her from Emily's ghost.
Being Emily commits itself, in the end, to a forgiving and rational vision of the world as it is: that is, to not being Emily (a more exact title, perhaps). Mother-loss pitches the O'Connells into the guddle of homelessness: "Mammy'd made it hame, and since she'd gone it wasnae hame any mair." Bitterly Fiona blames her grieving, alcoholic father when the flat burns down. Echoes of Wuthering Heights suffuse the narrative, but in the wistful minor key. As Heathcliff is to Cathy Earnshaw, so Jaswinder is to Fiona. Jas is a free-thinking Sikh who has also experienced loss. As they bend above a book, one sees "two heids, his hair dark and shiny and straight, mines tangled curls the colour of tea". Like Cathy, Fiona betrays her own heart - with Jas's brother, the flighty, sitar-playing Amrik. Mythic elements recur. Amrik, like a captured silkie, a fallen angel, cannot be expected to behave like a human being. His arrival in Fiona's life is that of "a force of nature, a great unstoppable wave destroying everything" - and results in her worst nightmare, an aborted foetus.
Not very Edgar Linton. A desolate girl's love-choice is described as a matter of life and death, heaven and hell, but Donovan calms the heroic Brontë tempest by infusing it with a saving humour, tolerance and good sense. Fiona grows up, as Catherine Earnshaw never will. At root, the novel is a portrait of the artist as a young woman. Out of the struggle and mess of her loss, Fiona produces an angry visual art with its own integrity: the broken heads of Barbie dolls superimposed on idyllic landscapes; a burning doll's house. Movingly, Fiona grows out of being Emily to become simply Fiona, her mother's daughter: "I had to rely on the spirit inside me, the one she'd helped to shape and form."

The Aberdeen Press & Journal reviews John Harwood's The Seance:

Written in a typical Victorian style, this novel is a must-read for fans of classic Victorian novels such as Frankenstein and Wuthering Heights. As John Harwood is a university English professor in Australia, it is not so surprising that he has taken inspiration from such great authors as Mary Shelley and Emily Bronte. (Jenny Thompson)

Jeannette Winterson suggests in The Times readings to shed some light on grief:

I went home and read Tennyson's In Memoriam, Emily Dickinson, Christina Rosetti, certain passages from Wuthering Heights. We all have our own list, I guess.

Stephenie Meyer's Brontëiteness appears once again in The Age. This time is the author herself saying:

Talking from her home in Phoenix, Arizona, Meyer, 34, says Twilight took her three months to write. She's the first to agree that her rapid transformation was surprising and says her love of literature had a lot to do with it. "I've read thousands of books, especially Austen, Shakespeare and the Brontes. It was as if I'd stored up all these words and now I had a story of my own." (Frances Atkinson)

Author Mark Blagrave is interviewed in The Telegraph-Journal (Canada). Jane Eyre is among his top-ten of books:

4. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte...
for its captivating characters and nearly unrelenting darkness; and for that very late-breaking moment when someone we thought was telling the story from outside suddenly becomes the main character with these simple words: "Reader, I married him."

Brief blogosphere mentions: Literaturblog von Nomadenseele posts about Agnes Grey, in German; Contemporary Traditions does the same with Jane Eyre; Hime-Sema No Heya discusses Wuthering Heights 1939.

And finally some news from our periodic section devoted to the fascinating world of the Brontë horses. The Independent (Ireland) publishes this enigmatic comment:

Fourth to Prima Luce on her recent Curragh comeback, Sharleez might have more scope for improvement than narrow Naas scorer Charlotte Bronte which was unable to make an impact in better company at Leopardstown last Sunday. (Damien McElroy)

Categories: Agnes Grey, Books, " ites="">, Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, References, Weirdo, Wuthering Heights

A Gifted Brother

2008-05-17T00:05:00.000+02:00

An alert from the Australian Brontë Association for today, May 17:

Sat 17th MAY Sarah Burns – BRANWELL BRONTË – A GIFTED BROTHER

2008 marks the 160th anniversary of the death of Patrick Branwell Brontë, the only son and fourth of Patrick and Maria Brontë’s six children. Branwell was a promising writer and artist with a rich imagination. Although he was the first of the Brontë siblings to appear in print, he would never gain money or success and was destined to live in the shadow of his three sisters – Charlotte, Emily and Anne. After attempts at careers as a painter, railway clerk and tutor, Branwell ended his days depressed, ill and addicted to alcohol and opium. His death on 24 September 1848 at the age of 31, from chronic bronchitis and marasmus (wasting of the body), greatly affected his family. In a letter to WS Williams of Smith & Elder on 6 October 1948, Charlotte said: “I … asked myself what had made him go ever wrong, tend ever downwards, when he had so many gifts to induce to, and aid in, an upward course … He is at rest, and that comforts us all. Long before he quitted this world Life had no happiness for him…”

Categories: Alert, Branwell Brontë, Talks

Wuthering Heights: the 'over the top luverly' mansion

2008-05-16T20:36:00.003+02:00

The news about Sienna Miller replacing Natalie Portman as Cathy have only left room in the press for weird stuff today. Such as this article from The Greeley Tribune on 'snoose' where the following is said:

One of the brighter (relative term) guys figured out that if he went into the library and pretended to be reading a book, the teacher who was in charge of the library was so pleased that we were actually reading, she would leave you alone. That was when you could get your hit of snoose. The problem of where to spit was easily solved. [...] The solution was to simply take a book off the shelf, open it, spit into the book, and then put it back on the shelf where it would likely rest undisturbed for at least the next three months. During this time, everything would dry out and the only evidence would be an ugly brown stain that would be heaviest on pages 104 and 105 but would fade out by pages 100 and 109. [...]
There developed a protocol for this procedure. Some books were sacrosanct. Nothing by Zane Grey, McKinley Cantor, Jack London or Robert Ruark could be touched. Other books were fair game. Such titles as "Jane Eyre," "Little Women," "A Tale of Two Cities" and anything by Laura Ingalls-Wilder were common depositories. (Bruce Florquist)

Ever wondered what that stain in that old library copy of Jane Eyre was? Ugh.

And the following comes from a naïve review of a place called Edna's Beach Café that appears on a reader's blog in The Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

Say hi to Heaven on the south side of the Island: Romance Alert! This original moody and mystical turn-of-the-century mansion is over the top luverly. You'll feel like you're walking into, uhm Wuthering Heights or maybe a Merchant/Ivory screenplay. (Kathe Fraga)

As if the mention of a Wuthering Heights by the sea wasn't strange enough - really, can you picture Lockwood saying that Wuthering Heights was 'over the top luverly'?

The Washington Blade presents an upcoming concert of the band Los Campesinos! in Washington like this:

Los Campesinos! at The Black Cat: This Welsh septet is known for playing a mix of punk/ pop that uses co-ed, half sang/half shouted vocals to create ridiculously energetic music. Their English-nerd lyrics reference Jane Eyre and list stationary as a means of arousal. All this, taken together, virtually guarantees a fun show. (The band plays at the Black Cat, 1811 14th St., NW. Doors open at 9, May 16) (Zack Rosen)

More information about the Jane Eyre reference in these previous posts.

Talking about music. Hampton Roads has chosen their 75 best original soundtracks. Wuthering Heights 1939 makes it to numer 74 thanks to Alfred Newman.

On the blogosphere today: Wuthering Expectations continues analyzing Jane Eyre: first there's a post entitled Jane Eyre and Helen Burns - the impalpable principle of light and thought and then another post called Jane Eyre - creativity, revenge and the art of the novel. The first draft of anything is shit... (sic) posts also about Jane Eyre. Littérature audio.com posts an audio version of Jane Eyre in French.

Also in French is this post on Wuthering Heights from Nature et Culture. The A.C.S. Lewis and Inklings Resource blog finds Wuthering Heights similarities in the forthcoming movie The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.

Katie has got in touch with us to introduce her blog A Chainless Soul. These two early posts are certainly promising: Disproving "Emily's Journal" and The dodginess of adapting Jane Eyre.

And finally Intempol interviews author Kim Newman, who confesses he's 'a great admirer of Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea (a spin on Jane Eyre)'.

Categories: Audio-Radio, Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, Music, Weirdo, Wide Sargasso Sea, Wuthering Heights

Sienna Miller, the new Cathy?

2008-05-16T06:13:00.002+02:00

According to the Daily Mail:

Sienna Miller is in early talks to play Cathy, the heroine of Wuthering Heights, while Michael Fassbender the fast-rising London-based actor has now signed (as this column was first to predict) to play the brooding figure of Heathcliff.
Sienna entered negotiations following the dramatic withdrawal from the production of actress Natalie Portman.
Ms Portman, by the way, may have a hard time avoiding those involved in Wuthering Heights at the Cannes Film Festival, since she happens to be on the main jury.
This column broke the news that Portman entranced director John Maybury after actively pursuing the role of Cathy Earnshaw.
Maybury and producers from Ecosse and Hanway Films were so taken by Portman's enthusiasm that they handed her the role - plus casting approval over who would play Heathcliff, and she accepted.
Then, with little warning, she quit.
Maybury had already screen-tested Fassbender and was knocked out by the power of his acting. The actor's portrayal of IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands was being shown last night at the Cannes Film Festival.
Robert Bernstein, from Ecosse, told me: "Michael's our Heathcliff. He has the raw quality we were looking for. He's the right actor for the role, and he has a sense of star quality about him."
Understandably, the film-makers were being cautious about Sienna because they are only informal talks at present.
But the actress has worked with Maybury before so he knows the score and should be able to keep her fully engaged on the project at hand, and persuade her that, for three months, she can miss out on going to fashionable restaurants so he can extract a top performance from her.
For whatever reason, Sienna has become more famous for her celebrity than her acting. But in Maybury's forthcoming film The Edge Of Love, Sienna does her best screen work (as does Keira Knightley) as Caitlin Mac-Namara, wife of Dylan Thomas. (Baz Bamigboye)

Categories: Movies-DVD-TV, Wuthering Heights

Private Sphere to World Stage

2008-05-16T00:05:00.000+02:00

A newly published scholar book with Brontë content:

Private Sphere to World Stage from Austen to Eliot
by Elizabeth Sabiston, York University, Canada

* Imprint: Ashgate
* Illustrations: Includes 1 b&w illustration and 1 line drawing
* Published: May 2008
* Format: 234 x 156 mm
* Extent: 224 pages
* Binding: Hardback
* ISBN: 978-0-7546-6174-0
* Price : £50.00 » Online: £45.00

Emily Dickinson's poem, 'This is my letter to the World/ That never wrote to Me --', opens the Introduction, which focuses on the near-anonymity of nineteenth-century women novelists. Close readings of works by five British novelists—Jane Austen, Charlotte and Emily Brontë, Elizabeth Gaskell, and George Eliot—offer persuasive accounts of the ways in which women used stealth tactics to outmaneuver their detractors. Chapters examine the 'hidden manifesto' in Austen's works, whose imaginative heroines defend women's writing; the lasting impact of Jane Eyre, with its modest heroine who takes up the pen to tell her own story, even on male writers outside the English tradition; Cathy's testament as the 'ghost-text' of Wuthering Heights; and the shifting gender roles in Daniel Deronda, with its silenced heroine and androgynous hero. Though the focus is on British novelists, Sabiston's discussion of the Anglo-American connections in the factory novels of Elizabeth Gaskell and the slavery writings of Harriet Beecher Stowe has particular relevance for its demonstration of how the move from the private to the public sphere enables and even compels the blurring of national and ethnic boundaries. What emerges is a compelling argument for the relevance of these novelists to the emergence in our own time of hitherto-silenced female voices around the globe.

A couple of chapters are specifically Brontë-related: Not carved in stone: women's hearts and women's texts in Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre and Cathy's book: the ghost-text in Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights.

Categories: Books, Scholar

Michael Fassbender confirmed as Heathcliff

2008-05-15T22:15:00.006+02:00

The Hollywood Reporter confirms what was already vox populi. Ecosse's Wuthering Films film project has secured Michael Fassbender as Heathcliff:

CANNES -- At least one half of the casting crisis facing John Maybury's "Wuthering Heights" has been solved in the wake of Natalie Portman's sudden decision to pull out of the headline role of Cathy.
Ecosse Films, the production house run by Robert Bernstein and Douglas Rae, which is producing the picture, said they have secured Michael Fassbender for the role of Heathcliff.
Fassbender stars in Steve McQueen's "Hunger," which heralded the beginning of Cannes sidebar Un Certain Regard on Thursday.
Bernstein described the Heathcliff role as "one of the most powerful and iconic romantic roles" in cinema.
Finance and sales company HanWay is repping the title for sales here.
Portman's exit left the financiers, sellers and producers rattled just days ahead of the fest.
HanWay Films is hoping to have a replacement for Portman "within days" in the role of Cathy.
Written by Olivia Hetreed, who also undertook the adaptation of "Girl With a Pearl Earring," the new adaptation plans to steer away from "the stuffy costume drama" format.
Emily Bronte's novel centers on the intense love story between the rich Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, a foundling brought from the slums of Liverpool. (Stuart Kemp)

Variety adds:

“Fassbender has a touch of genius about him,” said HanWay’s chief exec Tim Haslam. “He’ll be a revelation — brooding, wild and dangerous — he could be a Brando for Britain.” (Ali Jaafar)

EDIT:
From The Independent (May 17):

A spokesperson for Ecosse Films, the British production company, said it had secured the actor, according to the Hollywood Reporter. "Michael's our Heathcliff. He has the raw quality we were looking for," said the spokesperson. "He's the right actor for the role, and he has a sense of star quality about him."
Tim Haslam, the chief executive of HanWay, which is handing the film's international sales, added: "He'll be a revelation – brooding, wild and dangerous – he could be a Brando for Britain." John Maybury, who is directing the film, was said to be gripped by the power of Fassbender's acting in the screen test. (Arifa Akbar)

Picture: Michael Fassbender yesterday, May 15, in Cannes. Source.

Categories: Movies-DVD-TV, Wuthering Heights

“How did a generation of women grow up wanting to marry Edward Rochester?”

2008-05-15T13:04:00.008+02:00

A.J. Kiesling writes for Crosswalk.com:

I once read a magazine article with the opener: “How did a generation of women grow up wanting to marry Edward Rochester?” The protagonist of Charlotte Bronte’s classic Jane Eyre is dark, brooding, intelligent, quick-witted yet cynical. Still, for all his negative qualities (Jane herself describes him as “not handsome”) Rochester manages to captivate not only Jane but thousands of female readers who have read the novel during the nearly two centuries since Bronte penned it. The same could be said for Jane Austen’s elusive Mr. Darcy. Brooding, arrogant, disagreeable… Yet one key attribute sets both men apart—and, I suspect, keeps the women who read about them yearning to encounter just such a man in real life: Deep inside, both Darcy and Rochester are deeply passionate souls, and in the course of their respective stories, they step up to the plate and let their romantic feelings for the girl be known. They arrive at a point in time where the ardor of their affections forces them to “declare themselves” to the girl or woman of their choosing. In short, they pursue.

A couple of blogs write about the great book that Jane Eyre indubitably is: Nadine's attempt to read 1001 books before she dies and A Frivolous Thought (although this one has a picture of Becoming Jane to illustrate the post... ahem). Wuthering Expectations looks into the question of Jane Eyre and fairies.

Thus, with this evidence and a lot more of it in this blog's archives we bring this from The California Aggie:

Jane Eyre. Charlotte Brontë. Just kidding. If you see someone reading this book, slap it out of their hands and tell them to get a job. (K.C. Cody)

Our alternative version would be:

If you see K.C. Cody, smack him/her with your well-thumbed copy of Jane Eyre and tell her/him to learn a thing or two about literature before making sweeping statements.

Finally, Crónicas del Pájaro que Da Cuerda reviews - in Spanish - Una novela real by Minae Mizumura.

Categories: Books, Jane Eyre

London Children's Ballet's Jane Eyre

2008-05-15T00:21:00.001+02:00

As we have been publishing these last few weeks, the London Children's Ballet premieres today, May 15, a new production based on Jane Eyre (originally premiered by the London Children's Ballet in 1994, with an original score by composer Julia Gomelskaya and choreography by Polyanna Buckingham.). The new choreography is by Nicole Tongue.

London Children's Ballet
Jane Eyre
15-18 May 2008

Peacock Theatre
Portugal Street, Holborn
WC2

Premiere Performance: Thu 15 at 7pm
Public Performances: Fri 16 at 7.30pm, Sat 17 at 2pm & 5.30pm, Sun 18 1pm & 4.30pm
from £14 (book via Sadler’s Wells Ticket Office)

The London Children’s Ballet has adapted Charlotte Brontë’s classic Jane Eyre to thrill boys and girls of all ages.

The ballet opens with the forgotten chapter of the young Jane living with her cruel Aunt who banishes her to a bleak life at Lowood Charity School where she stays until her appointment as governess at Thornfield Hall. There Jane finds a world of parties, Mr Rochester and a web of mystery leading to the fateful night of the great fire…

Dance UK interviews Nicole Tongue:

The young dancers of Jane Eyre will learn a great deal working with you and each other. For some this will be the first professional experience of their young careers. What will you take with you from this production and how does this affect the next one?
Nicole Tongue in rehearsal with the dancers of London Childrens Ballet, Photography Pedro FerrerI always leave a children’s production with an immense sense of awe regarding their achievement. Mainly because I’ve aimed dangerously high and the children have risen to the challenge. Time is always an issue because you are at the mercy of the children’s learning speed. For Jane Eyre we only come together once a week on a Sunday so the lack of continuity has been a noticeable challenge. This combined with being a perfectionist has certainly increased the stress levels. However my ballet mistress has encouraged me keep moving forward, even when it’s felt like the bare bones of the ballet are barely there, and sure enough it’s now complete and in the process of being cleaned and the cleaning process is slow.
I shall most likely leave this production moved and inspired by the children’s personal stories and journeys; but also mindful of realistic outcomes, the need to be in the moment, not driven by time, and the importance of refilling my energy tank. (Anja Schall)

Categories: Dance, Jane Eyre

"The Brontës' works weren't the cosy classics many see them as today"

2008-05-14T14:08:00.004+02:00

The Yorkshire Post summarises the recent news about the two new film/TV adaptations of Wuthering Heights and asks Alan Bentley, director of the Brontë Parsonage Museum, for his opinion:

But it's fair to say that popular books don't usually transfer well to the screen, which is why some Brontë enthusiasts are a little concerned with two new
screen versions of Wuthering Heights about to go into production.
Their fears won't have been allayed by reports that the rival adaptations, which both begin filming later this year, are going for radically different takes on Emily Brontë's classic tale of obsession and revenge.
A three-part television version for ITV described by insiders as "edgy, cool and raw" will see a distraught Heathcliff take his own life on hearing news of Cathy's death. Meanwhile the British film version is expected to stick closer to the idea of the two being childhood sweethearts, with Keira Knightley and Lindsay Lohan both reportedly vying for the role of Cathy. (...)
Alan Bentley, director of the Brontë Parsonage Museum, in Haworth, hopes the new film versions will be true to the spirit of the original. "One of the strengths of the Brontës' books is they have always inspired new adaptations whether it's a film,
or a painting.
"I think they ought to try and keep to the basics of the plot, but ultimately what we are here to do is bring the book to as many people as possible, and film and TV adaptations reach a bigger audience than we can, so we're quite supportive in general," he says.
"I don't think any adaptation has ever really captured the essence of Wuthering Heights, but that's often the fate of novels because they tend to be more complex.
"Maybe the edgy re-interpretations will give people an idea of the impact the novel had at the time, because it was seen as very radical, it was thought of as being raucous, full of bad language and encouraging moral depravity.
"The Brontës' works weren't the cosy classics many see them as today. Wuthering Heights is edgy and it's not certainly not Jane Austen."
However, he accepts that not everyone will like the new films. "I'm sure there will be some purists who will be deeply disappointed, and I can understand that, but I think it's important to remember that a film can't do the same things as a novel," he says.
"But what it can do is encourage people who haven't heard of the Brontës before, to go and read their extraordinary books and find out more about these remarkable daughters of an obscure vicar from Yorkshire." (Chris Bond)

The Charleston City Paper reviews The Boat by Nam Le and describes it like this:

Not yet 30, Le effortlessly gives all seven tales in The Boat a different register, structure, vocabulary, and tone. "Halflead Bay," which unfolds in Australia, where Le partially grew up, is a wind-swept, craggy love story — a modern day Wuthering Heights set on the Continental Shelf. (John Freeman)

The Orange County Register publishes yet another review of the recent performances of Gordon & Caird's Jane Eyre: A Musical Drama in Huntington Beach, California:

In a dark and lonely manor with eerie laughter floating through its halls, an unconventional love affair begins to bloom in Brethren Christian's dynamic production of "Jane Eyre: A Musical Drama."
Based on the classic novel by Charlotte Bronte, "Jane Eyre" follows the life of a young woman who conquers her adversarial circumstances to ultimately find love and acceptance. When Jane, a poor orphan with a blunt tongue and an iron will, falls in love with the mysterious Mr. Rochester, they must fight societal conventions and the secrets of Rochester's past to prove themselves "brave enough for love."
Kelsey Coleman and Patrick Quinn bring comic relief to the somber drama as Mrs. Fairfax and Robert, respectively. Coleman's wild gestures and loud, incongruous retorts upon first meeting Jane immediately establish the bubbly and lovably deaf nature of her role, while Quinn's irritated expressions and biting remarks show his character's disgruntled attitude toward his servile position.
Taylor Lardas is both captivating and fearsome as Bertha, the mad wife of Rochester. Her inane singing, frenzied pacing and wild appearance make her performance hauntingly bestial. In contrast to her untamed nature is the stolid and unmovable disposition of Grace Poole, played by Amanda Martin. Martin's drunken stagger and glowering looks legitimize Jane's nervous interactions with her character.
Nicole Braun rises to the challenge of capturing the complicated role of Jane Eyre. When around the other more dynamic and vivacious characters, her stiff posture and blank expression establish a quiet stage presence that accentuates Jane's silently resolved nature. In her solitary moments on stage, however, a new persona shines out. Her subtly passionate tones and anguished expression establish the caged emotions of her character.
Equally as expressive is Ryan Stong as the enigmatic Edward Rochester. His powerful, impassioned voice and brooding looks demonstrate a fiery yet self-contained demeanor that supplements the conflicted emotions of his role. In "The Gypsy," he proves to be as skillful at capturing comedic situations as he is at capturing the many dramatic moments of the show. Throughout the performance, both Braun and Stong consistently exhibit a very real and effective romance in their emotional duets on stage.
In the end, the show successfully transports the audience into the alluring world of Charlotte Bronte. With realistic characters and emotional songs, the cast of Brethren Christian's "Jane Eyre: a Musical Drama" powerfully captures a story that shows that everyone has a "hope of heaven." (Megan Petkovic)

DVD Verdict reviews A&E Romance Collection and, particularly, Jane Eyre 1997:

Orphaned at a young age, Jane Eyre is sent to an orphanage by her indifferent relatives. Finally ready to go out into the world, she is hired as governess at Thornhill, the estate of Edward Rochester. Rochester's a querulous man, with a colic temper and a manor in which odd things happen on a regular basis. Over time, Jane comes to love the irascible, enigmatic Rochester, who in turn professes his own love for Jane. For a brief instant, all is right in Jane's world—until her wedding day turns into a nightmare.
Did we really need another version of Jane Eyre? Charlotte Brontë's novel has been filmed no less than nineteen times—and that doesn't even count movies inspired by the novel, such as Val Lewton's I Walked With a Zombie. Surely one of those adaptations got it right. At least, I certainly hope so, because this one pretty much screws the pooch. The writers were brutal in their unholy quest to achieve a running time under two hours. Almost every subplot is gone—even Jane's childhood, which encompasses six or seven chapters in the novel, is glossed over in just a few minutes. As a result, the complexities of Jane's character fall by the wayside, and she becomes just another romantic heroine.
Samantha Morton (Emma) does a wonderful job as Jane (with what's left of her, at least), and is easily the strength of the production; unfortunately, the same can't be said for Ciaran Hinds as Rochester. His emoter has been cranked up to eleven; as a result, he's in turn too angry, too frustrated, and too emotional, with jarring transitions from one state to the next. It makes it very difficult to see what in him Jane finds so appealing. Rochester is usually considered a type of Byronic hero—moody, magnetic, and mysterious—but Hinds performance manages to downplay all of the romantic qualities of the type, resulting in a character who appears more dyspeptic than tortured. There's a certain amount of chemistry between the two, but this story demands not sparks between the leads, but raging bonfires, and that just doesn't happen.
If you are familiar with the novel and can fill in the plot gaps from memory, this is a somewhat passable adaptation, simply on the strength of Morton's performance. Those coming in blind—so to speak—probably won't care for it too much. (Judge Jim Thomas)

Rogue Weblog discusses Jane Eyre. Solodelibros reviews Wuthering Heights (in Spanish). Blog on Books talks about (briefly) The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. The Book Mine Set has a new Great Wednesday Compare: Charlotte Brontë vs Margaret Laurence. Last week's Brontë sisters fraticide battle has a curious final result:

The winner of last week's Great Wednesday Compare (Charlotte Brontë Vs. Emily Brontë Vs. Anne Brontë), with a final score of was Charlotte Brontë with 9 votes. Anne brought in 6, Emily had none.

Well-Behaved Women Rarely Make History posts about Charlotte Brontë's antipathy to Catholicism in Villette and The Professor.

Categories: Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, Music, The Profesor, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Theatre, Wuthering Heights

A new opera by Frédéric Chaslin

2008-05-14T00:12:00.000+02:00

A new opera based on Wuthering Heights has been composed, or is being composed, we don't exactly know. The French conductor, pianist and composer Frédéric Chaslin is the author of the music and P.H. Fisher has written the libretto.

The world premiere of the prelude took place in Oslo, Norway last April 26th during the opening of the brand new Oslo Opera House (as reported in KulturSpeilet). Fortunately the composer has a YouTube channel where you can listen to the (quite inspired) piece. We are really looking forward to hearing more.

Categories: Music, Opera, Wuthering Heights

A strong flavour of Jane Eyre

2008-05-13T16:33:00.004+02:00

The Orange County Register reviews the performances at the Brethren Christian Junior & Senior High School of Jane Eyre: A Musical Drama by Gordon & Caird:

A bedroom set aflame and haunting laughter is heard throughout the halls. Who is responsible? What secrets hide behind the walls? In the midst of it all, two people fall in love. But how will they live happily ever after?
Charlotte Brontë's masterpiece arrives on stage at Brethren Christian High School's production of "Jane Eyre: A Musical Drama." Nominated for a Tony for Best Musical in 2001, John Caird's and Paul Gordan's musical closely resembles the novel, following the title character as she finds her true love only to discover Thornfield's best kept secret.
The strong cast of both junior and high school students was anchored by the talents of Nicole Braun (Jane Eyre) and Ryan Strong (Edward Rochester). In "Sirens," their beautiful voices wove together to produce a heart-wrenching duet of their seemingly unrequited love. In "The Captive Bird," Braun's expressive face attempted to hide her shock when Rochester easily recognized her desire for adventure. Her anger at her own foolishness in "Painting Her Portrait" demonstrated her versatility and ease with changing moods. Strong's transformation from the stiff and moody Rochester into an old gypsy woman, complete with realistic falsetto, provided much-needed comic relief to an otherwise serious character.
J.T. Roque's portrayal of the preening, self-absorbed socialite Blanche Ingram contrasted well with that of Margaret Nkansah's Helen, whose mantra of forgiveness became a running theme. Taylor Lardas' (Bertha Mason) floating voice in "Sirens," as well as her dancing inbetween Braun and Strong visually reminded the audience that she stood between their happiness.
Robert's (Patrick Quinn) frustration at Mrs. Fairfax's (Kelsey Coleman) deafness provided comic relief in songs like "Perfectly Nice" and "The Master Returns." Amanda Martin (Grace Poole) added to her interpretation of the creepy maid with her insolent responses and expressions. The narrating ensemble spoke at the perfect pace, slowly enough to be understood but quickly enough for the story to continue.
The lighting design (Austin K. Johnston and Grant Carpenter) lit up most of the actors' faces. The stage crew (Josh Mar, Montgomery Shaw, Joey Shope, and Keegan Lund) ensured that all actors were ready for their entrances. The cast moved the chairs and tables quickly, entering and exiting without distracting from the other characters' songs.
Brethren Christian's exceptional production of "Jane Eyre: A Musical Drama" beautifully expressed the novel's messages of forgiveness, independence, and love. Brontë first published "Jane Eyre" in 1847, but these themes still resound over 160 years later. (Rebecca Miller)

It's not the first time that Stephenie Meyer's Twilight saga is linked with the Brontës. Wuthering Heights is an usual suspect but The Times also highlights Jane Eyre references:

Strip away the vampires and it is easy to see how the themes of Meyer's books appeal to teenagers, especially girls. The heroine is swept off her feet by a handsome hero. In the unremarkable Bella, who wins the heart of the charismatic man with a dark secret, there is a strong flavour of Jane Eyre. (Darmian Whitworth)

Another recurring topic in the Brontë news is Charlotte Brontë's fatal illness. Hyperemesis Gravidarum is the most probable candidate:

One of the defining symptoms of severe HG is that the drugs don't work, and there sadly isn't a whole other stable of drugs that medics are holding back for when things get really bad. One school of thought is that Charlotte Brontë probably died of severe HG, along with her unborn child. Elizabeth Gaskell identified her "sensations of perpetual nausea and ever-recurring faintness" but since, at that time and indeed until the middle of the last century, doctors thought morning sickness was psychosomatic - resulting from ambivalent feelings about becoming a mother - it could have been politeness that caused Brontë's doctor to write TB on her death certificate. Death from HG would probably be the result of kidney or heart failure. (Zoe Williams in The Guardian)

Johnstons at Tyndale posts about her visit to her recent trip to Haworth. Didascálias confronts Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea (in Portuguese). Much Madness is Divinest Sense reviews Jean Rhys's book. A.J. Kiesling is interviewed on Novel Journeys and once again she credits her Brontëiteness:

Other authors whose writings have influenced me are Gail Godwin, Sue Monk Kidd, NAME (Peace Like a River), C.S. Lewis, and the Bronte sisters.

Wuthering Expectations has two interesting posts on Jane Eyre. The first one traces book references and/or influences and the second one traces a chronology of the novel.

A Lady Bug's Books reviews Rachel Ferguson's The Brontës Went to Woolworths and A Girl Walks into a Bookstore discusses Laura Joh Rowland's The Secret Adventures of Charlotte Brontë:

I was enthralled by the mystery, which unfolded perfectly, and did not want this book to end. It’s a must read for anyone who enjoys the works of the Bronte sisters, and the book made me want to re-read Jane Eyre. (Katherine)

Finally, The Boylan Blog posts and analyzes Emily Brontë's poem Remembrance.

Categories: Books, Brontëites, Charlotte Brontë, Haworth, In the News, Jane Eyre, Music, Poetry, References, Theatre, Wide Sargasso Sea

Coky Giedroyc, director of the new Wuthering Heights series

2008-05-13T00:05:00.002+02:00

Coky Giedroyc, director of the most recent BBC version of Oliver Twist and the BAFTA Awards nominated miniseries The Virgin Queen, is the chosen director for the 3-part Wuthering Heights production. We read on the The Dench Arnold Agency website the following:

Marella Shearer (Makeup and Hair) is presently working on 'Wuthering Heights' directed by Coky Giedroyc and produced by Radford Neville for Mammoth Screen.

Some interesting coincidences (or not). Coky Giedroyc also directed some episodes of Blackpool, that was written by Peter Bowker who is now the author of the new WH script. And in Oliver Twist (2008) she directed Tom Hardy and Sarah Lancashire.

Categories: Movies-DVD-TV, Wuthering Heights

Victorian Night in Brooklyn

2008-05-13T00:02:00.000+02:00

An alert from Brooklyn, New York for today (May 13). A reading hosted by The Pacific Standard Fiction Series, will feature author Douglas A. Martin (Branwell. A novel of the Brontë Brother):

Pacific Standard Fiction Series: Victorian Night
featuring Arthur Phillips and Douglas A. Martin

Tuesday, May 13th, 7:00 p.m.
82 Fourth Avenue, Brooklyn, New York (betw. St. Marks and Bergen)
hosted by Garth Risk Hallberg

Books available on-site!
Drink specials to be chosen by dartboard!
The Spring Season Finale for New York Magazine's "Best New Literary Event!"

Douglas A. Martin's second novel, BRANWELL, was hailed as "a cohesive and convincing portrait of the lost, forgotten Brontë" by The Austin Chronicle. "Stylistically complex and emotionally evocative," Darcy Steinke wrote. "Branwell Brontë emerges as ...both muse and devil to his sisters' passions, giving us a new dimension to this ever fascinating family."

Categories: Alert, Branwell Brontë, Fiction, Talks

Heathcliff-esque moodiness

2008-05-12T14:14:00.004+02:00

The Independent presents the London Children's Ballet production of Jane Eyre, which will open on Thursday, May 15.

The London Children's Ballet is set to bring Charlotte Brontë's masterpiece, Jane Eyre, to London's West End. This adaptation, performed by 54 rising stars between the ages of nine and 15, follows the young orphan Jane's bittersweet journey from her bleak time at the charity school, Lowood, through to her tender relationship with Mr Rochester.
The new choreography, by Nicole Tongue, is set to a score composed by Julia Gomelskaya for the company's original production in 1997. It looks to be the latest success from the company, renowned for past performances such as The Scarlet Pimpernel.
A ballerina trained at London's Royal Ballet School, Tongue was commissioned to re-choreograph the work to suit a contemporary audience. "Jane Eyre is the story of one person's journey of self-discovery: as a young girl she learns to temper her anger and sense of injustice; as a woman she finds the courage to remain steadfast in her desires, and as an educated woman she finds the happiness that she is worthy of," says Tongue. "I hope the adults and the kids get a flavour of that through the show."
Turning to choreography was "a natural step" for Tongue, who started dancing aged three. She has choreographed for Birmingham Royal Ballet and Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.
For Jane Eyre, she auditioned 600 children and selected 52. "We want to give talented young dancers the chance to be part of a professional West End production. For the majority, this experience confirms their dreams. It is very exciting to see the children respond and pick up the steps very quickly. Jane Eyre is a dense and complex story, and when you see kids getting excited and enjoying it, it makes me excited." (Anjli Raval)

The more we read the more it sounds like a really unique take on the novel. Very worth it, we think, if you are in the area between May 15 and 18.

The Independent also has an article on the exhibition Lichfield at the Chris Beetles Gallery in London. The exhibition features the photographs taken by Patrick Lichfield. One of them sounds particularly interesting:

. . . a portrait of Oliver Reed in his overgrown greenhouse evokes the actor's wild, Heathcliff-esque moodiness. (Carola Long)

Click here to see the portrait.

Did you know that Carrie Bradshaw from Sex and the City and Jane Eyre could appear in the same paragraph along with Bridget Jones and Elizabeth Bennet? Here's proof, from The Telegraph:

For many women, she is as forceful a literary character as Jane Eyre or Elizabeth Bennet, and destined to play as pivotal a role in our cultural history as Bridget Jones. I am talking, of course, about Carrie Bradshaw, heroine of Sex and the City. (Bryony Gordon)

If you say so...

Today's blogs are mainly related to Jane Eyre: Bohenia has designed a pair of Jane Eyre-inspired earrings. Morsie Reads reviews briefly Dame Darcy's illustrated version of Jane Eyre. You Were There shares a few icons based on Jane Eyre 2006. And Uncle Eddie's Theory Corner posts a YouTube clip discussing Jane Eyre.

Finally, Harpham Pix posts what could be an HDR (?) image of the Black Bull.

Categories: Art-Exhibitions, Dance, Haworth, Jane Eyre, Weirdo

Jane Eyre in Ilkley and more

2008-05-12T00:20:00.002+02:00

Some days ago, the Ilkley Playhouse performed Polly Teale's Jane Eyre in Cumbria. Now, the company will be in their own city (Ilkley, West Yorkshire) for a brief season. As published in the Wharfedale & Airedale Observer:

The next production at Ilkley Playhouse is Jane Eyre' adapted by Polly Teale from the novel by Charlotte Bronte. It will be showing in the Wildman Studio from May 12-17 at 7.30pm each evening.
This interesting interpretation of Charlotte Bronte's classic novel will appeal both to those who are familiar with the story, as well as those who are coming to it for the first time.
Shared Experience Theatre Company staged this production originally in 1997 when it received wide critical and audience acclaim.
Writer Polly Teale has focussed on the two distinct sides to Jane Eyre's character: she is a calm, polite young Victorian woman who acts at all times in the manner expected of her, while underlying all this is a person who is passionate, sensual and, at times, angry. Director George Ritichie explains: "Polly Teale makes the confrontation between Jane and Rochester's secret wife, Bertha, as central to the story as that between Jane and her love Rochester. In doing so, Teale has twinned' Jane, making her two people - one composed, quiet, appropriate, conventional; a young woman who represses her desire, hunger, longing and rage, the other wild, violent, rebellious, engulfed in flame."
Director George Ritchie has Steve Mason as his assistant. Music has been composed by Paul Woodhouse and movement and dance is by Lisa Debney The cast is: Nikki Mason,Mervyn Button, Claire Seddo, Dick Hebbert, Ellen Shorrock, Nick Pennington, Yvette Huddleston, Carol Butler, Abigail Hilditch,Felicity Woodhouse, Kiera Benson and Tim Mutton.
Tickets are £7.50 and £6.50 concessions on Monday night only. To book, contact the Box Office on 01943 609539. (Rachel O'Connor)

And in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, a new performance of Jane Eyre: The Well Dresse d Governess:

Monday 12th May 9.30am - 4.00pm
£5 per person
Mercer Art Gallery
Costume talk with Gillian Stapleton, from Century Adventures Historical Wardrobe.
Using exquisite replica costume and lovely original items Gillian will examine Jane Eyre's wardrobe throughout her fictional life from charity schoolgirl to governess to bride.

In the picture: Gillian Stapleton as Jane Eyre in Replica costume. Source.

Categories: Alert, Jane Eyre, Talks, Theatre

Teenage Mums and Jane Eyre

2008-05-11T13:49:00.005+02:00

There's more Brontë in the news than just movie adaptations:

1. The Scotsman unveils an unexpected Jane Eyre reference in a documentary about teenage mothers, which will air tomorrow, May 12, in BBC2: Teen Mum High.

Meanwhile, Kayleigh's teacher, herself the adopted child of a teenage mother, displays both empathy for her young charges and a heroic commitment to change. Teaching a class on Jane Eyre, she's keen to emphasise its most pertinent lesson: the misfortunes of youth need not be a barrier to adult fulfilment. (Mik Duffy)

2. The Sri Lanka Sunday Times remembers the figure of P.K.D. Seneviratne (1917-1970):

P.K.D. Seneviratne was a distinguished poet and renowned script writer of the Sinhala cinema. A man with a vast knowledge of rural life, he wrote many scripts for radio dramas set against the village background. A schoolteacher by profession, he had a deep sympathy for the struggling village students.(...)
With the assistance of Ranjani Abeywardane, he translated Emily Bronte’s ‘Wuthering Heights’ into Sinhala language namely ‘Uruma Laddo’ and it was included in the school Sinhala syllabus for many years.(Dr. P.K. Ishanthe Gunatilake)

3. Some book reviews with Brontë references:
The News & Observer reviews Margot Livesey's The House of Fortune Street (check the previous link for other BrontëBlog mentions of this novel):

[Dara,] [o]nly 10 years old at the time that her father leaves (...) grows up feeling at least half an orphan, convinced that her life was blighted by its early sorrow. Terribly, she sees her life mirrored in Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë's passionate tale of loneliness, orphanhood, and thwarted desire. (Erin McGraw)

The Guardian reviews Call Me by Your Name by André Aciman:

His longing, touched with jealousy and soul-deep recognition, echoes Catherine's for Heathcliff: 'He is more myself than I am.' (Francesca Segal)

4. And the blogosphere: Fabulla talks about Les Hauts de Hurlevent (in French) and Bookwoorms and tea lovers does the same with Jane Eyre, The Lonely Artist reviews Maureen Adams's Shaggy Muses and several posts by Renata Cordeiro on the contemporary critical reception of Wuthering Heights (in Portuguese).

Categories: Books, Jane Eyre, References, Translations, Wuthering Heights

ITV's Wuthering Heights Cast

2008-05-11T12:33:00.008+02:00

The Telegraph publishes new details of the ITV's Wuthering Heights three-part TV project and the parallel Ecosse Films WH film project. Some aspects become clarified.The Mammoth Screen production for ITV casts Tom Hardy (in the picture) as Heatchliff, Katie Riley as Cathy, Andrew Lincoln as Edward Linton (who was previously reported to be the Linton of the other version!) and Sarah Lancashire (maybe as Nelly Dean? In the picture. Credits: Neil Marland). And Michael Fassbender seems to be the chosen Heathcliff for the film project.

Now, two of the hottest stars around will cast their spell as Heathcliff in rival versions of Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights.
Tom Hardy, 30, who won huge acclaim in Stuart: A Life Backwards, is being tipped to star in a three-part television version for ITV.
Michael Fassbender, 31, the star of Hex and 300, is being lined up by the producers of a British film version.
The competing adaptations, which will begin shooting later this year, will offer radically different takes on the classic 1847 novel.
The ITV drama will co-star newcomer Katie Riley as Cathy, and feature Andrew Lincoln and Sarah Lancashire in other key roles.
The production is being described as "edgy cool and raw" by sources close to the project.
In this version a distraught Heathcliff will kill himself on hearing the news about Cathy's death.
The film version, which has yet to cast the central female role of Cathy, is likely to stick more closely to the idea of Heathcliff and Cathy being teenagers.
Its script has been written by Olivia Hetreed, who wrote the screenplay for the acclaimed film adaptation of Girl With A Pearl Earring.
Robert Bernstein, a producer with Ecosse, said: "Heathcliff is an immigrant thrust into a family, a social experiment gone wrong. It goes haywire.
"He's not domesticated enough to control his passions, which bubble out of control. Cathy can't let go of him – although he represents all the things she's scared of."
Patsy Stoneman, a Bronte specialist and the author of several books on Wuthering Heights, welcomed the new adaptations but said she doubted whether either project would capture the essence of the novel.
"There has never been a definitive visual adaptation and there never will be," she said.
"They are all partial perspectives on the novel, and it's not like you can add them all together to make a whole." (Chris Hastings and Beth Jones)

Thanks to the anonymous reader who has pointed us in the right direction.

Categories: Movies-DVD-TV, Wuthering Heights

"So what if the Canadian actress Ellen Page has been cast as Jane Eyre?"

2008-05-11T12:32:00.002+02:00

We published some days ago a post trying to cover some of the reactions caused by the casting of Ellen Page as Jane Eyre in a BBC Films/Ruby Films film project. Today, The Independent devotes an entire article to the question that acts almost as a summary of the arisen controversy. Nina Gold, acclaimed casting director, has a clear view on the subject:

All the fuss about Ellen Page being cast as Jane Eyre for a BBC film is misplaced. I think she's got the part because she's a really good actress and the producers must think she's the best person for the part. Not to cast on the basis of her being the wrong nationality would be mad. Page has shown her range not only in Juno, but also in her breakout role in Hard Candy, where she played a young girl with an internet stalker who is not as innocent as she seems.
I think we, the British, feel very proprietorial about Jane Eyre, and the fact that people associate Page with a very young culture is another hurdle for them to get over to allow her to be a classical heroine – but I reckon she's got a lot more than just the Juno string to her bow. She can really act.
In terms of casting for major films, the world is a tiny place these days and the film industry is international. For casting directors, it's natural to look wider than just within Britain. (...) (Read more)
It maybe easier to play Jane Eyre than a contemporary British character because there's a cultural foundation. It's not just about the accent; there's a whole culture to absorb and put into the character. However, there are challenges for any actor playing a 19th-century character, whether it's Ellen Page or Emma Thompson. (...)
Perhaps there is something else going on with the casting of Page. Film producers want stars that can "open" a film, and it's a hard fact of movie-making that economics are important. Even if you want to make the film with a little-known but brilliant British actress, if no one will give you the money to do that, then the film just doesn't get made. But having said that, luckily Ellen Page is very much up to the task, as well as being a name.

Categories: In the News, Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV

Jane Eyre: Fantasy Overture by Tracey Rush

2008-05-11T00:22:00.002+02:00

Another Jane Eyre world premiere. A few days ago it was a new musical opening in Redlands, California. Today we announce the world premiere of Jane Eyre: Fantasy Overture by Tracey Rush. The premiere will take place today, May 11, in Des Moines, Iowa:

Des Moines Community Orchestra
Spring Concert

Our Spring Concert concludes or concert season. Music Director and Conductor, Carl Johnson, will lead the orchestra as we perform music that will stir your spirit!

May 11, 2008
Concert begins at 2:00 p.m. in Sheslow Auditorium
Pre-concert talk begins at 1:00 p.m. Sheslow.
Program: "Women's Night Out" (...)

Jane Eyre: Fantasy Overture [world premiere, commissioned work] (Tracey Rush)
Chilldhood at Gateshead (loneliness)
The Red-Room (fear)
Lowood: Death of Helen (redemption)
Flight form Thornfield (despair)
Reunion (love)

This is how the composer describes her piece in the program notes:

Ever since high school, when I first read Charlotte Brontë's great novel, "Jane Eyre," I dreamed of turning it into a Broadway musical. Twenty-some years later, in the mid-90s, a playwright friend of mine and I began the daunting task of doing just that. He had almost completed the first draft of the script and I had written several songs when Paul Gordon and John Caird beat us to it, and their version of "Jane Eyre' opened on Broadway. Realizing there wasn't much chance the theater-going public would welcome a second show on the same book (even though ours would have been better!), we abandoned Jane.
Jump forward another decade to when I received a phone call from Carl Johnson inviting me to write a work for the DMCO's "Women's Night Out" program. While describing the orchestra's ability, the maestro told me the orchestra had recently performed Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet, Fantasy Overture. It didn't take long for me to realize this was the perfect opportunity to resurrect my previous work on Jane, and do my own concert fantasy with those themes that I had loved so much while working on the project, but which had been languishing in the piano bench all these years.
Patterned after Tchaikovsky's concert fantasy, Jane Eyre: Fantasy Overture is not meant to tell the story of the novel but merely has representative themes of the characters and incidental music (background music for action on stage). Each theme depicts a different emotion in Jane's life, and shows her development and growth into the incredible character that she was.
The work opens with "Childhood at Gateshead," based on the plaintive four-note motif which spells out J(C)-A-N(G)-E. "The Red-Room" was a song to be sung by the young Jane during her terrifying experience of being locked up in the room which gave her nightmares. "Lowood: Death of Helen," is the turning point in our feisty heroine's life when her best friend at the boarding school teaches Jane about forgiveness and acceptance with her dying breath. "Flight from Thornfield" accompanies Jane as her sense of honor forces her to flee from yet another nightmarish situation - being left at the altar after discovering Edward's first wife is alive and insane and living at Thornfield. Finally, no musical would be complete without the big love duet, and "Reunion" was to be sung by Jane and Edward when at last they are reunited. [Tracey Rush, composer]

The DesMoines Register adds:

She patterned "Jane Eyre: Fantasy Overture" after Tchaikovsky's overture to "Romeo and Juliet" and wove together themes for different stages of Jane's life: her childhood, her years in boarding school, her rocky love life and happily-ever-after ending.
With the help of a computer software program called Finale, Rush e-mailed conductor Johnson audio clips and digital copies of the written score.
"She was nervous that it wasn't quite what I would want, but it was great," he said. (Michael Morain)

A sample of the piece (albeit in an ugly à la midi synthesized sound) can be heard here.

Categories: Jane Eyre, Music

Red House alerts

2008-05-11T00:12:00.001+02:00

An alert for today, May 11, at the Red House Museum in Gomersal. A new chance to see The History Wardrobe's performance of Jane Eyre: The Well Dressed Governess.

Sunday 11th May 2008, 2:00PM
The Well-Dressed Governess. A period costume presentation.
May is Museums Month and this year its theme is 'Innovation and Ideas'. As part of the celebrations, Red House Museum in Gomersal is hosting a period costume talk entitled 'Jane Eyre - The Well-Dressed Governess', one of a number of events marking 'Women of Ideas'.

Genteel and demure fashions of the 1840s could clothe a woman of high intelligence and passionate intensity. Charlotte Bronte was one such woman; her heroine Jane Eyre was another. At this one-woman presentation, Gillian Stapleton of 'The History Wardrobe' company will use exquisite original and replica costumes as she follows Jane Eyre's life from charity schoolgirl to governess to fairytale bride.

Admission Details:
Cost: £4. Booking essential.

But that's not all:

Helen's Heritage Walks
Wednesday 14th May 2008 / 21th May 2008, 10:30AM
Heritage walks starting from Red House car park.
The walk on Wednesday 14th May will visit places associated with the extraordinary Mary Taylor of Red House, early feminist and friend of Charlotte Bronte. On Wednesday 21st May, the theme is Charlotte Bronte, with a walk to and tour of Oakwell Hall.

Admission Details:
£5. Booking essential.

Categories: Alert, Brontëana, Jane Eyre, Talks, Theatre

Sunday 11th May 2008, 2:00PM
The Well-Dressed Governess. A period costume presentation.
May is Museums Month and this year its theme is 'Innovation and Ideas'. As part of the celebrations, Red House Museum in Gomersal is hosting a period costume talk entitled 'Jane Eyre - The Well-Dressed Governess', one of a number of events marking 'Women of Ideas'. Genteel and demure fashions of the 1840s could clothe a woman of high intelligence and passionate intensity. Charlotte Bronte was one such woman; her heroine Jane Eyre was another. At this one-woman presentation, Gillian Stapleton of 'The History Wardrobe' company will use exquisite original and replica costumes as she follows Jane Eyre's life from charity schoolgirl to governess to fairytale bride. Admission Details: Cost: £4. Booking essential.

Helen's Heritage Walks
Wednesday 14th May 2008 / 21th May 2008, 10:30AM
Heritage walks starting from Red House car park.
The walk on Wednesday 14th May will visit places associated with the extraordinary Mary Taylor of Red House, early feminist and friend of Charlotte Bronte. On Wednesday 21st May, the theme is Charlotte Bronte, with a walk to and tour of Oakwell Hall. Admission Details: £5. Booking essential.