Heathcliff in a Ferrari

Seacoast Online reviews Seacoast Repertory Theater's Jane Eyre the Musical.

This is arguably Director Danielle Howard’s best work. Every scene is beautifully staged; whether action or tableau, each is a vision. The movement is sharp, filled with a sense of period and place, and done with a thoughtful pace and occasional pause and use of the broader theater space.
Howard’s casting is impeccable. Characters personas are well colored, with attention to the era’s physicality. It’s an outstanding job.
The performers are collectively an embarrassment of riches.
Tess Jonas as the adult Jane Eyre gives a flawless performance. She really is Jane; bright, and reserved, distant yet warm, and naturally compelling on stage. Whatever Jane’s undercurrent Jonas conveys it with a quiet emotional resonance. It’s an eloquent performance throughout.
Joel Crowley personifies Edward Fairfax Rochester, his most simple move, carriage, and voice goes to character; his facial expressions never wanting. It’s a perceptive, authentic performance.
And so it goes with each and ever character, from principle to ensemble. Ayla Walsh as the young Jane is heart-warming and heart-rending, as is Kylee Brown as her orphanage friend Helen. Their exchanges are amongst the show’s more poignant moments.
Linette Miles’ Mrs. Fairfax carries a heavy load, a bit of levity in this gothic world. Miles makes it appear an easy task. Her performance perfect, her voice spot on.
Alyssa Weathersby, as Blanche, makes it easy for you to hiss at the character, every bit the mean girl, with a strong soprano voice.
It continues to a person: Concetta Russo proves disturbing as Mrs. Reed, ditto Dan Slavin as Mr. Brocklehurst. Both Kelsey Andrae as Miss Scatcherd (and others), and Sam St. Jean as Robert (so subtly funny), deliver well-nuanced performances. All bring a clear, strong voice to bare, each worthy of note.
The young Delaney Roache as Adele is charming.
And so it goes, not a single cast member missing a beat either performance or vocally: Ben Breault, Rachel Noland, Dan Prior, Gabrielle Traub and Jacob Zentis. Ditto the lovely school girls, who are completely convincing.
The additional arts are equally blessed.
The choreography by C. Robin Marcotte is immaculate, interesting and engaging.
Each of the production’s visual director help bring to life a moody, rich canvas for the actors to perform on.
Designer Szu-Feng Chen’s set is an artful delight. It serves perfectly, but more important from the audience’s point of view, it’s striking; a pleasure to view. Designer Kelly Gibson’s lighting is equally deft, and interestingly dramatic -- evocative and mysterious.
The costumes by James Weeden are sensational. They speak fully to the period, (with a bit of appropriate playfulness in the large flowered patterned ball gowns). Weeden shows a wonderful eye for detail and understanding of the play’s disposition, and strongly help define character.
Musical Director John Berst has brought incredible personality into the vocals. The four-piece orchestra, under Berst, create a full, gratifying accompaniment.
“Jane Eyre” is not a bouncy musical, neither in its demeanor or songs. What it is is a beautiful telling of a classic with an artist in every role on and off stage; a wonderful work of art not be missed. (Jeanné McCartin)

The Chester Chronicle announces The Chester Antiques Show at Chester Racecourse from October 12-15.

Fans of the classic and contemporary fiction will enjoy the collection of Art of the Imagination who specialise in original oils and watercolour drawings commissioned to illustrate famous stories new and old.
Scenes from Wind in the Willows, Wuthering Heights and even Rupert Bear compete to capture attention. (Leah Jones)

Fort Worth Weekly reviews the film Lady Macbeth.

One reason behind the Samuel L. Jackson-caused scrape this past spring over black British actors portraying African-Americans in American movies is that there’s not enough work for them in their own country. After all, where will you put black actors in a Jane Austen adaptation? Some recent British films — not enough, but notably Amma Asante’s Belle and Andrea Arnold’s interracial adaptation of Wuthering Heights — have sought to redress this by casting these actors in period dramas, to show that black people have been part of British history for centuries. The latest and best is Lady Macbeth, a concentrated 19th-century drama that will freeze your blood, should you see it at the Modern this weekend. (Kristian Lin)

As does Hindustan Times:

So there was a certain renewed vigour that Lady Macbeth – a film that until a few days ago existed only in the farthest fringes of my radar – left me with. It’s a pulp thriller playing dress-up; a lean, mean tale of repressed rage that has the look and feel of a Charlotte Bronte novel, but possesses a soul as dark as something Nicolas Winding Refn might create with Quentin Tarantino and Park Chan-wook watching from the wings. (Rohan Naahar)

Motorsport Week has one of those contrived Wuthering Heights references.

The look of horror on team principal Maurizio Arrivabene’s face was such that one imagined this Heathcliff-like figure had seen the ghost of Cathy Earnshaw wandering through the Ferrari garage… but these were not Wuthering Heights, but rather heights of blundering by the Ferrari drivers. (Joe Saward)

Penguin Random House's The Read Down lists Wuthering Heights among other '40 Books to Read Before You’re 40'.