A Missouri-grown folk musical gender-swaps Jane Austen's most famous enemies-to-lovers story and sets it in a divided America. Now it's arrived in the big city.
Janet, What a marvelous essay that takes us not only from the Midwest to Off Broadway, from the printed page to the banjo and guitar but also from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice to relevance in politics today and ultimately proves the lasting force of Austen. ~Mary
Pretty wild. Although I suppose one risk is that not all audience members will be familiar with the source material and won’t get the jokes with the character names and parallels, which presumably is part of the fun.
Typically in a musical we don’t have to know anything about anything going in, and that might be part of the appeal. Nor do we care if a musical’s storyline is ridiculous; it doesn’t matter because the songs (and dance) are so much fun. Example: The Music Man. Even the title sounds dopey, and yet…
So true! There are a lot of fun inside jokes for Austen Obsessives. Really though I'd say the music of this show is the Main Character - it is wonderful, and it transcends the Austen references and becomes its own thing!
For sure, everything stands or falls by the songs.
But the banjo is a good stage instrument. Before amplification, the banjo was more popular than the guitar because it was louder.
One of the things I like about a musical is its unabashed phoniness. The characters suddenly stop and break into song, maybe even dance. We embrace and luxuriate in that phoniness. Contrast with a “serious” dramatic film, no less phony, but where we’re expected to accept the manipulative musical score as a part of how reality is depicted. Paradoxically, I often find it harder to take the serious production seriously.
Yes, that's a great insight. Perhaps Austen's satire and silliness helps with the translation to a stage musical, where all that phoniness can be fully embraced as you describe! Would love to hear your views if you get a chance to see it! 😊🌻
Janet, What a marvelous essay that takes us not only from the Midwest to Off Broadway, from the printed page to the banjo and guitar but also from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice to relevance in politics today and ultimately proves the lasting force of Austen. ~Mary
Thank you for the collaboration, community, and inspiration, as always, Mary! 🙏🌷
Pretty wild. Although I suppose one risk is that not all audience members will be familiar with the source material and won’t get the jokes with the character names and parallels, which presumably is part of the fun.
Typically in a musical we don’t have to know anything about anything going in, and that might be part of the appeal. Nor do we care if a musical’s storyline is ridiculous; it doesn’t matter because the songs (and dance) are so much fun. Example: The Music Man. Even the title sounds dopey, and yet…
So true! There are a lot of fun inside jokes for Austen Obsessives. Really though I'd say the music of this show is the Main Character - it is wonderful, and it transcends the Austen references and becomes its own thing!
For sure, everything stands or falls by the songs.
But the banjo is a good stage instrument. Before amplification, the banjo was more popular than the guitar because it was louder.
One of the things I like about a musical is its unabashed phoniness. The characters suddenly stop and break into song, maybe even dance. We embrace and luxuriate in that phoniness. Contrast with a “serious” dramatic film, no less phony, but where we’re expected to accept the manipulative musical score as a part of how reality is depicted. Paradoxically, I often find it harder to take the serious production seriously.
Yes, that's a great insight. Perhaps Austen's satire and silliness helps with the translation to a stage musical, where all that phoniness can be fully embraced as you describe! Would love to hear your views if you get a chance to see it! 😊🌻
Thanks for this fantastic essay!
You are so welcome - it was fun to do! Thank you for the collaboration.
Thanks for this! I just bought two tickets, second row, next Saturday. Can’t wait!
So glad you were able to score tix! Would love to hear what you and your plus-one make of the Prejudice and Pride experience!