Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice cleans up at NYMF Awards!
We have shamefully neglected the recent sellout run of “Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice” at the New York Musical Theater Festival. We didn’t neglect it so much as to not see it, of course; we thoroughly enjoyed the performance we attended with a Janeite-heavy crowd. (The non-Janeite members of NYMF who attended–who obviously attend many of the festival’s performances–were shocked that there was a long line for admittance and that it was sold out!)
We are absolutely delighted to report that the play has won six NYMF Awards–more than any other play in this year’s festival!
The musical adaptation of the literary classic earned six Awards for Excellence, including for leading actress Donna Lynne Champlin (Sweeney Todd, James Joyce’s The Dead), as well as the Most Promising Musical Award and the Stage Entertainment Development Award. Baker and Jacobs collaborated on book, music and lyrics.
Ms. Champlin’s award was well-deserved. She was absolutely perfect as Jane Austen writing her masterpiece (and singing like an angel!). And many congratulations to the delightful Amanda Jacobs and Lindsay Warren Baker for taking this play to the big city and launching it so spectacularly. We couldn’t be more pleased–and are even more pleased that so many of our Janeite acquaintance got to see the play, which we’ve been raving about for years. Here’s to an even bigger launch!
Here’s a video with images from the NYMF play and a song from the demo.
Lizzy is Delightful
Here are two videos promoting the upcoming Jane Austen Day in Philadelphia next April. More details to come…right now you are just to be teazed by Miss Elizabeth Bennet. After all, “We can all plague and punish one another.”
Look for more videos featuring the Delightful Creature to come!
Getting Local With Jane
GLWJ is a regular feature (when we remember to post it) with upcoming local events of interest to Austen fans. If your hometown isn’t on the list, keep checking back; you never know when Jane will come to your town.
October 29, 2011 (that’s this Saturday!), Ardmore, Pennsylvania – At 2 p.m., there will be a Jane Austen Celebration at Ardmore Library, with speaker Margaret C. Sullivan (hey! that’s the Editrix!). I will be speaking about Chawton Cottage and Jane Austen’s life and writing there, with occasional digressions into other places she knew and where she lived. I’d love to meet AustenBlog readers there! Please pre-register for this event by calling the library at (610) 642-5187. ETA: The event has been postponed due to impending winter weather and rescheduled for November 19. More details to come!
Through November 12, 2011, Salisbury, Wiltshire – The Salisbury Playhouse presents Persuasion, a new adaptation of the novel by Tim Luscombe. Tickets are £12-20.
November 10-20, 2011, Atlanta, Georgia – Theater Emory presents a stage adaptation of Persuasion at the Mary Gray Munroe Theater. Tickets are $20, $6 for Emory students.
November 13, 2011, Waltham, Massachusetts – Gore Place, the historic estate in Waltham, will offer Jane Austen tours of the 1806 Governor Gore mansion at 1 and 3 p.m. From the press release: “This special themed tour brings the beautiful Regency Period home to life as a guide in period dress uses quotes from Austen’s novels and letters to describe country life in Austen’s time. With its marble halls, circular stair and soaring ceilings, the mansion is the perfect setting for this great event.” Admission is $14 adults, $10 members and children 5 to 12. “Capacity is limited and advanced tickets suggested. To order, call (781) 894-2798.” Also, attendees will receive 10% off tea at the Tea Leaf on Moody Street in Waltham (reservations required; call (781) 891-1900).
April 28, 2012, Philadelphia – Jane Austen Day presented by JASNA’s Eastern Pennsylvania Region. The theme is “Elizabeth Bennet: Delightful Creature.” More on this in another post!
More movies!
Hot off the presses…the producer of Scents and Sensibility just announced they have plans for a modern-set P&P. A Jane Austen Christmas movie, and modern-set JA TV series. Joan Ray’s plenary is beginning so more anon!
Deep in the Heart of Texas
Well. Not quite yet. But soon. No. zombies haven’t gotten us; it just feels that way. We hope.to see some of you tonight at the Jane Austen Me Do It launch party at the Barnes & Noble in downtown Fort Worth. That signing is open to fhe public. If you are attending the AGM, there is also an author signing on Sunday morning; check your program for details (that one is just for AGM attendees). Do stop by and say hello and get a book signed if you’re so inclined!
Quotable
“There are many ways to kill a zombie, but the most satisfying is to stab it in the head with a wooden stick.” – Dwight K. Schrute
A Fool and His Money
…will buy an unattributed portrait of Jane Austen, presumably. There’s one currently for sale on eBay, purveyor of fine art.
Offered here is a rare and important early 19th century oil painting which by tradition depicts the English novelist Jane AUSTEN (1775 – 1817.)
Whose tradition would that be?
While shawls were another popular fashion item of the day, it is worth noting that Jane Austen’s father died in 1905. If this shawl is taken as a token of mourning, it makes Austen 29 in this portrait – perfectly plausible.
Oh, certainly.
The writing implement in the portrait is a “quill holder” or “quill slip holder” of the type popular in the first decade of the 19th century and which represents the evolution between the feather quill pen and the later widespread popularity of the fountain pen.
But wait…why would she have been painted with a pen when she didn’t publish her first book until 1811? Huh huh huh? (We don’t think Jane was so egocentric as to consider her purchased-but-unpublished Susan sufficient reason to puff herself off as a Published Author. Standards are lower in this degenerate age, of course.)
This painting is not just a beautiful and sensitive work of art but potentially a historical object of the very highest importance and value.
And you can get it for the low-low price of £280, if you bid quickly! Make haste, as the auction ends tonight! It’s a good thing the seller didn’t take it to Sotheby’s or Christie’s, where bidding for such an item might start in the thousands. Get a rare, valuable work of art for less than the cost of an iPad!
So the questions, as we see it, are:
1. Is this truly a portrait of Jane Austen?
2. If so, how in the name of Harris Bigg-Wither did it end up in Glasgow?
Point and laugh, Gentle Readers. Sometimes, that’s all you can do.
ETA: AND SOLD for £805.86. We suppose as a period work, it might be worth that much; but we hope that some eejit doesn’t start promoting this all over the place as The Lost Portrait of Jane Austen. We’ve got quite enough of that already.
The Janeite Times, No. 7
Stephanie Barron, author of the Jane Austen Mysteries (there is a new one, hurrah! More on that in Friday Bookblogging) wrote a piece for NPR’s Three Books feature, tying them into the bicentennial of the English Regency, which officially began 200 years ago. We have made notes on our reading list.
Lev Raphael, who also has a new Austen-related book (again, more in Friday Bookblogging), wrote a piece for the Huffington Post on loving Jane Austen. Wait, there are people who don’t love Jane Austen?
Carol Adams wrote a piece for the Washington Post enumerating myths about Jane Austen. We suspect there are probably more than five of them.
We weren’t going to mention this until Friday Bookblogging, but everyone’s sending the link. Novelist Joanna Trollope will be the first of (presumably) six authors “of global literary significance” who will each write modern-set adaptations of Austen’s novels, because that’s never been done before. Trollope will take on Sense and Sensibility. Has anyone asked V.S. Naipaul to contribute?
Getting Local With Jane
Now through September 24, 2011, Louisville, Kentucky: The Actors Theatre of Louisville presents Jon Jory’s new adaptation of Sense and Sensibility (we understand he’s going to get around to all six eventually). Here’s an article about the play. Tickets start at $10.
Now through October 9, 2011, Costa Mesa, California: The South Coast Repertory Theatre presents Pride and Prejudice. The Los Angeles Times has a fun piece about the play. Tickets are $20-68.
September 29-October 11, 2011, New York City: Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, A Musical at the New York Music Theatre Festival. We think it might be sold out! Wow! We are investigating and will let you know. We will be attending, of course. WE ARE SO EXCITED ZOMG. Check out the Video tab at the link above–the videos are really fun and you’ll get to meet the cast and crew and creative folks involved in the production. Also check out the play’s Facebook page for more fun.
October 14, 2011, Fort Worth, Texas: If one might happen to find oneself in Fort Worth that particular Friday night (we don’t know why you would, but you know, you might), there is a really spectacular event at the Barnes & Noble in Sundance Square from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m.: a launch party and author signing for Jane Austen Made Me Do It, edited by the lovely and talented Laurel Ann Nattress, and featuring stories inspired by Jane Austen’s work and written by a star-studded cast of talented authors, many of whom will be in attendance at this great event! One of those talented authors *cough* is your humble Editrix, who as always will be delighted to meet her readers.
October 26, 2011, Fort Worth, Texas: The excitement continues in Fort Worth. The JASNA AGM will be going on all weekend, and Sunday morning at 8:30 a.m. there will be an author signing with a really extensive list of authors! Do stop by if you will be at the AGM.
November 3-6, Winkler, Manitoba: Flatlands Theatre Company presents Pride and Prejudice. Tickets are $10-16.
Multimedia Wednesday
This one is a combination of Shameless Self-Promotion, and, well, it cracked us up. See what you think.
