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‘This is How Love Feels’
(by Bob Wilcox - October 15, 2008)
At the end of the first act of the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis’s production of Jane Austen’s Emma — A New Musical, I was half wishing that I could leave.
By the end of the second act, I was glad I stayed.
I came to Jane Austen’s novels late in life, probably thinking of them as women’s books. But from having now read one of them — not Emma — I would say that this Rep production fairly captures Austen’s witty and wry take on small-town English life early in the 19th century.
Director Robert Kelley has the actors, especially those in the smaller roles, playing more broadly than one might want for an exact reproduction of Austen’s style. However, the choice works for the stage, which lacks the leisure of the novel. The delight one takes in the cast’s performances erases any doubts about Kelley’s approach. Of particular note are: Richert Easley as Emma’s father; Brian Herndon as the young parson; Suzanne Grodner as the garrulous spinster Miss Bates; Donna Weinsting as Bates’ mother; Alex Organ as the shy farmer Mr. Robert Martin; and Erin Maguire as the obnoxious woman the parson marries on the rebound from Emma’s rejection of him.
And the quieter playing of other supporting characters — Christianne Tisdale and Kurt Zischke as Emma’s friends the Westons, Travis Poelle as her quickly-fading first love Frank Churchill, and Julie Hanson as her sometime rival Jane Fairfax — maintains the proper balance in Austen’s world.
Austen’s affectionately amused depiction of her central characters survives in their more fully rounded treatment, both in the adaptation of the novel by Paul Gordon and in the performances by the actors at the Rep.
Lianne Marie Dobbs lends her own considerable charm to Emma, who can unwittingly — or deliberately — cause pain. Emma also keeps us on her side by making us her confidants, addressing us directly with her opinions about people and events. Timothy Gulan strikes exactly the right tone for Mr. Knightley, who is Emma’s neighbor and old friend that banters with her, tries to rein in her excesses, and finally admits he loves her. Dani Marcus steals every scene she’s in as Harriet Smith, the “orphan child of nobody” that Emma takes under her wings and for whom she tries to arrange wildly inappropriate matches.
Paul Gordon not only wrote the book for Jane Austen’s Emma, he also wrote the music and lyrics. The lyrics often approximate Austen’s wit. The music I find accessible and pleasant but merely serviceable, not memorable. The best songs — Emma’s “This Is How Love Feels,” Harriet Smith’s “Humiliation,” Mr. Knightley’s “Emma,” and his and Emma’s “You Should Have Known Better” — occur in the second act, which may have something to do with my liking it better than the first.
John Ezell’s set wraps the village of Highbury in a flowering English garden. Music director Laura Bergquist and her four-piece ensemble sat perched in a gazebo in the center. Fumiko Bielefeldt’s Regency costumes flow gracefully for both men and women — or, when appropriate, fit awkwardly, as that style can do. Also graceful are moments of choreography by Mary Beth Cavanaugh. Like Austen, lighting designer Dennis Parichy illuminates the characters with sharp clarity.
If, like me, you find the first act of Jane Austen’s Emma — A New Musical a little confusing and tepid, stick around for the quite delightful second act.
• This Repertory Theatre of St. Louis production continues on the main stage at the Loretto-Hilton Center through Nov. 2. Purchase tickets at the Rep box office or by phoning 314-968-4925.
Bob Wilcox also reviews theater for KDHX-FM, 88.1, and for Two on the Aisle on cable and on line at kdhx.org.
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