by Tim Leininger

(Philip Hamer/Courtesy of Palace Theater)

            Austen’s Pride, a new musical adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel Pride & Prejudice ended its national tour this past weekend at the Palace Theater in Waterbury, Connecticut. This raises the question of what is next in store for the fledgling musical that was in part developed about 40 minutes southwest of Waterbury at A Contemporary Theatre of Connecticut in Ridgefield.

The musical has been mounted at Carnegie Hall in New York and The 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle as well.

            On the Friday night I was in attendance in Waterbury, I had the privilege of meeting the musicals’ creators Lindsay Warren Baker and Amanda Jacobs, who spent 25 years researching and creating the book, music and lyrics for the musical, and of course with every artistic venture of this magnitude, the question is will people come and finance Austen’s Pride for a New York run?

            The financial risk is always there for such an investment, but if I can throw my two cents into the ring, I would say, Austen’s Pride is one of the best conceived and executed musicals I’ve seen in my nearly nine years of reviewing theater. It’s not as innovative as some of the recent shows like Maybe Happy Ending or Dead Outlaw, but what Warren Baker and Jacobs give us is a smart, witty and instinctively clever musical in the grand classic musical fashion. There are no warbling pop divas looking to riff through their 11 o’clock number. There are no anachronistic dance moves. This is traditional musical theater executed with precision seldom seen on any stage, let alone the Broadway stage. It’s not just traditional theater, it’s also excellently written. Musicals with deftly constructed duets, trios, and small ensemble numbers are so far and few between, that it was refreshing to hear genuine complex, layered duets like “When I Fall in Love” between Jane Austen and Elizabeth and quartets like “Isn’t She Wonderful.” It’s refreshing to hear music written by two people who know how to write music for the theater.

            Austen’s Pride does have one significant narrative twist and explains why the musical is called Austen’s Pride and not just Pride and Prejudice. The musical’s conceit is that Jane Austen herself, here played with a delightful degree of wonder and passion by Olivia Hernandez. Austen is a bit beleaguered by her sister Cassandra (Dianica Phelan) who wants her to resume a work in progress titled First Impressions. Jane isn’t too keen on the idea as she had just finished writing a successful romance novel with Sense and Sensibility and is reticent to return to the genre. As she returns to writing the novel, the characters begin to take shape around her and create a life of their own. This creates both comical and dramatic interactions between Austen and her characters as they struggle with each other in determining what the next step in the story will be. This kind of storytelling can easily come off hackneyed and lazy, a sort of cheat to make the interpretation of the story feel different than other interpretations of Pride and Prejudice out there. In Connecticut alone I’ve seen three productions of Kate Hamill’s comic adaptation of the book.

            Warren Baker and Jacobs, along with director Igor Goldin — who has been a part of the show’s development at least since ACT of CT — have made Jane Austen the center of the narrative. This is her story as much as it is Elizabeth Bennet’s (Delphi Borich), as we watch Jane Austen drawing away from the initial romance in the book between the more traditionally beautiful Jane Bennet (Addie Morales) and Charles Bingley (Cole Thompson) to focus more on the conflict between the more independent Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy (Dan Hoy). The musical draws from Jane Austen’s own life and relationship with Tom Lefroy (Michael Burrell) to increase the tension between Jane Austen and Elizabeth.

            The interjections between Elizabeth and Jane Austen are both humorous and emotional, as neither necessarily likes what the other proposes as the story progresses. This is my favorite element of the musical, the metatextual quality of observing the author’s process and the struggle of wanting to write a character a specific way, but the character wanting to go another. This is a real issue writers of fiction deal with on a regular basis, and it is embodied as well, if not better than any other version of this narrative trope that I’ve seen before.

  There’s no promise that if Austen’s Pride is picked up that the cast will return for the show. They’re working actors and I wouldn’t be surprised if many of them already had gigs lined up when this tour ended. I do hope if the show is revived in some capacity they can return, as they are a delightful cast. Olivia Hernandez is great as Jane Austen, while Delphi Borich seeps in a bit of Austen’s defiance as Elizabeth. It’s a nuance about the role that shows how Elizabeth is constructed out of Austen’s own desires. The two are excellent together in the interplay between the two characters. Dan Hoy is properly proper as Mr. Darcy, giving off superior airs that understandably would displease Elizabeth. The couple hidden gems in the cast were Sarah Ellis as Caroline Bingley, who had this almost churlish laugh that she would ring out when Caroline attempts to get her way with Mr. Darcy. The other hidden treat is the duo of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, played by Kevyn Morrow and Sally Wilfert. The mix of Morrow’s resigned single male in the household of Mr. Bennet and the frenetic Mrs. Bennet played by Wilfert are like a seemingly mismatched comic duo that end up being the funniest part of the play.

            The design isn’t that complex. Josh Zangen’s scenic design keeps everything focused on Austen’s writing desk. She barely ever leaves the stage so what ever minimal set pieces there are that come up tend to draw toward the center focus of Austen and her desk. The lighting by Jason Lyons works similarly. The Palace is a big theater, and I think, being that it was the first night there, some of the actors were not entirely in their light at moments and needed to adjust to hit their light. Emily Rebholz and Tommy Kurzman who respectively designed costumes and wig and hair did amazing jobs. I loved the detail to the Empire waistline dresses for the women and suits for the men.

            I do sincerely hope there will be more life for Austen’s Pride. It’s a great musical and deserves the final stage that it deserves in New York. The question is, anyone willing to be the money?

Austen’s Pride: A New Musical of Pride and Prejudice

Book, Music & Lyrics by Lindsay Warren Baker & Amanada Jacobs

Directed by Igor Goldin

Choreographed by Lisa Shriver

Music Director/Conductor: Kerianne Brennan

Scenic Design: Josh Zangen

Costume Design: Emily Rebholz

Lighting Design: Jason Lyons

Sound Design: Phillip Peglow & Michael Prieto

Wig & Hair Design: Tommy Kurzman

Orchestrations: Amanda Jacobs

Production Stae Manager: Drew Neal

Company Manager: Jim Harrison

Exclusive Tour Direction: Broadway & Beyond Theatricals

National Merketing Consultant: Clint Bond, Jr., On the Rialto

Casting: TRC Company, Claire Burke, CSA

General Manager: Catalyst Theatricals, Laura Janik Cronin

Production Management: Downright Pro & Sightline Productions

CAST (in order of appearance)

Danica Phelan as Cassandra Austen

Olivia Hernandez as Jane Austen

Kevyn Morrow as Mr. Bennet

Sally Wilfert as Mrs. Bennet/Lady Catherine de Bourgh

Sarah Ellis as Mary Bennet/Caroline Bingley/Mrs. Gardiner

Cali Noack as Catherine “Kitty” Bennet/Georgiana Darcy

Addie Moreales as Jane Bennet

Kate Fahey as Lydia Bennet

Delphi Borich as Elizabeth Bennet

Cole Thompson as Charles Bingley

Redcoats: Travis Anderson, Matt Gibson, Keith Johnson, Drew Tanabe

Dan Hoy as Fitzwilliam Darcy

Paul Castree as Mr. Collins/Mr. Gardiner

Michael Burrell as George Wickham/Tom Lefroy