[Lady Jemima]

I recently discovered the musical Jane Eyre (on Broadway 2000-2005) and have fallen in love with it. I've never read the book and have seen clips of various films, but the musical has just captivated me. I'm just curious on a larger forum like this if anyone else has heard of it or enjoys it as much as I do.


If you've never heard of it, I've uploaded a few of my favorite tracks temporarily (since it is copyright and still in print).

Quick backstory: Jane is a young girl who was raised in a very strict, cruel orphanage. As a young woman she goes to work as a governess for a large estate owned by Mr. Rochester, a mysterious man who is rarely around. Eventually they fall in love, but are torn apart by a dark secret. (Has a happy ending, though.)

Sirens - my absolute favorite! Edward (Rochester) is determined not to fall in love with Jane. (Regarding the title, sirens are mythical creatures--half woman, half bird--who lure sailors by singing to sailors and drown them when they come too close).

Sweet Liberty - another favorite.

Painting Her Portrait - a bit darker, but I like the melody. Jane is comparing herself to a high class lady (Blache Ingram) who she believes Rochester is in love with.

Proposal - I love the end of this one. It begins with Jane believing Edward has proposed to Blanch Ingram, when in fact he lied to her to make her jealous. The truth comes out, Rochester pledges his love to Jane. (Hint: this is in the middle of the play, not the end!)

[Carbucketty]

It's perfectly nice!

I bought this recording in Union Station in Pennsylvania while going to see the first show of the Cats V tour in 2003. I loved it and listened to it over and over on the trainride home. (I was sitting next to fidgety kids who didn't get off till one stop before me, so it was a welcome diversion.)

Read the novel!

I had read it in high school and I compared what I remembered of the plot-line to my memory of the book. The book was a tedious read in parts and I blocked parts of it from my memory. However, the book has a lot more detail and this wonderful Bildungsroman plotline. I loved how the place names (Lowood, Thornfield, etc..) matched Jane's situation as she went through life. I also liked how they altered the plot a bit and had Aunt Reed leaving her the family fortune. While not out of place in victorian novels, the deathbed reconciliation was notably absent from the book and Bronte was accused of a bit of "deus ex machina" in the novel by inventing a Rich Uncle with no heirs to leave his money to Jane.

As for songs...
Children of God introduces the show very well. Brockelhurst was a devil of a character in the novel and I hated him with a passion when I read the novel.

Helen Burns, a character who carried the message of Christ according to my old English teacher, and her deathbed advice to Jane about Forgivness is presented in a lovely way. And the transitional song between the Graveyard scene was well done.

Mrs. Fairfax is great for a bit of comic relief. Jane's confusion over Blanche Ingram and Rodchester's stringing her along makes for a series of good songs.... I love the Gypsy scene. Rodchester's songs are my least favorite. (Though I still like them.) "Farewell Good Angel" is an exception. St. John, though, was never a character that I cared for.. I always wanted Jane to fall into temptation and live with Rodchester even though he was married to the madwoman Bertha Mason.

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[pastryyy]

It's a much better musical than I thought it'd be. I was in it this past fall as Grace Poole. Be warned though that the cast recording is very misleading - it doesn't have half the songs that are in the actual musical, though I don't know why. The omitted songs, in my opinion, are even better than the ones in the cast recording. Definitely, if you have a chance to see this, I'd recommend it.