You Gotta See JANE EYRE

About 18 years ago, I was standing in line at TKTS in NYC when a guy walked by and said, “You gotta see Jane Eyre, the musical!”  A musical version of the beloved novel???  I was in. And I was stunned. The glorious music, rich with the original text from the novel, touched me in a deep way, and I knew that one day I would have to direct this musical.

Fast forward a couple of decades. The qualities of this heroine are as pertinent today as they were 170 years ago when Bronte’s famous novel was released. Jane lacks beauty, power, or wealth.  She has had a wretched upbringing, devoid of human affection. When we meet her as a child, she is already hard and bitter. Yet, Helen Burns, a fellow orphan at Lowood School, boldly reaches out to her despite harsh consequences.  Helen teaches Jane about forgiveness, mercy, and grace. In these lessons, Jane is transformed and finds the inner strength and principles which will guide her through her adult life – even when the cost of living by those principles results in the deepest loss she has ever felt. This aspect of the story touches me deeply as I reflect, with gratitude, on my friend whose influence in my early college years absolutely changed the trajectory of my own life.

It was unique to the readers of 1847 to see our heroine refuse to be limited by the absence of beauty or the restrictions of her gender, class, and means.  She valued her own “vigorous and expanded mind” and desired that quality in Rochester. But unlike so many of our role models today, this heroine cannot simply live for what will make her happy.  We can celebrate her triumph of character. Through the influence of Helen, she understands that there is a higher cause. The seeds Helen planted fully mature as she longs for Rochester’s redemption and peace above her own happiness.

I am drawn to Rochester’s plight as well.  He, too, is so influenced by Jane’s strength of character and uniqueness; although, contrary to Jane, he is willing to win her at any cost. A friend of mine once told me that “hidden things do not heal.” As Rochester’s wounded darkness rubs against the light in Jane, we see a vulnerable, desperate man seeking to find his own redemption and the futility of our insistent grasp on our happiness.

It has been a joy to delve into this material and bring it to the stage, and I truly hope you will enjoy it.

Leann Dickson, Director

Performances

July 20 @ 7:30 p.m., July 21 @ 2:30 & 7:30 p.m., July 22 @ 3:00 p.m

on the U.S. Cellular Stage at the Bijou Theatre, 803 S. Gay St.