In late February and early March, Chamber Opera Chicago offered the local premiere of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice: A Musical. The music and lyrics are a collaborative effort by Lindsay Warren Baker and Amanda Jacobs. Attendees at the Chicago AGM in 2008 will remember the tantalizing preview of this work they have been writing and revising for the past several years.
The Castle of Otranto, First Folio Shakespeare Festival, 2009
Sense and Sensibility, Theatre of Western Springs, 2009
Pride and Prejudice, GreenMan Theatre Troupe, 2009
Despite the ninety-point spread between my Math and English SAT scores, I know I spend more time watching live theatre than any big or little screen. So I gladly took the challenge to see three Austen-related plays in as many weeks. What follow are my impressions. They’re offered with the full knowledge that I have no right to any opinion. As Kenneth Tynan said, “A critic is a man who knows the way but can’t drive the car.