Following a resilient orphan who secures a position as a governess at the mysterious Thornfield Hall, the musical chronicles her romance with her brooding employer, Edward Rochester, which is threatened by the revelation of a dark, long-hidden secret locked in the estate’s attic.

Strong cast, seemingly about half of whom have previously played Cosette in Les Miz. 🙂 Sitting for another go-round with this score has me convinced it’s very good. I thought the chamber arrangements really suited it and the sound design was well done, too; this isn’t the kind of thing one usually pays attention to unless it’s not working, but intelligibility was really good for a thrust-staged musical. Calling this fully staged is probably a stretch since it relies so much on a video backdrop that added very little for me, but all in all I thought it was worth the time. Looking forward to the next production I get to see :)

The biggest problem - I felt this last time at Lincoln Center, too - is that it’s an adaptation of a book that wasn’t written for musical theater, and it makes especially the back half uneven. By this I mean: clearly the story we want to tell is with Mr. Rochester at Thornfield Hall, but then we have to run off mid-denouement for the late episodes with St John and Mrs. Reed. It’s part of the Brontë book, so cutting it would be tricky. But investing time and words and songs here muddles up the emotional resolution of the piece. The last 20 minutes or so have that nagging sensation of “can we wrap this up please?” for me, compounded, maybe, by the uncomfy seats in this venue and the neighboring woman spilling into mine.