Avid Jane Austen readers who also love musical theatre—now is your time! A musical adaption of Shannon Hale's Austenland will have an NYC industry reading January 22 at Open Jar Studios.
The new musical comes from the team behind Between the Lines, with a book by Jodi Picoult and Timothy Allen McDonald and music and lyrics by Elyssa Samsel and Kate Andersen.
Lotte Wakeham will direct the reading of the musical, which follows Jane Hayes, who has spent her life yearning for the fictional Mr. Darcy, measuring every man against him. When her great aunt's will grants her an all-expenses-paid trip to Austenland, the immersive British regency-themed retreat, she finally feels her dream is about to come true...but finds that the perfect fictional love that she's longed for may not be the real love that she needs.
The cast will include Arielle Jacobs (Here Lies Love), Chris Marsh Clark (Million Dollar Quartet), Daniel Yearwood (Sweeney Todd), Lesli Margherita (Matilda the Musical), Madeleine Doherty (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), Jordan Litz (Wicked), Katy Geraghty (Into the Woods), Paul Adam Schaefer (The Phantom of the Opera), Steve Rosen (Guys and Dolls), Tyler Joseph Ellis (Passion), and Vicki Lewis (Between the Lines).
The ensemble will feature Aubrey Matalon (Six the Musical), Jerusha Cavazos (The Prom) Alyssa Payne, Sarah Lasko (Mamma Mia), Cameron Alexander Loyal, Dan Hoy (Harmony), Martin Landry, and Jack Sippel (The Prom).
