If you are an Austen fan at all do not watch these. Leave it to a man to completely misunderstand Austen and then have the audacity to put those misunderstandings to music.
They are currently free on Amazon Prime Video. So happy I did not have to pay to watch!
Pride and Prejudice the musical was bad. The author has a contempt for Austen’s words saying they aren’t true or good enough. It starts and ends with the line “”It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” This line is dripping with humor in the book. Austen does not mean it as an actual fact, but something that all the mothers in town believe to be true. So when the play started off with Elizabeth making fun of the line I was upset and it did not get better through the rest of the musical. It seemed like the person who wrote it had never actually read the book, but instead watched the movies. The songs show character motivations that I disagree with. Also the mismanagement of the timeline bothered me. The lyrics were uninspired and dull. It was an okay musical, but calling it Pride and Prejudice when you don’t respect the writing of Jane Austen was too much for me.
Favorite song was when Darcy sang about Elizabeth’s eyes. Even though his character’s motivations were wrong, the song was still fun.
Emma the musical turned out to be way better than expected. I was surprised by the era they decided to place the story in. It is set in the 50’s, but nothing changes other than their clothing. Some of the characters looked too old for the parts they were playing (Especially Knightly). The actress who played Emma did a wonderful job! The relationship between Knightly and Emma in the first scenes seemed filled with contempt instead of old friendship, but it gets better, more playful, less hateful. I liked how fun and lighthearted this musical was. I’m not sure I would have liked it as much if I had not hated the “Pride and Prejudice” musical so much. I was watching it with very low expectations.
Okay I have taken off my hatred goggles and watched Emma again. It is not very good. There is a shot at Pride and Prejudice not being a very good book, not appreciated by this Austen fan. The character growth Emma goes through is negated in the final song. He (Paul Gordon, author of the musical) belittles Harriet’s feelings and makes her a silly one note character. Harriet in Jane Austen’s version is young and easily guided; in Paul’s version she is just an airhead.
Favorite Song was Mr. Robert Martin. I could not stop laughing.