Falling in Love Again: Paul Gordon's Musical Emma Will Play St. Louis and Cincinnati

By Kenneth Jones
19 Mar 2008

Lianne Marie Dobbs in the 2007 world premiere of Paul Gordon's Emma.
Lianne Marie Dobbs in the 2007 world premiere of Paul Gordon's Emma.
Photo by David Allen

Paul Gordon's romantic musical, Emma, seen in a 2007 world premiere by TheatreWorks in California, will have a fall 2008 co-production by Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park and Repertory Theatre of St. Louis.

TheatreWorks artistic director Robert Kelley will again direct the charming, well-reviewed musical inspired by the Jane Austen novel. Gordon, a Tony Award nominee for his score to Broadway's Jane Eyre, penned book, music and lyrics for Emma.

The musical will start in Cincinnati, running Sept. 2-Oct. 3, and then play St. Louis Oct. 8-Nov. 2.

No casting has been announced. In Palo Alto, CA, Lianne Marie Dobbs played matchmaker Emma and Timothy Gulan played Mr. Knightly.

"I'm making a few changes [since California]," Gordon told Playbill.com March 19. "A new opening for Act One and Act Two. A few musical tweaks here and there. But it's probably the least I have ever changed one of my productions from one run to another. I don't want to sound overly confident, but I was extremely happy with the original production and have learned that sometimes it's better not to tinker too much."

"Obsessed with romance but utterly clueless about her own feelings, Emma Woodhouse is one of literature's most delightful heroines," according to Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. "When her matchmaking mischief invariably misfires, Emma must navigate the choppy course of true love with a generous heart as her only guide. Funny and fulfilling, Austen's 19th-century masterpiece comes to sparkling life in this charming new musical adaptation by the Tony Award-nominated composer of Broadway's Jane Eyre."

Emma was first presented as part of TheatreWorks' 2006 Spring Festival of New Works, and then graduated to a full-scale TheatreWorks production at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, August-September 2007.

Emma was also seen at the 2006 National Alliance for Musical Theatre Festival in New York.

Gordon's other credits include Greetings From Venice Beach, Daddy Long Legs and The Magnificent Ambersons. He's also working on a musical version of the film "The Front" and has written for such recording artists as Bette Midler, Quincy Jones, Alanis Morrisette, Smokey Robinson and Dionne Warwick.

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park will also collaborate in 2008-09 on a production of Jeffrey Hatcher's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (based on the Robert Louis Stevenson novel). Edward Stern will direct.