Ever wonder what goes on in the mind of a playwright?
Our Author Insights series features personal essays from playwrights, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the ideas and experiences that shaped their work.
Below, read “Story as Healing and Imagination”, where writer and composer Lawrence Rush reflects on Pride & Prejudice - The Musical. You can also download a free PDF that pairs the essay with short, classroom-ready activities for students.
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Finding the Music in Pride and Prejudice
Lawrence Rush
It’s one of the world’s most beloved novels. Elizabeth Bennet’s and Mr. Darcy’s struggle to overcome their first impressions and societal pressures and find true love has been made into many films and television series. It’s produced an enormous variety of sequels and adaptations. So, do we really need a musical version of it as well? Well, “need” is a rather subjective word. Some will say “yes’, some “no.” And actually, many have tried to make it a musical, but without success.
As a member of the BMI Advanced Musical Theatre Workshop, we had to choose a topic to write a musical on...an adaptation or an original idea. I wanted to choose something in the public domain, so I didn’t have to deal with securing rights. Friends suggested I watch some videos of Jane Austen adaptations they had. I first watched a film of Persuasion. I enjoyed it but didn’t feel it had all of the elements needed for a musical. Then I watched the A&E series of Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth. I knew within a few minutes that this was exactly what I was looking for. It had comedy, drama, romance, and a cast of wildly different characters. It made me cry, laugh, think.
I respond to musicals that teeter between drama and comedy and tell us how we can understand ourselves and others better. Fiddler on the Roof, Man of La Mancha, Sunday in the Park with George and yes, even Sweeney Todd fall into that category for me. Each presents a complete world and immerses us into the psyche of its different characters. Each takes us on a journey that shows how we evolve...or not...as a response to the forces around us. Pride and Prejudice is also that kind of story. But still, did it need to be a musical?
I then went and read the novel. It was, of course, more dense than the series. And I thought, “What would musicalizing this bring to the story?”
Music has the ability to reach us on a level we aren’t able to totally understand. When you add music and songs to a story you are being given the opportunity to delve deeper into the characters, their thoughts and emotions, and to create a sound world that can bring the audience to an even higher level of emotion than without it. When paired with words, it can be a transcendent experience. My musical style seemed a perfect match for this particular story and my wish was to enhance it with music in order to go right to the hearts of the audience. I needed this perfect story to be a musical. And after many years working to get it just right, it got one.
My wish is that Pride & Prejudice – The Musical might shine a surprising new light on this magnificent, timeless story...and that Ms. Austen would have approved.