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A Note From the Director

Wow, just wow. I'm not sure where to even start. What a time to be alive. I'm so proud of this cast and crew. I wasn't sure we would even be able to do a musical when the school year started, and there have been many challenges along the way...but here we are! I'm so thankful to our administration for their support and devotion to the arts at Mount Carmel. We truly wouldn't be here without their love and unwavering support. I spent many many hours and stressful nights figuring out how to put a musical on this spring. When I read Emma: A Pop Musical, I knew I had found the perfect show! It's fun, uplifting, and so relatable for the students! We have taken every COVID precaution and have worked hard to stay healthy and safe. It feels amazing to be able to do what I love and provide an opportunity for our students to do what they love. We are so thrilled to have you in the audience tonight, whether you're with us in the Alario Center or watching from the comfort of your home! We hope you can forget about the troubles of the world for 90 minutes and get wrapped up in Emma's story! 

Song List

The Show Will Be Performed with NO INTERMISSION

Chapel of Love.................Emma, Company

Man, I Feel Like a Woman...........Harriet, Emma, Company

Be My Baby: Part 1.................Harriet, Girl

How Will I Know?..................Harriet, Emma, Girls

Be My Baby: Part 2...............Harriet, Girl

King of Anything.......Emma, Jeff, Girls, Guy

Girls Just Want To Have Fun.......Jane, Emma, Harriet, Girl

You Can't Hurry Love......Welcoming Committee, Emma, Harriet, Company

Things I'll Never Say.....Jeff, Guys, Girls

Heartbreaker.....Frankie, Company

Whatta Man / You Gotta Be.....Girls

Straight Up........Emma, Frankie

Bad, Bad Crush......Harriet, Jane

Roar.......Emma, Jeff, Ashley, Phillip

Stay......Emma, Frankie, Jeff

Turn the Beat Around / I Wanna Dance With Somebody...Ashley, Company

Be My Baby: Part 3....Harriet, Girls

Brave....Harriet, Jane, Frankie, Emma, Jeff

Be My Baby: Part 4.....Harriet, Girls

Unwritten......Emma, Jeff, Company

Make a Match for You......Company

Cast

Crew

Light Crew - Katie Glynn

Sound Crew - Amy Gegenheimer

Set Crew - Katelyn Branch*, Taylor Davis*,  Lyvvie Nguyen, Ariel Engert

Prop Crew - Grace DeLaune*, Claire Schenck*, Rachel Hartman

Costume Crew - Sophia Hattier, Molly Martinez*

Make-Up Crew - Cammi Sevin, Ella-Grace Gustin

Tech Committee - Sarah Couillard, Madeleine DeFraites, Claire Dorsey, Ariel Engert, Rachel Hartman, Lailah Mace, Lyvvie Nguyen, Alyssa Schaubhut

Musicians

Alto Sax - Meagan Dwyer

Tenor Sax - Karl Hymel

Trumpet - Brad Stauffer

Trombone - Haruka Kikuchi

Guitar - Seth Scott

Bass - Stephen Bertram

Drums - Miguel Pilcher

Keyboard - Karl Harrod

Creative Team

Notes from an English Teacher

From Mrs. Jaunet

When I graduated from high school, my dad’s aunt gave me a volume of Jane Austen’s collected works. Aunt Dorothy had inscribed the book to me, hoping that I would come to love “Jane,” as she called the author, as much as she did. Now, the book was a hardcover and weighed roughly 7 pounds, and, truth to tell, I didn’t touch it until I dutifully packed it to move into my freshman dorm. For 2 years, the book sat unopened on my shelf. Finally, after I had declared as an English major in my junior or senior year, I took a class completely devoted to Jane Austen. Instead of buying 6 paperbacks, I dragged the giant book to every class. We started with Sense and Sensibility, moved through Pride and Prejudice, and got to Emma around mid-semester. 

The story of Emma Woodhouse -- even though it’s officially 206 years old, is timeless. The gossip, the matchmaking, the secrets, the dreams are just as relevant to today’s teenagers as they were in Regency England. That’s why there have been 4 film adaptations, including 1995’s Clueless and a lavish production released in 2020; 8 television films and miniseries; 6 stage productions (including Emma: A Pop Musical); 2 YouTube series; 9 novels inspired by Austen’s original (one with werewolves!); and a manga adaptation. 

People sometimes dismiss Austen’s novels as “women’s fiction” or “novels of manners,” but by the time she was writing Emma, Austen had developed a completely new writing style: “free indirect discourse,” a third-person point of view that channels both the internal and external action of characters through the perspective of a particular character (in this case, Emma Woodhouse) without making a distinction between the internal and external action. In other words, Emma’s thoughts are presented as part of the third-person narration (without the tag “thought Emma”). This technique makes us accept everything the narrator tells us: Because Emma thinks that she is acting in the best possible intentions and motivations, we the readers do as well. Because Emma doesn’t acknowledge that other characters might have their own motivations and goals, we don’t suspect until she does. It’s not until near the end of the novel that we realize that Emma is actually a spoiled know-it-all who needs to stop meddling in other people’s lives and tend to her own. Austen herself wrote, “I am going to [make] a character that nobody but myself will much like.” Of course, we all like Emma, despite her faults.

The book my aunt had given me became part of my permanent collection, and “Jane,” as Aunt Dorothy had called her, became very dear to me. We invite you to experience the story for yourself in Emma: A Pop Musical. 

Note from the Dramaturge

From Claire Schenck

Jane Austen started her writing career at a young age, composing parodies of famous books of the time like History of England by Oliver Goldsmith. Cassandra, Austen’s older sister, would paint watercolor illustrations for her books. As Austen grew, so did her writing. A consistent theme in her writing was confident and clever young women. Other common themes in Austen’s writings included love, classism, financial and social vulnerability of young women, and family. In the 1790s, Austen wrote Sense and Sensibility (originally titled Elinor and Marianne) and Pride and Prejudice, works that are well known today. However, at that time, Austen struggled to find a publisher. During the 18th century, a woman’s purpose was to manage the house and to educate and raise her children. Women had few rights and were expected to marry to achieve a greater social status. The men of the household were responsible for earning an income for the family. So, when Austen’s father died in 1805, the family was forced to stay with friends and relatives. That is until Austen finally published Sense and Sensibility in 1811. Her book was an instant success and earned her a great profit. The next year Austen sold the rights for her next hit, Pride and Prejudice. In 1814, Austen began writing Emma, which was not very popular during her lifetime. However, today, Emma is considered her greatest work. Emma Woodhouse, the main character of Emma, is a beautiful, wealthy, and smart woman. She is also spoiled, meddlesome, and self-deluded. Emma claims she will never marry, but believes she is an excellent matchmaker. Emma then tries to find a match for her friend Harriet; however, things don’t exactly go to plan...

Donors

Thank you!

Sister Camille Anne Campbell, Beth Ann Simno, Denna Cheramie, Maggie Jaunet, Karl Harrod, Kim Schultz, Kathy Pennison, Carli Collis, Ryan Williams, Gilly Jaunet, STK Members, Ryan Naquin, WMCA, Sarah Miller, Richie and Robbie Jacobs, Marcus Stanley, Skip and Sue Buras, Emile, Eddie, Sabah, Ray and Donald, Gina & Eddie Perret, Catherine and Daniel Duensing, Lynne Bordelon, Michelle Richards, Sal Roberts, Megan Harms, PATHS Parents, STK Set Dads, all the parents who provided donations, SM Entertainment Consulting, James Moore, Omega Productions, Philip & Louis Hosen, Stephanie Hartman, Pam Holahan, Suzy Donaldson, Joyce McNeil, Mrs. Jacobs-Stanley’s Acting classes, the cast, crew and their parents, and Miss Basil Marie Stanley