The Editrix attended Jane Austen Day at the Winterthur Museum yesterday and enjoyed the Austen-related activities as well as the beautiful grounds of the estate. Of special notice is the Fashion in Film Exhibition, which contained costumes not only from several Jane Austen film adaptations but beautiful costumes from other films as well. (Boy, Alan Rickman is TALL! And HUNKY! At least judging from his regimentals…ah-MMMM!)

Delaware Online has an article about the event, which from what we could tell was quite well-attended.

Alert Janeite Erin wrote in with her own report.

I stood next to Colin Firth’s costume from P&P2!!!! With no glass in between us!! Mom was worried that I was going to steal it and bring it home with me. It was a nice sunny day to do the letterbox hunt through the gardens. Elizabeth Steele’s lecture on Jane’s Irony was more like a picking of her favorite quotes from her favorite books. And it really made me mad when she called my Persuasion and Northanger Abbey, “Austen’s OTHER books”. HELLO!! Captain Wentworth’s letter is the most precious thing to my heart! I didn’t catch the dancing, but the readings were nice, and Mom and I caught ourselves crying with Elinor when Edward announced that his brother was married. Anna Chancellor’s red/orange dress from P&P was there as well, she looks like she would be a lot taller than she really is. I also heard some ladies calling P&P2…a “TV show”…such ignorance! I just thought you ladies would like to know how it was. The Jane Austen impersonator looked nothing like her…there was no sparkle to her eye, no witty smile, and she was way too flowery for my taste!

The Editrix enjoyed attempted to explain “Web sites” to Miss Austen. We fear we only succeeded in confusing her.

And in defense of Elizabeth Steele, a longtime Friend of AustenBlog, we know that she did not mean to dismiss Persuasion and Northanger Abbey…and knows better than to do so in front of the Editrix! She was under strict time constraints as the room was needed for another event, and just ran out of time.

If you attended, post your own report in the comments!

The Bath Chronicle had an article on the filming that named some of the shooting locations.

The crew were in Neston Park last week for a scene showing the inside of what Austen conceived as Elliot’s Bath home. On Monday they were in the Pump Room, and yesterday they were based in the Assembly Rooms, the setting for a concert in the book.

According to the schedule, today will see Bennett Street transformed and tomorrow Sally Hawkins, who plays Anne, will be running down Bennett Street from Lansdown Road as she hurriedly seeks Captain Wentworth, played by Rupert Penry-Jones, star of the BBC spy drama Spooks.

Filming will be finished fairly soon, sounds like:

“It’s very tight. A number of the main characters won’t be working with us after this week,” she said.

“Of course, we’ll still have the main two, but people like Anthony Head and Julia Davis won’t be with us anymore.”

Their preparation warms the Editrix’s wizened spinster heart.

It has also been revealed that before filming began, the production team were in Bath as part of a meticulous fact-finding mission.

In an effort to make sure historical details are accurately represented in the new adaptation, the crew tapped into the resources of the Bath Record Office archives at the Guildhall. The Records Office was only too happy to assist the crew by showing them manuscripts and sketches dating back to the 19th century and providing information about the social conventions and events of the time.

Colin Johnston, principal archivist, said: “We have been delighted to help where we can. We were able to provide a lot of details about the layout of the streets, and indeed the Pump Room. Old sketches showing caricatures and cartoons of Georgian life were also useful for the crew and to help the props people get an idea of what was in fashion at the time.”

Alert Janeite Maisy also posted some links to set photos taken by an extra. Looks like more of the shooting in Bath Street that we linked to earlier as well as some in the Circus.

“So, Miss Anne, Sir Walter and your sister are gone; and what part of Bath do you think they will settle in?” and this, without much waiting for an answer; or in the young ladies’ addition of, “I hope we shall be in Bath in the winter; but remember, papa, if we do go, we must be in a good situation: none of your Queen Squares for us!” or in the anxious supplement from Mary, of– “Upon my word, I shall be pretty well off, when you are all gone away to be happy at Bath!”

Alert Janeite Racquel sent us a link to a Jane Austen interactive crossword puzzle that she created. Check it out–it isn’t easy!

More Austen Season casting news…Alert Janeite Sylvia M wrote to tell us that Catherine Steadman will be playing Julia Bertram in MANSFIELD PARK (2007).

You know, after all the other Made Up Story stuff we’ve been hearing about BECOMING JANE, this tongue-in-cheek comment from James McAvoy shouldn’t surprise us in the least.

I’m quite urgently interested in Becoming Jane, in which his character sets about seducing and dumping Anne Hathaway’s Jane Austen, an episode which, according to the pre-publicity, ‘inspired her career as one of the world’s great romantic writers’.

Well, James, I say, this sounds exciting, doesn’t it, Becoming Jane? Who knew that Jane Austen…? ‘Took it up the arse?’ he says smoothly. ‘Because that’s what happens! No, it doesn’t,’ he hastens to add. ‘There are, however, a couple of smooches.’

Yes, we laughed. We are not quite so without humor. However, we feel obliged to point out the answer to the reporter’s question. “Who knew that Jane Austen…” needed a MAAAAAAAN to “inspire” her career? The answer, of course, is that SHE DIDN’T. It’s a Made Up Story!

Speaking of, this is just hysterical.

When 20 year old Jane Austen falls in love with a penniless Irish boxer,

*falls over laughing*

he inspires her to put pen to paper for the first time.

As Alert Janeite Tony A pointed out in comments, “Jane puts pen to paper for the first time at age 20. Oh, that’s right, I forgot. She dictated the Juvenilia to her personal secretary.”

But their affair is doomed: his lack of money and social status is frowned upon and to ensure her own family’s reputation they are tragically forced to apart… With Austen fever at an all time high, this is a touching romantic drama about the nation’s favourite author.

Who knew, indeed? But we think that this company has little to do with the actual film and suspect that there was a great misapprehension. We HOPE that is the case!

Don’t miss the comments responding to the original post…priceless snark. Well played, Janeites!

(And thanks to Alert Janeite Julia who sent in the Guardian link just as we were posting it!)

We have news on no less than three stage productions of P&P, all different, and in different areas of the U.S.

First, in Cleveland, the Lakeland Community Theater of Lakeland College is currently showing a production of P&P, through October 22–that’s this Sunday, so make haste! Tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for students.

Secondly, the Pioneer Theatre Company in Salt Lake City, Utah, is staging P&P on November 3-18. Single tickets go on sale starting October 18. That’s Wednesday, so once again…make haste!

Thirdly, the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey’s production of P&P begins tomorrow and runs through November 19. The theatre is located in Madison, New Jersey. Tickets are available online or by phone; remember, AustenBlog readers get a discount!

The Morris County Daily Record has an article about the production.

“These are two people who are highly self-examining and unusual,” director Monte said. “It is only through the process of self-assessment that transformation is possible. Then the door opens to each other and they are enlightened.”

That is, through an intense year of thinking about their own behaviors as individuals and toward each other, they are ultimately able to let go of the aspects of their pride and prejudice that do not serve them.

“They cannot be happy until they go through this year-long process that allows for shifts in perspectives. What makes them unusual and outstanding is that there are very few people in life willing to go through this process,” Monte said.

Most will give up and get out of the situation to avoid dealing with it. These people deal with it.

We love reviews, by the bye. (hint hint)

Alert Janeite Carmen wrote to tell us that the Spanish magazine Doble Cero (a free magazine from a shopping center for young people/buyers) refers to the Spanish singer David Bisbal, who is very famous in Spain, Latin America, Germany and other countries, as ‘Orgullo y Sensibilidad,’ (Pride & Sensibility). (Click on the thumbnail to see a larger image.) Carmen wrote,

a bit Janeite, don’t you think? About the inside article, nothing about Jane, as I supposed,….But, at least, the journalist chose a ‘janeite’ title.

PS: just one thing, although he makes a danceable music, it is not my sort of music!

Carmen also sent a link to the page about David at Wikipedia and his official site.

We heard from Dianne from the Jane Austen Society of Australia, who wanted to let antipodean AustenBlog readers know that JASA’s Christmas Lunch will be held on Saturday, 16 December, 2006 at Sydney Rowing Club at Abbotsford in Sydney, starting at 12.15 p.m. “Entertainment will be a selection of Robert Burns’ poems and a Scottish fiddler, and tartan is recommended! (and in case you’re wondering, Burns is mentioned positively in Sandition),” Dianne wrote. (Yet we suspect that Jane might not completely approve of young Robbie’s wilder antics. Just a hunch.) Send enquiries to books AT jasa DOt net DOT au.

Alert Janeite Amy P. reported that the Amazon.com page for Mr. Knightley’s Diary by Amanda Grange was taken down. We contacted Amanda Grange, who reports that her publisher does not have an account with Amazon.com, so presumably Amazon.com gets the books from a distributor who has not delivered the books. However, the book can be ordered from Amazon.co.uk and delivered to the U.S. Naturally the shipping costs are higher and the exchange rate is not attractive.

The good news is that Darcy’s Diary will be published in the U.S. by Sourcebooks. It should be available in January 2007 and will be widely distributed in bookstores as well as available online! We have our fingers crossed that Mr. Knightley will find a literary home on this side of the pond, as well.

Alert Janeite Laurie wrote to tell us that Roger Ebert wrote a blog entry during his rehab from surgery for salivary cancer in which he mentions he read Persuasion during his convalescence. Not sure he’s an F.O.J. exactly, but we hope he enjoyed the novel and wish him all the best on his recovery.

(We use that title just to rile Friend of AustenBlog Kathleen, who will no doubt comment with much spluttering.)

A new biography of Emma Hamilton, Lord Nelson’s mistress and mother of his only child, Horatia, suggests that Jane Austen made allusions to Emma in her novels.

There’s also a section on the 19th-century view of Hamilton, including what might be allusions in Jane Austen’s novels (Jane’s brother Frank was one of Nelson’s captains).

That’s it. Guess we’ll have to read the book to find out exactly what allusions they might be, eh? How diabolical.

P.S. We were highly amused by a B&B that we saw in Portsmouth last year called “The Lady Hamilton Bed and Breakfast.” Because, you know, Lady Hamilton…BED…and BREAKFAST. Nobody else gets it, though.

Bless her.

If Sarah Pierce and Clementine Kruczynski were hardest to get into, Marianne Dashwood, the headstrong daughter in Ang Lee’s adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, and Sylvia Llewelyn Davies, the mother who befriends Johnny Depp’s J.M. Barrie in Finding Neverland, are the roles Winslet most readily identified with.

“Marianne was very much me at that time in my life - that kind of wanting to pull my own heart out and hold it up against a gust of wind just to see what it felt like.

“… The sense of passion and adventure… and indulging an emotion. I felt an instant connection.”

It was obvious in her delightful performance!