With Emma opening this week in Mountain View, California, we’re seeing lots more in the media and other blogs about various musical adaptations of Jane Austen’s novels.

The San Francisco Chronicle had a long chat with composer Paul Gordon.

Gordon, who had never written the book for a musical - only music and lyrics - says he decided early on to retain as much of Austen as possible. Seventy percent of his dialogue, he estimates, is taken directly from the book.

“And why not? Why not 80 percent?” he says. “Why mess with something that’s great? Why should I think I could do it better than she can? I can’t.”

We like this guy’s attitude. The article also mentions one of the recent musical adaptations of Pride and Prejudice (perhaps we can start calling them West Coast P&P and East Coast P&P? California P&P and New York P&P?)

The Examiner talked to Lianne Marie Dobbs, who will be playing Miss Woodhouse.

Dobbs sees a bit of her own personality in Emma. They both have a lot of opinions. She says, “Friends love asking me for advice regarding their relationships and careers. I need to learn to keep them to myself, as there is also a lot I don’t know.”

In the show, Dobbs has a dual role as both the protagonist and narrator. If she’s doing her job, she says, “I want the audience to remember the follies of youth. Think back to a time in your life when you thought you knew everything, and then discovered you didn’t. As Emma learns through her matchmaking, she realizes her human faults and takes charge.”

The Mercury News has an introspective article about the play.

In the repressed age of whale-bone corsets and horse-drawn carriages, few characters had the liberty to speak their minds. The musical theater convention, thus, allows us a rare glimpse into their hearts - to learn that, for instance, the dishy Mr. Knightly is secretly in love with Emma, though perish the thought he’d ever lower himself to reveal his true feelings.

Emma, however, is the exception: She needs precious little encouragement to express her point of view on anything. She’s the lucky Austen heroine who need not marry to better her station in life. As a gentleman’s daughter with a personal fortune at her disposal, she need not trade her independence for anything, nor curry favor with snooty, rich relations nor nab a husband with a reliable income. She is the rare Austen woman who may do exactly as she pleases.

Elizabeth K. Mahon mentioned the old 50s musical First Impressions in comments, and Ms. Place found an article at the Jane Austen Centre’s online magazine that even includes snippets of the songs.