Alert Janeite Lisa sent us a long and thoughtful review of Emma at Theaterworks.

The opening sentence of Jane Austen’s Emma tells us a great deal about the novel’s heroine: “Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence, and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her.” The key word here, as any attentive reader of Austen’s tale about a spoiled heiress’ comically disastrous attempts to meddle in the romantic lives of those around her would notice, is “seemed.” It’s a masterful bit of storytelling, warning us with the lightest touch not to take this vision of earthly bliss at face value.

When it comes to making sense of Paul Gordon’s vivacious new musical adaptation of Austen’s novel, the word “seemed” is just as loaded. For what seems to be a typical musical comedy in empire-line dresses is — for better and for worse, but mostly better — something different underneath.

Huzzah! A reviewer qualified to review Jane Austen!

The musical can thank its protagonist for much of its crowd-pleasing effect. Gordon’s leading lady is simply more lovable than Austen’s. When the writer embarked upon her novel in January 1814, she reportedly said, “I am going to take a heroine whom no one but myself will much like.” By employing third-person narrative (as opposed to the more intimate first-person mode) and playing up Emma’s faults with a cool, ironic stance, the author distances the reader from her main character. “We cannot ‘identify’ with Emma … we see her from the outside,” the British novelist Margaret Drabble once astutely observed.

Gordon’s approach is different. His Emma might be flawed, but only lovably so. We identify with the character closely because she confides in us — many of Emma’s lines are spoken directly to the audience. We also get to see inside her head. In one compelling, comical scene our heroine forces herself to play the piano for the entertainment of some assembled house guests or face being upstaged by her nemesis, the beautiful and musically gifted Jane Fairfax. While she tinkles away at the keys, Emma reveals her desperate envy of Jane to us through clever asides. Our love for the character is sealed in Theatreworks’ world premiere production (the company’s 50th world premiere to date) by the pretty and endearing Lianne Marie Dobbs, who brings coquettish humor and graceful physicality to the main role.

Perhaps we should just send you to read the review rather than end up quoting the whole thing.