Jane Austen’s PERSUASION Song Cycle’s nine songs tell the story of Persuasion, Jane Austen’s last completed, least read and most fiercely debated novel. In a streaming show like no other, lyricist/director Emily King challenges a dozen talented, diverse, CoVid-stranded performers to enter the cyber world of Regency England, where racism replaces class as the societal barrier of the privileged caste. Set within vivid backgrounds of stately homes, sailing ships and rolling British countryside, beautifully dressed (and hatted!) Austen characters sing out their story of prevention, rejection and recovery of lost love, to the driving, sailing, galloping and dancing chamber works of a surprisingly witty and charming Ludwig van Beethoven. A feast for the eyes and ears – and the heart – Jane Austen’s PERSUASION Song Cycle celebrates Jane Austen and her ability to triumph over adversity with irony, love and optimism, insisting on a happy ending in her works, even when real life so often sadly disappoints.

The cast of Jane Austen’s PERSUASION Song Cycle includes Robert Ball ("Bold Bruised Born to Be" - Stratford Festival), Maya Bhagwat Bassuk (Tomorrow We Love), Carey Blackburn (Macbeth, Mickey and Co.), Yannik Encarnação (Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat), Sean Gregory (La Bohème), John D. Haggerty (Les Misérables), Teresa Hui (The Big Bang Theory), Emily King (Medea), Claire Leyden (Der Freischütz), Gaby Mank (Still Putting it Together), Edward Porter (voice actor, National Theater for the Deaf national tours), and Jacqui Sutton (“Un-Cross Talk”).

Jane Austen’s PERSUASION Song Cycle has employed the talents of 3 different string quartets and a piano trio, recording with tests, shots, masks and safe distancing. Without an emergency grant from The Roy Cockrum Foundation, employing the talents of these 29 people would not have been possible.