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After 20 years of directing and producing plays for Westhampton Beach High School, music teacher and theater director Linda Howard will take her final bow after the matinee performance of “Jane Eyre” on Sunday.
The musical adaptation of “Jane Eyre,” the Gothic novel written by Charlotte Bronte in 1847, will stand as Ms. Howard’s final spring theatrical production at Westhampton Beach High School. Some 50 students are working together to put on three performances of the show, on Friday and Saturday, April 17 and 18, at 7:30 p.m., and on Sunday, April 19, at 2:30 p.m. at the high school auditorium.
The 61-year-old Ms. Howard, who has worked at Westhampton Beach High School for the past 20 years, explained that the novel Jane Eyre translates well into a play and has a positive message for high school students, especially girls.
“It’s a novel about making your own life,” said Ms. Howard, who originally hailed from Brooklyn before moving to Westhampton.
She explained that the title character, Jane Eyre, marries her former employer, Edward Rochester, on her own terms and as an independent woman.
“It’s good for young women to think about themselves as successful, capable, bright and as valuable as a man,” Ms. Howard said.
After the final production of “Jane Eyre”—and the end of the academic year in June—Ms. Howard is planning on continuing her musical pursuits through her work with the Westhampton Presbyterian Church on Meeting House Road in Westhampton and as a private vocal and acting coach. She is also marrying John Kloepfer of Syracuse in the summer.
Ms. Howard said that whichever play she is currently working on is her favorite. Even so, there are a few productions from her 20-year run that stand out as exceptional in her mind. High on her list of specials shows is “Gypsy,” the musical based on the memoirs of famous striptease artist Gypsy Rose Lee, and “The Secret Garden,” an adaptation of the novel about a young English girl born and raised in India who is uprooted to live in England with relatives.
Ms. Howard noted that Carrie Plank, who graduated from Westhampton Beach High School in 1992, played Mama Rose in “Gypsy,” and described Ms. Plank as a “tremendous” actress.
“It was an incredible role for me,” Ms. Plank said about playing Mama Rose. “It’s a lead role, it’s an extremely challenging role vocally and emotionally.”
Ms. Plank, who now lives in New Hyde Park, said that the role was especially challenging because she was playing the shadow of Broadway legend Ethel Merman, who had the part in the original Broadway production. But, Ms. Plank said, Ms. Howard gave her the confidence to conquer that role and others that came along after high school.
“She’s absolutely incredible, and a wonderful woman to work with,” Ms. Plank said. “She brought out the best in everybody, and helped make me want to pursue theatre.” Ms. Plank studied theater at New York University in Manhattan, and then worked as a teacher in the New York Public Schools.
Ms. Howard describes her approach to stage direction as “organic,” so that “students themselves can find their own way into characters.”
“I believe that every child has a special gift,” Ms. Howard said, “and the ones in shows have gifts for being truthful on stage and being inside a character.”
Alexa Keegan, a junior at the high school from East Moriches who plays Jane Eyre in the production, said that she loves working with Ms. Howard, and has found the process of creating the play “great.”
“It’s been a good process, there’s been minimal frustration, and we all get along,” Alexa said. “I’m sad that Ms. Howard is leaving.”
Ms. Howard has a special connection to the play “Jane Eyre” because her youngest daughter, Joanna Howard, participated in the first workshop of the play at the Manhattan Theatre Club. A workshop is a casual performance of a show to get the backing of producers, Ms. Howard explained.
All of Ms. Howard’s daughters, in fact, grew up at their parents’ theater rehearsals. Her two youngest daughters, Joanna, 25, and Siri, 26, are members of the Actor’s Equity Association, the labor union that represents actors and stage managers.
Her oldest daughter, Jessica, 29, manages The Open Book in Westhampton Beach and acts in and works backstage on Hampton Theatre Company plays in Quogue. She was recently cast in the Hampton Theatre Company’s upcoming production of Neil Simon’s female version of “The Odd Couple,” which will open on May 28 at the Quogue Community Hall on Jessup Avenue.
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