Student Blog: Composer Sarah Taylor Ellis Breathes New Life Into Jane Austen's Emma With UCLA Musical

A few weeks ago, I had the distinct privilege of sitting down with Sarah Taylor Ellis, co-writer and composer of Emma: No One But Herself, a melodic stage adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel, Emma. Sarah, a UCLA alumna, has been actively penning, revising, and altering her musical, with co-writer Meghan Brown for the last eleven years. This was an incredibly special conversation for me, as we just closed Emma: No One But Herself here at UCLA, and Sarah traveled all the way from Germany to be a part of the opening week of the show. When speaking to Sarah about her attraction to Emma, she expressed her gravitation towards female friendship,

“I think that for me, Jane Austen is about female friendships and sisterhood, and yes there are lovely romantic relationships there as well, and we celebrate and we enjoy those, but I think that what we’ve really been able to bring out in this adaptation, which I personally love so much about it, is the female bonds, and seeing the strength of women supporting each other...and Jane Fairfax’s song ‘This is Yours.’ This moment just sticks out to me as an absolute highlight of the production. To see the entire female identifying ensemble surrounding her and supporting her in one of the darkest most painful moments of her life…just to have that reassurance and community of women, that I find incredibly important. I think that’s the core of it for me.”

“This is Yours” is an incredibly poignant number in our production where Jane Fairfax, a classically uptight, few-worded woman pours out her honesty into the piano. Staged with dim lighting, and completely barefoot, our incredible director, Danielle Kay was able to craft a relatable, joyous, deeply heartfelt, transcendent moment for both the performers and the audience. When speaking to Sarah about the impact of this song, which is so harmonically different from the rest of the score, she shared that it was cut from almost every reading done of the show. Naturally, she was frustrated because for her, it was the core of the piece. People did not understand it, they couldn’t feel it, yet with our production, she shares, 

“I’m so glad that not only is it in the show, but it’s done so beautifully and with so much care and so much understanding in this production.”

Additionally, Sarah has a long background in dance, lending itself to the way she pens her scores. When asking her about the creation process as a multi-faceted artist, she described how many composers focus on the meaning behind the small complexities on the page, whereas she employs those small nuanced moments with staging and movement in mind.

“[In] Emma, dance plays a slightly less significant role, but I think there is a flow to it that probably comes from my dance background; thinking about the sensibility of flow between scenes, relationship between characters, and the ways that all of that works itself out…In general, just having that dance background, I think it lends itself to a musicality in the language and musicality in the collaboration.”

This flow is evident in the way character and composition interact on the page and on stage. Sarah Taylor Ellis writes her characters’ pieces of music as if the character is writing out the varied melodies. For example, Jane Fairfax's, “This is Yours” lends itself to Jane's varied, intricate emotions as it changes time signatures throughout the piece. As a former English major, Sarah is no stranger to complex character, and she’s thoroughly enjoyed blending both her passions for English and composing,

“The idea of character, especially in Emma, it was just so crystal clear to me. Jane Austen is so great with quirks and character specificity and so every single character quite easily lent itself to its own musical voice… Hetty is a chatterbox and that comes through in this incredibly pointed, rhythmic music…”

Like the characters in Emma, Sarah is also in a constant stage of change and flow in her own existence. Just five years ago, she up and moved her whole life to Germany. In Germany, funding for the arts scene is completely based on concept and how it will engage the public in a meaningful conversation about important issues. Sarah is actively re-writing her material whilst living abroad, so of course, I had to ask how her life in Europe has informed her work.

“My work has become a lot more outwardly political since moving to Germany…this can mean political in many different ways. I have a musical about German bureaucracy made with a German theater company, a punk opera about inheritance law… but also political in the way that another musical of mine centers a young gay man, but without it being a big deal that he’s queer. I still think that’s kind of radical to see. It’s a lot more punk, it’s a lot more rock.”

This could not be more different from the lovely, Adam Guettel inspired Emma: No One But Herself. 

Finally, I asked about what it meant to see Emma: No One But Herself staged at her old alma mater. With a nostalgic chuckle, she exclaimed, 

“It’s so special! It’s the most magical, surreal experience. It’s like a real homecoming in so many ways… and it just feels so special and so validating that I’ve been welcomed back with creative work and been able to do the creative work alongside getting to visit classes and being able to have deep academic discussions as well. It’s also just validating to go ‘right these two things shouldn’t be separated from each other, they are absolutely intertwined.’ I just feel very grateful."

Thank you so much to Sarah for her beautiful words and her time. This production was an absolute joy to work on! 

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