Poets of Nature - Natural Talents

"This is going to be a jewel of a CD and I am excited about it to say the least." says Berkshire Media Artists producer Jason Brown about an upcoming BMA Audio release Poets of Nature. "Each passage is written by a classical author and is a love poem to Nature as well as an exploration of her power. Thoreau's question 'Am I not partly leaves and vegetable mold myself?' is a realization of oneness with the earth and a deep contemplation. What these masters were saying over a hundred years ago is more important than ever. Listening to the passages narrated by the wonderful Berkshire theatre artists on this audio brings the poetry to life in ways that reading them does not. Walking eyes free in the woods while listening to these poems is as good as any museum tour available at the met. It's an audio tour of nature."

Jonathan Epstein with James Barry
in Berkshire Theater Festival's
production of The Caretaker.
Photo by Kevin Sprague

Brown likes to cast according to the likeness of the reader to the author. For Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman and Bryant Brown approached Jonathan Epstein "who of course handled the poems expertly as he did the Henry James tales.." Brown says. "Jonny is brilliant at realizing a personality and did just that with these authors. He also has the intellectual ability to grasp the meaning of a poem and present it with the skill of a fine artist. I know he has a lot of fans and I might be the biggest." Epstein was seen in Berkshire Theatre festival's Amadeus, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Educating Rita, The Caretaker and will appear in Ghosts this summer.

Malcolm Ingram with
Elizabeth Aspenlieder
in Rough Crossing at
Shakespeare and Company
Photo by Kevin Sprague

Brown has recently finished recording Malcolm Ingram, an English actor who starred in the critically acclaimed Rough Crossing and Blue/Orange this summer at Shakespeare and Company. "I have been admiring his work since I first saw him in Enchanted April last year, " Brown stated, "but I was wondering how he would do in front of the microphone as that's always hard to predict." Without hesitating he rendered in a perfectly rich London accent Wordsworth, Keats and Browning. In existing recorded English poetry there is an inclination towards oration or a sing-song quality but Malcolm speaks from the heart. It is heavenly to listen to and I look forward to sharing it with the world. See Malcolm in Pinter's Mirror directed by Normi Noel this season at Shakespeare and Company

Looking for a reader for the Bronte sisters, Brown noticed a very English looking young lady in Great Barrington last Spring. "When I heard her speak it confirmed that possibly the Bronte sisters had been found or had found me &" says Brown. Rising to the challenge of reading Bronte poetry Emma Micklewright did not waver in accepting an invitation to do an audio test and the result was, according to Brown, an audio discovery. "She has an innate gift I was happy to discover and a fearless quality in exploring the depths of the sister's poems. Nature, of course, is an essential ingredient in their writing and Emma captures that beautifully. "

Tara Franklin in the Berkshire
Theater Festival production
of Educating Rita.
Photo by Kevin Sprague

When Epstein was asked who was the female narrator version of Jonathan Epstein, among the several he suggested, according to Brown, was Tara Franklin. "I had not seen her perform and I was hearing raves from people. I got the chance to see her in Educating Rita at BTF costarring Jonny. Of course they were both great and I very nervously approached her to be the voice of Emily Dickinson. Tara has a great sound and an acute intelligence so I knew it would be good. When the run ended I was honored to have her visit the studio the next morning and she impressively flew though Dickinson's Nature Poems as if she had them memorized - yet with subtlety and perception. She aced it. " Tara appeared in Berkshire Theatre Festival’s Amadeus, Educating Rita, A Man for all Seasons and will be at BTF again this season.

Julie Webster and
Jonathan Croy in
Shakespeare and Company's
The Ladies Man.
Photo by Kevin Sprague

"Upon reading the poems the green energy contained in them mesmerized me, " Brown recalls upon looking at a first edition of the The Apple Blossom Poets - The Poetry of Elaine and Dora Goodale. "I knew they had to be recorded and a reader found soon before the release. The poems surfaced suddenly and so might the narrator. " Brown remembered teaching a young girl acting at Flying Cloud in New Marlborough twenty years before by the name of Julie Webster and knew she was now an actress with Shakespeare and Company. "Something told me she was it even though I hadn't seen her perform since that time. The precocious Goodales were writing Byronic verse at an early age and a young Shakespearian trained actress would be ideal as a reader. Julie being similar in feature and also Berkshire raised was a natural choice. One minute into our initial conversation I sensed the Goodale poems would be heard in the world again and almost couldn't believe it. We recorded a few days later and Julie was nothing short of perfect as I suspected. " Julie appears in the leading role in the short film Taken by AmorousFilms which won the Special Recognition award at The Boston International Film Festival.

The CD was intended for a fall release but Brown is considering a Spring publication with all the Spring and Summer references in the poetry. "Between the poetry and wonderful talent this has been a profound experience for me. I am continually surprised at what the Berkshires contains in its depths." says Brown. Perhaps he means becks and dells.