''Magic Under Glass'' is a young-adult

fantasy novel Fantasy literature is literature set in an imaginary universe, often but not always without any locations, events, or people from the real world. magic (paranormal), Magic, the supernatural and Legendary creature, magical creatures are common i ...

by American writer Jaclyn Dolamore. It was published in 2009 by

Bloomsbury Publishing Bloomsbury Publishing plc is a British worldwide publishing house of fiction and non-fiction. Bloomsbury's head office is located on Bedford Square in Bloomsbury, an area of the London Borough of Camden. It has a US publishing office located in ...

, with 240 pages. ''Magic Under Glass'' and its 2012 sequel ''Magic Under Stone'' were adapted as a fantasy

rock musical A rock musical is a musical theatre work with rock music. The genre of rock musical may overlap somewhat with album musicals, concept albums and song cycles, as they sometimes tell a story through the rock music, and some album musicals and concep ...

in 2017 by the Columbia Center for Theatrical Arts.

Plot summary

The story takes place in the kingdom of Lorinar which is in an ongoing war with a neighboring fairy kingdom. Nimira, the heroine, is a woman of aristocratic roots who works as a dancer in a foreign land after her mother's death and the disappearance of her father. She does not think twice when a handsome and mysterious magician, Hollin Parry invites her to live in his palace on the condition that she performs with a robot that can only be turned on with a silver key. She soon finds out that there is some evil magic in the mist and that the automation is Erris, a cursed fairy prince who is trapped in a robot body. Hollin's wife Annalie is trapped in an attic under the control of a sorcerer. Nimira and Erris fall in love and help to free Annalie from her curse. It is unknown what fate awaits them as they seek to free Erris from his automaton body. The sequel, ''Magic Under Stone'', continues the tale of this duo in this magical land of twists and turns.

Background

Dolamore's inspiration for ''Magic Under Glass'' came from her interest in the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

and automaton. Due, in part, to the influence of her favorite author

Charlotte Brontë Charlotte Nicholls (; 21 April 1816 – 31 March 1855), commonly known as Charlotte Brontë (, commonly ), was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë family, Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood and whose novel ...

, Dolamore wanted to write a story that incorporated gothic and

romance Romance may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings ** Romantic orientation, the classification of the sex or gender with which a pers ...

themes. It took her two months to write the first draft of the novel, which she then rewrote twice over the next two years.

Reception

''Magic Under Glass'', was met with generally positive reviews. Its publisher,

faced criticism due to perceived

whitewashing Whitewash is a paint-like covering of hydrated lime or a cheap white paint. Whitewash or whitewashing may also refer to: Racist practices * Whitewashing (beauty), modifying the skin tones of photographs of nonwhite people in mass media * Whitew ...

by using a white woman on the cover to depict the heroine, Nimira who is described in the book as "black-haired and brown-skinned." The author, Dolamore wrote that, although the plot is set in an imaginary kingdom, Nimira's character draws from Eastern European, Asian and Roma cultures.

Adaptations

Columbia Center for Theatrical Arts announced its intention to stage a musical adaptation of ''Magic Under Glass'' and ''Magic Under Stone'', engaging author Dolamore as a playwright, Michael Kline as composer and lyricist,

Toby Orenstein Toby Barbara Orenstein (née Press; born May 23, 1937) is an American theatrical director, producer, and educator. She has two honorable mentions for the Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre. Orenstein was inducted into the Maryland Women's Hal ...

as artistic director, and Ross Scott Rawlings as orchestrator and music director. Dolamore began writing the script in the Summer of 2015 and concluded it, with the assistance of Kline and Orenstein that December. The musical opened at

Howard County Community College Howard Community College (HCC or Howard CC) is a Public college, public community college in Columbia, Maryland. It offers classes for credit in more than 100 programs, non-credit classes, and workforce development programs. In addition to the ...

Smith Theater in Columbia,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

in July 2017. The costume designer, Kristen Clark exhibited the musical at the 2017 World Stage Design in

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. In November 2017, American Latino TV featured the musical in an episode, interviewing cast members and hosting a live performance of selections from the original score.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2009 American novels 2009 fantasy novels American gothic novels American romance novels American young adult novels Romantic fantasy novels Bloomsbury Publishing books