NEW EXHIBITION
NOW ON VIEW
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Organized by Delaware Art Museum, the Jazz Age Illustration exhibition presentation at Norman Rockwell Museum was made possible by the generous support of lead sponsor Dena Hardymon, with additional support from Blair Trippe & David Harding, Nat & Betsy Bohrer, and media sponsor Berkshire Magazine.
Nicholas Remisoff, Cover for Vanity Fair, detail, March 1923. Delaware Art Museum, Aquisition Fund, 1991.
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Mother Ann and the Shakers with a lot of respect. I wanted to take her seriously. Even though I ' m not a Shaker and I don ' t subscribe their religion, I really thought that there was so much in her philosophy that was progressive and exciting. I wanted to give her a grand story that I felt that she deserved. At the same time, there are moments that are funny, because there ' s absurdity to miracles and fantastical things. I thought, well, how can I lean into that without making fun of them? We wanted to stay really close to the characters and hopefully take the audience on the journey with them, where they ' re kind of laughing with them instead of at them.”
MOTHER AMANDA
Shortly after finishing the script, Fastvold and Corbet turned to Seyfried for the lead role.“ She’ s an incredible singer,” Fastvold says.“ She doesn ' t hold anything back. She has such an incredible ability to just completely give herself over to her collaborators, to her director, to her scene partner. It ' s easy to fall on your face with this role, and there’ s a fine balancing act between a lot of things, including humor and drama. She had to be a very brave performer who would trust me enough to fall into my arms and know that I have her.”
At first, it seemed an odd thing to think that someone wanted to make a musical about the Shakers. But it is actually quite fitting. Shakers differentiated themselves with their erratic movements, song, and dance while praying( hence the name“ Shakers”). Seyfried was a perfect tool for the way Fastvold wanted to interpret the story. When she first approached Seyfried about the film, Fastvold made it clear that it was a passion project she’ d been working on for years and was devoted to telling the story of Mother Ann. She deserved an epic tale, Fastvold told Seyfried.
“ When you feel that kind of passion from somebody and clarity from somebody, it ' s a little intimidating because you ' re new to the idea,” Seyfried says.“ The trust that she had in me filled me
22 // BERKSHIRE MAGAZINE Holiday 2025