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Little Women The Broadway Musical seems very much at home out at Rosebud where it will be playing until Aug. 31.
It’s a story of the importance of family and of faith and resilience, all themes that play so well in the little opera house theatre in this cozy prairie town.
This musical is yet another stage adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s beloved 156-year-old story of the four March sisters growing up in a small town in Massachusetts during the American Civil War while their father is serving as a chaplain for the Union Army.
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This version by Allan Knee, Mindi Dickstein and Jason Howland could easily be called Little Woman because it is primarily the story of how Jo March became a writer. Her sisters, Meg, Amy and Beth are not nearly as well fleshed out as Jo, and their trials and tribulations are used to advance Jo’s story rather than to give any of them a true character arc.
It’s fortunate indeed that Cassia Schmidt, who plays Jo, is such a commanding, multitalented performer. She has the voice, the acting skills, and the stage presence to take control of every scene she’s in. She plays Jo as a rebel rather than a tomboy. Jo wants to be a writer, not the wife and mother that society dictates. As Jo’s solo at the end of the first act says, very loud and very clear, she wants to be someone astonishing, not someone ordinary. The song says as much about Schmidt as it does about Jo.
It’s up to Jocelyn Hoover Leiver, who plays the oldest sister Meg, to show the traditional values young women embraced. The moment Meg meets the rather staid tutor Mr. Brooke (Steven Morton) at the dance, they are both smitten with the idea of marriage and children as much as they are with each other. Their duet, More than I Am, speaks about how important it is to be a duo, not a solo, which is what Jo keeps saying suits her.
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The third sister, Amy, is the flighty artist who paints, draws and longs to be dressed and treated like a lady, not just a woman. Karyssa Komar makes Amy’s physical transformation once she travels to Europe believable, but she also shows it will be an ongoing struggle because it’s all learned rather than innate.
The youngest sister Beth is a talented pianist but she is also frail and timid. The powerful, pivotal scene in the second act at the beach works so well because Grace Fedorchuk never abandons Beth’s beautiful, optimistic smile, tugging at the heartstrings even stronger than if she’d become maudlin. It’s a beautiful, wise choice, as is the use of a kite in this scene.
Griffin Kehler gives Laurie, the next-door neighbour, a youthful exuberance that his character never abandons, which works so well in his proposal scene with Jo, and his return from Europe with Amy. Grant Tilly plays the German tutor in New York for laughs. He always seems so clueless which explains why Jo might just give his proposal some consideration. Glenda Warkentin and Annette Loiselle are both standouts as the girls’ self-sacrificing mother and their disdainful wealthy aunt.
It is the pursuit of humour and levity in Morris Ertman’s direction that makes this Little Women a delight, and so suitable for families. The same is true of Bill Hamm’s approach to the music, even in the few sombre songs.
Robin Ayles’ set features three stunning large quilts that act as tapestries to be auctioned off after the run of the play.
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