Little Women the Musical

Based on the original book by Louisa May Allcott, this musical adaptation premiered on Broadway in 2005. It tells the story of the March sisters and their beloved Marmee. The musical takes us through a whole range of emotions, as we see the family and their situation through Jo’s eyes as she attempts to make sense of the world she lives in and her destiny.  The book is a childhood favourite of mine, so I was pleased to see this musical for the first time. 

Each character had been well developed and under Katie’s direction they looked very comfortable in their roles and in their relationships. The show I saw was first night and all the cast looked confident and comfortable being on stage. The leading actress playing Jo gave a tremendous performance grasping the independent nature of her character. She was ably assisted by the actresses playing her Marmee, Aunt March and her sisters, all of whom developed their characters very well. Supporting them were the boys, most notably the actor playing Professor Bhaer whose character was perfect.

The soloists sang very well and there were some lovely duets and harmonies both from the principals and the ensemble. In the most part the dynamics of the songs had been well developed giving light and shade and some nicely rounded performances

There was some lovely and varied chorography in this period production with the cast learning different styles to the modern dances they have learnt in other productions. There are obviously a number of ballet dancers in the group and Shannon had choreographed some ballet sequences to accompany some of the songs. I particularly enjoyed the kite dance during Jo and Beth’s emotional song as she was dying which was beautiful and poignant.

Overall, this was a lovely production and one which the group should be proud of.

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