Musical play follows the lives of four sisters as they in adulthood
Published in the Nov. 26 – Dec. 9, 2014 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Staff Report
Alexandra Hannon as “Amy March” reads her sister Jo’s story during a scene of the South Valley Civic Theater’s show “Little Women.” Photo by Marty Cheek
The South Valley Civic Theater opened its holiday theater show Nov. 21 by taking audience members to Civil War-era America where they meet several colorful young ladies in the musical “Little Women.”
Based on Louisa May Alcott’s classic 1868 semi-autobiographical novel, the musical play tells the story of the four sisters of the March family. Jo March (played by Christy Wright) is a brassy tomboy who aspires to be a writer. Meg (played by Jessie Henry) is a romantic. Amy (played by Alexandra Hannon) is pretentious. And Beth (played by Danielle Moore) is kind-hearted. The musical originally opened on Broadway in 2005. The book is by Allan Knee, lyrics are by Mindi Dickstein, and music is by Jason Howland. The show runs two hours and 20 minutes including the intermission.
“It’s just a classic American story. It does have some Christmas themes which is great for this season. But all in all it’s a play about family and real people,” said SVCT director Andrew Cummings.
Although the play takes place in a time period about 150 years ago, through the interaction between the March sisters, modern audience members will see the ever-present human issues that people of all generations face, he said.
Christy Wright as “Jo March” sings about her aspirations to be a writer as Mark Blattel as “Professor Bhaer” listens. Photo by Marty Cheek
“It’s about growing up so they’re dealing with a lot of things like boys and strife between sisters but also some larger issues,” he said. “ For example, their father is gone serving as an army chaplain in the Civil War and they’re in a family that used to have some wealth but at this time they don’t and so they’re dealing with some poverty. And so there are larger themes in the show that they have to deal with, some more dramatic issues.”
Wright considers the play’s story primarily focusing on women and their relationship with each other. Playing the central character of the story, she sees Jo March as a woman ahead of her time.
“I think Jo is amazing,” she said. “She’s sort of like a feminist, which is crazy for a show set in the 1800s. She has her own ideal and creates this world for herself. She’s kind of different from me because I’m kind of like this girlie-girl in real life and she’s very much not that. She’s very tomboyish.”
Hannon swoons upon hearing distressing news. Photo by Marty Cheek
The show is a good way to introduce children to musical theater, she added.
“It’s very family friendly and great for kids. I think that the only sort of bad word I say is ‘hell’ maybe once,” Wright said. “The costumes are beautiful and the songs are just so gorgeous. There’s a couple of tearjerker songs and there are really powerful numbers for everyone involved, and we have an amazing cast. They’re so good in performing.”
Wright has appeared in other SVCT performances including the “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” and said she’s a fan of the “Little Women” story.
“I’m just really excited about being in this production,” she said. “This is one of my dream shows and I’m so glad SVCT did it and I get to be a part of it.”
Cummings said he saw the show the first time when it was on a Broadway national tour and performed in San Jose. He was surprised that he liked it because he expected it to be a syrupy show. He discovered it had a lot more depth in emotions in the characters than he originally thought and “gorgeous” music, he said.
“I remember the first time I saw it, I said, ‘Oh, “Little Women,” whatever. I don’t really need to see this show,'” he said. “And I almost gave my tickets away actually. But when I left the theater I was just astounded. It’s a show of pretty huge scale that is really an astounding show.”
The SVCT version has 10 actors which he considers a relatively small cast. Many of the actors play multiple parts. Although girls will naturally enjoy it because it’s a story that relates to growing up, boys will also enjoy the sword fights and swashbuckling scenes that will surprise the audience, he said.
“It’s definitely appropriate for kids, we’re trying to encourage families to bring the whole group from 6 to 96,” he said. “We follow these sisters from a younger age up to marriage, so it spans several generations in the family unit as well and so it has a little something for everybody. It’s something to do over Thanksgiving weekend and as Christmas approaches.”
