We had an absolute blast with Little Women this past spring! It was my second year too, and I think it was the perfect choice for our group.
Things to think about:
-Jo doesn't leave the stage for more than 15 minutes in Act One!! So, really know your girl who is going to play her. She's working really hard - tons of harmonies, solo songs, etc. I ended up casting a sophomore though (God that girl can sing!) and she ROSE to the occasion. She worked hard, and she did it!
-The ensemble doesn't get a ton to do. So, here's some ideas that I did to give some more stage time:
I created a trio of maids for Aunt March that followed her around. We also split some of the "Could You?" song to give to the maids, which was quite fun and gave a few more solo moments.
I added a lot of "business" through the streets of NYC, the party scene, the "train station" before Marmee leaves for the train, etc, the beach scene.
I added a chorus dance sequence during Delighted where Meg is imagining everyone at the ball. It's really only a few 8 counts, but it was fun.
I also added a TON into the Weekly Volcano Press - I cast a group of Highwaymen (who were on Rodrigo's side) and Henchmen (who were on Braxton's side) and staged a big stage fight there. I also cast a Dashwood and had him acting out what Jo was saying and watching in horror as his office was turned into this locations. Very funny. I also used every opportunity to feature soloists in Volcano Press, and the entire cast was on stage for it - I brought back all the other characters along with the entire ensemble. It was really fun to have that final moment of that song be the entire cast!
We also had the entire cast sing the final "Sometimes When You Dream" finale with Jo - they were all backstage but she was alone onstage until Bhaer comes to get her. It really felt unified in a not-so unified show!
-We struggled with the Civil War aesthetic because we had some unforeseen budget issues and lost a costumer at a critical time, so at the last minute we chose to style it more in the 1940s style, and it worked really well. Honestly, very few people even noticed. Made it a lot easier and more fun to find things at vintage stores, too. Worked for our production in an unexpected way!
-As for the kite scene, we just didn't have our kite fly. I felt like, in our theater, we didn't have the technical ability to do it, and it would take away from the magic of the moment, so the girls held it up playfully, and it was quite beautiful. When Beth needed to leave, she left the stage to walk through the audience and took the kite with her. After she left, the family came out again, including Mr Lawrence (you can hear it in the music) and covered her piano with a sheet (to be later pulled off by Jo during The Fire Within Me.) I feel like in that moment, less is really more. It was very simple, and there were lots of sniffles from the audience!
SUCH a fun show - there's a lot of technical elements in the script in terms of location changing, but even we did it with a tiny stage and no fly space at all. If it is told with sense of magic and heart, it will be wonderful!
Here are some pictures from our production! (I had the foresight to marry a photographer - ha!)
Some Things Are Meant To Be with the kite
The Troll and Clarissa from Weekly Volcano - those girls made those costumes all by themselves!! Old Halloween costumes and Goodwill finds, cut, painted and distressed - so fun!
Meg and her Dream Dancers in "Delighted"
Aunt March and the dancing maids in "Could You"!
The March Girls (Beth, Jo, Meg, Amy)
Rodrigo, Clarissa and Braxton during Operatic Tragedy (we had their costumes get "better" for the second rendition of the telling)
Enjoy!
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Kandace
Drama Teacher
WA
Original Message:
Sent: 08-08-2016 16:27
From: Jennifer Gunther
Subject: Little Women Musical
Hello everyone,
I am a second year Drama teacher and director and I am new to this community. I have already found a lot of helpful resources. Last year, I felt so alone (I am a department of one at my school) so I am excited to be able to reach out to other theatre educators.
I am interested in doing Little Women for my spring musical this year. I have some strong girls that I would like to feature and I really like the score. Have any of you produced this musical? If so, what were some of the challenges you came across? I don't have a huge cast (last year, our spring musical was Catch Me If You Can and we had a cast of 21). However, I was wondering if there would be enough of an ensemble for this show. I could feature some ensemble during the ball scene and during the scenes where Jo is telling her story to the professor. Any other ideas for ensemble members would be appreciated. Thanks!
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Jennifer Gunther
Teacher
Colerain High School
Cincinnati OH
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