Lindsey Erin Agnes as Amy, Hope O’Conor as Beth, and Katie Lynch Koglin as Meg in ‘Little Women.’
For those of us who read Louisa May Alcott’s classic coming-of-age novel, “Little Women, The Musical” is a nostalgic trip not only to Civil War-era Concord, Massachusetts, but to wherever we were when we first read the book. I had a treasured illustrated version as a girl, which through the years was lost. Then recently, I found a reprint edition with the same enchanting pictures, which I keep secure to lovingly remind me of my girlhood, different, yet in many ways I had some of the same feelings the four March sisters express.
The Cape Cod Theatre Company, Home of Harwich Jr. Theatre’s production of the 2005 Broadway musical returned me again to the warm and loving domestic scene at the home of Jo, Meg, Beth and Amy March. Based on Alcott’s story “Little Women,” the musical, with book by Allan Knee, music by Jason Howland and lyrics by Mindi Dickstein, only had a short run on Broadway. In Harwich, it plays with endearing charm, and feels right at home in the intimacy of HJT’s theater.
Jo, of course, is the spirited sister, a young woman ahead of her time, who wants to live a life beyond the domestic. Like her creator, she writes and her melodramatic tales spark the household. As Jo, Caitlin Mills lights up the production with her lustrous singing and effervescence. It is impetuous Jo who dominates the story. A talented actor, Mills beguilingly captures the essence of a young woman who wants “to change the world.”
Caitlin Mills as Jo and Richard Jay Sullivan as Professor Bhaer.
The show’s music, mostly easy-going ballads, moves the story along and the cast delightfully brings them to life. As Meg, Katie Lynch Koglin tries to keep peace in the family when sibling rivalry arises. She has a lovely voice and her duet, “More Than I Am,” with suitor, John Brooke (Kevin Kenneally) is gracefully romantic. The most sprightly tune in the show is “Off to Massachusetts,” sung at the piano by Beth (Hope O’Conor) and Mr. Laurence (Jeff Dexter), grandfather to Laurie Laurence, who is the central love interest in Alcott’s story.
With his vibrant voice, Anthony Logan Cole is commanding as Laurie. Lindsey Erin Agnes is the romantic Amy, petulant at times bringing conflict into the family, but finally closing the circle of love. The determined never-to-marry Jo finally succumbs to Professor Bhaer, sensitively portrayed by Richard Jay Sullivan. when she meets him in New York. Their song together, “Small Umbrella in the Rain,” sweetly marks a happy ending.
Lindsey Erin Agnes as Amy, Caitlin Mills as Jo, Hope O’Conor as Beth, and Katie Lynch Koglin as Meg.
As the irascible Aunt March, Sheila Furtado bustles around the scene, trying to maintain order. However, as we so nostalgically recall, it is warm-hearted Marmee (Sonia Schonning) who keeps her “little women” safe while her husband is on the battlefield with the Union Army. The scene in Concord seems far away from the devastation of Americans fighting Americans in the Civil War. So “Little Women” is a little oasis of peace and love.
With its Victorian furniture and warm colors, James P. Byrne’s March household sets a cozy scene. Terry Norgeot’s direction ably sustains the mood of a devoted family, as Alcott wrote it, inspired by her own girlhood with her three sisters. Although set in another time, the story of the March girls is enduring because of its poignant reference to so many of our lives so many years later.
“Little Women, The Musical,” a production of Cape Cod Theatre Company, Home of Harwich Junior Theatre, 105 Division St., West Harwich, plays through May 1. For information and tickets, call 508-432-2002 or online at www.hjtcapecod.org.
— Debbie Forman
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