Little Women - The Musical
My first exposure to Little Women was not reading the book when I was five years old -- in fact, I was twenty-four before I ever picked it up. It also wasn't the 1994 movie -- at least, not exactly. I remember seeing at least part of it at my grandma's house as a kid and hating it because it wasn't a cartoon, but I'm sure I didn't see more than half an hour. My first exposure was the 2005 Broadway musical, which was one of those doomed musicals with short runs that I saw multiple times on student rush and loved dearly.
It starred Sutton Foster as Jo and Maureen McGovern as Marmee.
Marmee (left) and Jo (right)
It notably did not follow the plot of the novel very closely at all, which I didn't mind at the time, having not read the novel. Now that I have the deviations in the plot are rather hilariously terrible, BUT I still hold that the show featured some amazing acting and vocal talent, and quite a few of the songs taken out of context are absolutely perfect slices of characterization.
The show opened to a scene of Jo talking to Bhaer at the boarding house in New York, and explaining to him that yet another one of her stories had been rejected. After Jo gives Bhaer a description of the blood and guts plot of her writing, the good man kindly suggests that she might try writing about what she knows and that her writing can be better.
If you're thinking that Jo feels ashamed that she had written such immoral tales and changes her ways at once... well, then you've been paying too much attention to Alcott's book. Instead, Jo sings the song "Better" in which she rages about how very WRONG and UNFAIR Bhaer is, and affirms her plan to succeed in what she is doing no matter what the world thinks.
Better
... Useful sites like youtube where you could certainly find Sutton singing the song are blocked in China (where I live), and my proper MP3s of the song are on a dead computer, so I made a recording of me singing it. If anybody wants to go find a proper recording on some social media website and link it, please do!
How can what he said to me be true?
If I don't succeed what will I do?
Turn around go back to Concord?
Leave New York beyond unconquered?
No!
How dare make me doubt the way I feel!
Doubt that each thrilling phrase is who I am...
Aren't these words alive with passion?
Vivid as my attic where it all began...
FLASHBACK to Concord and Jo's attic! It's Christmas, Jo is writing a play, and the other girls are complaining to her about their problems. These girls are Meg, Beth, and Amy but they're practically chorus roles, since Jo is the only important sister (as we all know).
Jo saves Christmas by sneaking over to Mr. Laurence's yard and cutting down his prized Christmas pine, then bringing it over to the March home for a Christmas tree. Grandpa Laurence is a little ticked off at first, but he warms to Jo's tree stealing ways.
Then Marmee comes home and reads a letter from the girls' father who is serving as a chaplain in the civil war. After the girls go to bed she sings the gut-wrenching "Here Alone" about how difficult it is to raise for young women on her own and sound cheerful in all of her letters. This is one of those songs in the show that transcends the shoddy plot to give some real insight into one of the characters.
Jo goes to visit her Aunt March, who tells he she'll take her to Europe if she changes her boyish ways. They sing a song about it.
Jo: If I change I'll go to Paris?
Aunt March: Change completely or don't waste my time.
Then there's a ball. Meg is afraid that she won't know what to do if I man asks her to dance, but Marmee gives some wise council on that matter. It's not that big a deal, since it's not related to Jo, who is played by Sutton Foster don't you know. They all sing a song called "Delighted".
At the ball Jo meets Laurie. Laurie is played by Danny Gurwin, who is a comedic big name on Broadway. Laurie is a terrifyingly hyperactive psycho stalker lonely young man from a rich family. Laurie begs Jo to take a chance and be his friend in the song "Take a Chance on Me" which is melodically beautiful and catchy as hell, particularly if you ignore the lyrics.
I know I have no right,
but sometimes late at night
I watch you in your attic
pacing back and forth like a maniac.
I've never met a girl like you...
anyone at all like you...
Jo makes a valiant attempt to avoid her as he chases her around and tries to get peaks at the burnt back end of her dress, but eventually they hit it off and start dancing together. Then they're best friends forever. :) :) :) :) Yay, friendship!
Amy burns Jo's manuscript because she didn't get to go to the ball. While doing this she laughs manically.
Later! Jo invites Laurie skating. Amy follows.
Grandpa Laurence comes over. Beth is afraid of him at first, but then they play a piano duet together and sing a song about the lovely weather in Massachusetts. They're best friends forever. Yay! More friendship!
Jo and Laurie return carrying Amy, who they quickly explain nearly drowned while Beth and Grandpa were singing their song. Thank goodness Laurie rescued her! Jo, Beth, Meg, and Amy invite Laurie to be part of their family and swear him in as their very own brother in the song "Five Forever"
Laurie is welcomed into the March Family Can-Can Line of Joy.
Meg decides to marry John Brooke, but he has to go to war. :(
Laurie proposes to Jo. She thinks he's joking. The audience thinks he's joking too, because the scene is acted comically. For laughs. Because Laurie's broken heart is funny, until the very last minute where it kind of isn't... maybe. I'm not a terribly big fan of Danny Gurwin. Jim Stanek, who is one of my favorite musical theatre actors ever, was the Laurie understudy, but I never got to see him in the role. I regret that bitterly to this day.
this is a picture of Jim Stanek holding a Walrus. you might notice that it's bigger and less relevant than any of the other pictures.
As soon as Laurie crawls out of the room Jo sings her show-stopping number "Astonishing" about how she will defy all social norms and astonish the world. I adore this song. Somebody should go find it on those sites I can't get on, so I can link it here. It's a perfect song for Jo, even if it's rather akwardly timed.
End act one!
Act two!
Back to the boarding house with Bhaer. Jo has sold a story. Bhaer and Jo are happy. Bhaer has a letter for Jo. Beth is dying! Oh no! Jo goes back to Concord. It's briefly mentioned somewhere in there that father March has returned, but since he's not terribly important, we never see him on stage. It's a shame *he* wasn't played by Sutton Foster, else we'd have seen a lot more of him. Oh, also, Amy went to Europe.
Beth is Jo's favorite sister, and she's dying! They go to the beach and sing the song ""Some Things are Meant to Be", in which Beth says her goodbyes to Jo. In my opinion this is the best song in the entire musical, and fits Beth perfectly. Here's a clip of me singing some of it (It's meant to be a duet be Jo and Beth. Alas, I am one person).
Beth:
Some things are meant to be,
the tide turning endlessly,
the way it takes hold of me,
no matter what I do!
And some things will never die,
the promise of who you are,
your memories when I am far
from you.
All my life,
I've lived for loving you.
Let me go now.
((Sooooo... once I gave a copy of this song to a friend of mine completely out of context, and based on that line she thought it was a romantic duet between two girl lovers who were getting ready to break up. It isn't! But it is lovely and poignant and so perfectly delivered by the actress who played Beth.))
Scene change! Jo is in her attic and terribly sad because Beth is dead. Marmee sings the song Days of Plenty to comfort her.
Back in New York Bhaer is trying to write a letter to Jo and slowly realizing he's head over heels in love with her. He sings "How I Am" which is a fantastic and very in-character song.
Amy comes back from Europe. Surprise! She's now married to Laurie. The two sing a duet called "The Most Amazing Thing" to quickly sum up how whole marraige came about (They don't have much time to waste on it, since it's not related to JO.). At one point during it the two of them were rowing together, but then Laurie fell into the lake, and Amy jumped in to save his life. How delightfully zany, right?
Then it's time for Meg's wedding to John Brooke, who is back from the war!
As Jo is waiting for the wedding to start, who should show up but a certain umbrella carrying professor?
Jo and Bhaer decide that although they fight all the time and have nothing in common they should get married, because their love is like a small umbrella in the rain.
Also, Jo let the manuscript for the novel "Little Women" in New York when she fled to be at Beth's side, and Bhaer sent it off to a publisher, and now it's going to be published and make her a famous author.
Everyone is happy, except for Beth (who is dead) and Father March (who hasn't yet managed to exist).
THE END.
It starred Sutton Foster as Jo and Maureen McGovern as Marmee.
Marmee (left) and Jo (right)
It notably did not follow the plot of the novel very closely at all, which I didn't mind at the time, having not read the novel. Now that I have the deviations in the plot are rather hilariously terrible, BUT I still hold that the show featured some amazing acting and vocal talent, and quite a few of the songs taken out of context are absolutely perfect slices of characterization.
The show opened to a scene of Jo talking to Bhaer at the boarding house in New York, and explaining to him that yet another one of her stories had been rejected. After Jo gives Bhaer a description of the blood and guts plot of her writing, the good man kindly suggests that she might try writing about what she knows and that her writing can be better.
If you're thinking that Jo feels ashamed that she had written such immoral tales and changes her ways at once... well, then you've been paying too much attention to Alcott's book. Instead, Jo sings the song "Better" in which she rages about how very WRONG and UNFAIR Bhaer is, and affirms her plan to succeed in what she is doing no matter what the world thinks.
Better
... Useful sites like youtube where you could certainly find Sutton singing the song are blocked in China (where I live), and my proper MP3s of the song are on a dead computer, so I made a recording of me singing it. If anybody wants to go find a proper recording on some social media website and link it, please do!
How can what he said to me be true?
If I don't succeed what will I do?
Turn around go back to Concord?
Leave New York beyond unconquered?
No!
How dare make me doubt the way I feel!
Doubt that each thrilling phrase is who I am...
Aren't these words alive with passion?
Vivid as my attic where it all began...
FLASHBACK to Concord and Jo's attic! It's Christmas, Jo is writing a play, and the other girls are complaining to her about their problems. These girls are Meg, Beth, and Amy but they're practically chorus roles, since Jo is the only important sister (as we all know).
Jo saves Christmas by sneaking over to Mr. Laurence's yard and cutting down his prized Christmas pine, then bringing it over to the March home for a Christmas tree. Grandpa Laurence is a little ticked off at first, but he warms to Jo's tree stealing ways.
Then Marmee comes home and reads a letter from the girls' father who is serving as a chaplain in the civil war. After the girls go to bed she sings the gut-wrenching "Here Alone" about how difficult it is to raise for young women on her own and sound cheerful in all of her letters. This is one of those songs in the show that transcends the shoddy plot to give some real insight into one of the characters.
Jo goes to visit her Aunt March, who tells he she'll take her to Europe if she changes her boyish ways. They sing a song about it.
Jo: If I change I'll go to Paris?
Aunt March: Change completely or don't waste my time.
Then there's a ball. Meg is afraid that she won't know what to do if I man asks her to dance, but Marmee gives some wise council on that matter. It's not that big a deal, since it's not related to Jo, who is played by Sutton Foster don't you know. They all sing a song called "Delighted".
At the ball Jo meets Laurie. Laurie is played by Danny Gurwin, who is a comedic big name on Broadway. Laurie is a terrifyingly hyperactive psycho stalker lonely young man from a rich family. Laurie begs Jo to take a chance and be his friend in the song "Take a Chance on Me" which is melodically beautiful and catchy as hell, particularly if you ignore the lyrics.
I know I have no right,
but sometimes late at night
I watch you in your attic
pacing back and forth like a maniac.
I've never met a girl like you...
anyone at all like you...
Jo makes a valiant attempt to avoid her as he chases her around and tries to get peaks at the burnt back end of her dress, but eventually they hit it off and start dancing together. Then they're best friends forever. :) :) :) :) Yay, friendship!
Amy burns Jo's manuscript because she didn't get to go to the ball. While doing this she laughs manically.
Later! Jo invites Laurie skating. Amy follows.
Grandpa Laurence comes over. Beth is afraid of him at first, but then they play a piano duet together and sing a song about the lovely weather in Massachusetts. They're best friends forever. Yay! More friendship!
Jo and Laurie return carrying Amy, who they quickly explain nearly drowned while Beth and Grandpa were singing their song. Thank goodness Laurie rescued her! Jo, Beth, Meg, and Amy invite Laurie to be part of their family and swear him in as their very own brother in the song "Five Forever"
Laurie is welcomed into the March Family Can-Can Line of Joy.
Meg decides to marry John Brooke, but he has to go to war. :(
Laurie proposes to Jo. She thinks he's joking. The audience thinks he's joking too, because the scene is acted comically. For laughs. Because Laurie's broken heart is funny, until the very last minute where it kind of isn't... maybe. I'm not a terribly big fan of Danny Gurwin. Jim Stanek, who is one of my favorite musical theatre actors ever, was the Laurie understudy, but I never got to see him in the role. I regret that bitterly to this day.
this is a picture of Jim Stanek holding a Walrus. you might notice that it's bigger and less relevant than any of the other pictures.
As soon as Laurie crawls out of the room Jo sings her show-stopping number "Astonishing" about how she will defy all social norms and astonish the world. I adore this song. Somebody should go find it on those sites I can't get on, so I can link it here. It's a perfect song for Jo, even if it's rather akwardly timed.
End act one!
Act two!
Back to the boarding house with Bhaer. Jo has sold a story. Bhaer and Jo are happy. Bhaer has a letter for Jo. Beth is dying! Oh no! Jo goes back to Concord. It's briefly mentioned somewhere in there that father March has returned, but since he's not terribly important, we never see him on stage. It's a shame *he* wasn't played by Sutton Foster, else we'd have seen a lot more of him. Oh, also, Amy went to Europe.
Beth is Jo's favorite sister, and she's dying! They go to the beach and sing the song ""Some Things are Meant to Be", in which Beth says her goodbyes to Jo. In my opinion this is the best song in the entire musical, and fits Beth perfectly. Here's a clip of me singing some of it (It's meant to be a duet be Jo and Beth. Alas, I am one person).
Beth:
Some things are meant to be,
the tide turning endlessly,
the way it takes hold of me,
no matter what I do!
And some things will never die,
the promise of who you are,
your memories when I am far
from you.
All my life,
I've lived for loving you.
Let me go now.
((Sooooo... once I gave a copy of this song to a friend of mine completely out of context, and based on that line she thought it was a romantic duet between two girl lovers who were getting ready to break up. It isn't! But it is lovely and poignant and so perfectly delivered by the actress who played Beth.))
Scene change! Jo is in her attic and terribly sad because Beth is dead. Marmee sings the song Days of Plenty to comfort her.
Back in New York Bhaer is trying to write a letter to Jo and slowly realizing he's head over heels in love with her. He sings "How I Am" which is a fantastic and very in-character song.
Amy comes back from Europe. Surprise! She's now married to Laurie. The two sing a duet called "The Most Amazing Thing" to quickly sum up how whole marraige came about (They don't have much time to waste on it, since it's not related to JO.). At one point during it the two of them were rowing together, but then Laurie fell into the lake, and Amy jumped in to save his life. How delightfully zany, right?
Then it's time for Meg's wedding to John Brooke, who is back from the war!
As Jo is waiting for the wedding to start, who should show up but a certain umbrella carrying professor?
Jo and Bhaer decide that although they fight all the time and have nothing in common they should get married, because their love is like a small umbrella in the rain.
Also, Jo let the manuscript for the novel "Little Women" in New York when she fled to be at Beth's side, and Bhaer sent it off to a publisher, and now it's going to be published and make her a famous author.
Everyone is happy, except for Beth (who is dead) and Father March (who hasn't yet managed to exist).
THE END.