Little Women

Little Women is of course an iconic book. If you ever were a girl and could read at the same time, you’ve probably read it. There have been many movie adaptations but the most memorable, particularly for those who grew up in the 90’s such as….. me… will remember with much fondness the movie starring Susan Sarandon, Kirsten Dunst and Winona Ryder. To me, the story represents passion and zest for life; and something more than what some may call “family values”. To me, the close knit March family represent something very special. It reminds me how lucky I am to be close to my sister. Families like the March family are very lucky indeed. So it is this passion and closeness that were my benchmarks for this production, and something I will comment on later in this review.

An extremely simplified synopsis for those not familiar – in Civil War torn 1860’s America, the March family struggle with their Father fighting the War. The four sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy with their Mother affectionately known as Marmee keep their spirits up as best they can in the face of poverty. Jo is the story driver of the piece. An aspiring writer and a girl who’s values were far ahead of her time, we see Jo struggle to keep her family together whilst pursuing her dream. I wont give too much more away (and really, most of you should remember parts of the story line, it’s only been around for 100 plus years!) but along the way we have romance, betrayal, humour, and life changing moments.

I must that whilst I found the songs to be “Astonishing” just as the Act 1 finale describes, the script was lacklustre, a strange combination for a musical. The book is long, that is certainly the case, so it would take a clever and crafty writer to streamline the story to be the most engaging version possible for a Musical. Unfortunately the script writer missed the mark in this case. The score was luscious and a pleasure to listen to. The thematic elements of the music were clear and really gave the songs a higher level of sophistication.

I’ll start with what I loved. Number one on my hit parade were the sisters as an entity. For one, they looked freakishly similar! They all could have well been sisters. Face book (such a useful tool!) gave me hints that the actors who were playing the sisters were spending a lot of time together, and I must say this really paid off. You could tell that they genuinely enjoyed each other’s company. I love it when honest connections shine through from the stage. So congratulations to the girls on taking the initiative to really become sisters. I for one appreciated the effort.

All of the four sisters have their own distinct personality and I saw this from the first scene. Georgi Lewis as Amy was the perfect stubborn brat, and certainly got my blood boiling with her deceitful actions. Elyse McInerney as Beth was a joy. Her sweet nature carried all the way to the back row, and the duet between Beth and Jo “Some Things Are Meant To Be” was a highlight for me, it was an honest and simple performance by the two. Rachael Conway as Meg, ironically the youngest actress playing the eldest sister, gave a luminous performance. For someone so young she has a stage maturity beyond her years, and I was very pleased to see that she didn’t over play the romantic scenes with Mr Brooke (Brad Fischer) and become too melodramatic. I saw her in Ragtime with Donvale College last year, and am astounded at how much she has improved in a short time.

Jacqui Levitas may be young, but her voice packs many punches so don’t be fooled by that charming smile, she means business! The role of Jo is one that not many performers could pull off. It’s a huge sing and the character rarely leaves the stage. Jacqui’s voice seemed to effortlessly fill the auditorium despite patchy sound as she belted song after song. And it is certainly worth mentioning that it was her second show of the day and her forth show of the weekend. I wouldn’t have known any difference in her voice, it never quit. I thought that her character was a touched misguided, and I will discuss this later at the end because I think that had nothing to do with Jacqui, but her energy and charisma as Jo made her mesmerising to watch. You couldn’t take your eyes off her, nor did you want to.

In the supporting roles were a variety of our community’s seasoned performers. Jennie Kellaway as Aunt March was pretty much exactly what I imagined Aunt March to be, and I can’t give any higher praise then that. Tyler Hess as Laurie was vocally flawless and brought sweetness to the role. Brad Fischer was an unexpected surprise for me, as it must have been the first time I’ve seen him sing on stage, I had no idea he could sing so beautifully! I loved his sweet and tender delivery of “More Than I Am”. Barry Baker as Mr Laurence was my favourite breakfast cereal: Just Right. Natasha Bassett as Marmee was good in the role but I didn’t think the role was good enough for her, she is capable of so much depth as an actress and the way the character is written, she did not get the opportunity to show case what she can really do. However, no one can jerk a tear from my eye better than Natasha, and she hit me fair and square with “Days of Plenty”. The ensemble were great in their roles in Jo’s Operatic Tragedy, how ever I wont be rushing to audition for the ensemble of Little Women any time soon, they must have done a lot of sitting around!

My two revelations were Rebecca Rashleigh, her sparklingly soprano tones as Clarrisa brought to life made her moments stand out. My favourite performer of the night was Dean Pearcey as Professor Bhaer. I didn’t expect to like him so much because he was randomly in the first scene not doing much (again, the poor script and story flow). But then he won me over with his passionate and fiery delivery of “How I Am”. What I love as an audience member is when the singing is technically sound, and the emotionally journey is vivid; and the two are equally as good. I like to see balance. And I certainly got that from Dean. The duet with Jo of “Small Umbrella in the Rain” was also a wonderfully subtle and engaging performance from both.

The Musical Direction from Ben Hudson was excellent, but then, you wouldn’t expect anything less from him nowadays! Choreography by Nathan Firmin was appropriate. It’s not really the sort of show where you want the dance to overshadow the story, so there wasn’t a chance for Nathan to shine but it takes a humble choreographer to realise that the show isn’t just about their moves.

So in regard to my opening comments about my expectations of closeness and passion, I really felt the closeness of the cast and of the sisters particularly. Knowing some of the more experienced members myself, I am sure that they made a real effort to look out for the younger members of the cast because I felt that the interactions on stage were quite genuine. However I left the production feeling that there was a distinct lack of passion from the entire production. This is why.

I have now seen quite a few Nova shows and I have this observation to make. Quite a few production values are the same in every show they produce. It’s the same show with a different musical superimposed upon a production model, if you will. Nothing is changed to suit the tone and feeling of the Musical itself. The Set Design by Noel Browne was clunky, one dimensional, outdated and unimaginative. I found the over all effect to be poorly designed and poorly executed; as the thousands of crew members changing one chaise lounge for another chaise lounge were hardly stealth while one set of windows flew out and another set of windows flew in. The pictures projected onto the scrim were unnecessary and distracting. The lighting by Jason Bovaird was spectacular as you’d expect, but I hardly see a reason for Little Women to have spectacular lighting. I reviewed South Pacific for them last year and I could actually quote myself because I’ve seen the same things. This really disappoints me.

In the acting I found energy, particularly from the sisters, but across the board I found that I was missing that passion that I was hoping for. I think this is from lack of connection with the story, particularly from the sisters. The story and the characters are so foreign to the world we live in and the lives we as young women live now. What the girls needed was a Director that nurtured them and helped them to understand and to grow. I think this was lacking in this production. Especially when the script is so poor and the pace so flat; how are the girls to keep the story interesting and engaging when the piece relies so heavily on them? How can they take us on a journey? I think that a Director who casts such young performers has a responsibility of a duty of care to them. To ask them questions, to break down each line and each interaction to really understand the drama of the scene. To discuss the finer points of the character and the character’s intention at any given time. And here is my main point: a performer can only develop a character, and themselves, so far without guidance. And guidance is what I think was lacking here. I can only hope that the older members of the cast tried to help where they could in this respect. The production could have been so much more if more imagination was used in the staging, and more care given to the development of the actors.

Nova, I think, have what it takes to be one of our most brilliant companies, so I hope they take what I’ve written in the spirit of how it was intended.