The March sisters come of age once more in Little Women The Musical, engagingly performed by Westchester’s Kentwood Players, though not with the caliber of voices that would make its songs truly take flight.

Compacting Louisa May Alcott’s 400-plus-word novel into a two-and-three-quarter hour musical would seem a Herculean task, but it is one that book writer Allan Knee achieved quite adeptly indeed, his 2005 Broadway adaptation retaining the book’s most memorable moments (Jo’s stealing a Christmas tree from the neighboring Laurence family’s property, jealous Amy burning Jo’s manuscript, Jo’s shame at finding a scorch mark on her gown the night of the big party, etc.) while adding a batch of tuneful songs (music by Jason Howland and lyrics by Mindi Dickstein) running the gamut from Jo’s feisty “Better” to the bouncy “I’d Be Delighted,” to the rousing Act One closer “Astonishing.”

Like Alcott’s novel and its numerous film and TV adaptations, Little Women The Musical transports us back to 1863 Concord, Massachusetts where March family matriarch “Marmee” (Alison Boule) finds herself caring for her four “Little Women” as her Union Army chaplain tends to the spiritual needs of soldiers in a still raging Civil War.

There’s Meg (Lauren Jennerjohn), the pretty one, who falls for tutor John Brooke (co-producer Jeremy Palmer, stepping in on closing night); dreamer Beth (Francesca Farina), who wishes nothing more than her sisters’ happiness; perpetually petulant Amy (Lyndsay Palmer); and above all second sister (and Alcott stand-in) Jo (Jackie Fiske), who eschews dreams of love and marriage (take that, smitten boy-next-door Theodore “Laurie” Lawrence, played by Dylan La Rocque), opting instead for a writer’s life despite the twenty-two rejection letters she’s already received.

Joys, sorrows, disappointments, romances, and at least two weddings, Little Women The Musical has them all, plus an ending promising much more still in store for the March sisters. (Alcott did, after all, write two sequels to Little Women.)

Equally important, Little Women’s Broadway adaptation manages to be family-friendly while maintaining an adult sophistication that makes it appropriate for theatergoers of all ages.

Director Jennifer Richardson augments Little Women’s original Broadway cast of ten with an additional eight performers, who not only bring to life “Operatic Tragedy” characters usually played by the Marches and their neighbors but serve as background players while moving set pieces from scene to scene.

On the plus side, Richardson’s rethinking of the original concept does give more aspiring actors the chance to perform for family and friends. Still, much fun is lost when we don’t get to see Meg as damsel-in-distress Clarissa, Laurie as the dashing, swashbuckling Rodrigo, Marmie as the witchy old Hag, and more.

Tops among Richardson’s cast of eighteen are Fiske’s spunky tomboy of a Jo (who’d just as soon sport leggings as a skirt), La Roque’s irrepressible, nigh on irresistible Laurie, Palmer’s perky, pouty Amy, and Ria Parody Erlich’s curmudgeonly Aunt March,

Featured actors Laurence Ingalls (a charmingly stuffy Professor Bhaer), Martin Feldman (an appropriately avuncular Mr. Laurence), Sarilee Kahn (Mrs. Kirk), and Operatic Tragedians Courtney Chu, Samuel Goldman, Jack Maatita, Roy T. Okida, Ella Raziel, Judy Rosenfeld, and Erin Walker give it everything they’ve got

Still, Marmee’s two ballads (“Here Alone” and “Days Of Plenty”) deserve, if not role originator Maureen McGovern’s glorious pipes, at least more than they’re given here, and though Fiske earns well warranted cheers for her “Astonishing,” songs performed by others in the cast don’t for the most part hit the vocal marks as they should.

Musical director-conductor-keyboardist Mike Walker does score high for Little Women’s quite terrific six-piece live orchestra, and choreographer Christopher M. Albrecht sprinkles in some charming dance sequences along the way.

As for Ulyana Chava’s ingenious scenic design, though it succeeds in making inventive use of movable white flats (seen only from the back) and apple crates (taking the place of furniture), lighting designer Bruce Starrett misses opportunities to add color to Chava’s achromatic set pieces, and the final reveal (when we at long last get to see what’s on the other side of the flats) proves a letdown.

As can be seen here, publicity photos taken from the stage looking out towards the audience can’t take the place of legitimate production stills, though they do at least spotlight Julie Park’s splendid 1860s costumes if not her fanciful Operatic Tragedy outfits.

Little Women is produced by Rocky Miller, Victoria Miller, and Jeremy Palmer. Sam Gianfala is stage manager.

While its cast and creative team deserve A for effort, and a number of its performers merit the rounds of applause they are awarded at curtain calls, Kentwood Players’ Little Women The Musical falls short of the nine other productions I’ve seen.

Kentwood Players, 8301 Hindry Ave., Westchester.
www.kentwoodplayers.org

–Steven Stanley
December 21, 2019
Photos: Gloria Plunkett

Tags: Allan Knee, Jason Howland, Kentwood Players, Los Angeles Theater Review, Louisa May Alcott, Mindi Dickstein, Westchester Playhouse