Macon Little Theatre stages musical version of classic story 'Little Women'
Macon Little Theatre will bring the beloved story of four sisters to the stage with its musical production of "Little Women."
The play is an adaptation of the Louisa May Alcott novel of the same name and follows the sisters Jo, Meg, Beth and Amy March from their early teens into adulthood. "Little Women" opens Friday and runs through Dec. 13.
"The literature that it is based on is a big hit with lots of moms and grandmas, and we hope they are going to want to bring their granddaughters and daughters and their husbands and sons, too," said Director Sylvia Haynie. "But the book "Little Women" is a draw for a large part of our audience."
While the musical is based on the book, Haynie said those who aren't familiar with the story still will enjoy the production.
"Even people who have never even heard of the book before will enjoy the sense of puzzlement and fun and yet also love and support the joys, highs and lows of a family as it goes through a period of years."
The story is told in two acts with 20 musical numbers and is based on the adaptation that appeared on Broadway, which featured Georgia actress Sutton Foster when it premiered.
"Many of our women singers and performers have expressed interest in this show for years and talked about how much they love the music,"Haynie said. "I've heard a number of different actresses over the years sing some of the big, signature songs from this show. It's just very popular with musical theater women who like to be in shows."
Like the book, the musical heavily focuses on Jo, a writer who has left her Massachusetts home to work in New York as a governess and focus on her writing.
The play opens with Jo talking about her story "Operatic Tragedy" with Professor Fritz Bhaer, a neighbor at the boarding house where she lives.
"(It's) a fantastical kind of scene where the principal character, Jo, is telling about one of her stories that she's written and we actually get to see that story acted out almost in an operatic form," Haynie said.
The professor is critical of Jo's piece and the play then flashes back to Christmas a few years earlier when Jo is still in Massachusetts with her sisters.
The musical then delves into the sisters' lives and courtships a bit before returning to New York where Jo has finally sold "Operatic Tragedy" after taking some of the professor's advice.
"There's a fairly small nuclear cast of the family -- the sisters and the mother -- and then there are some characters who circle into their lives and are the friendships and then later the romances of their lives,"; Haynie said. "Then we do have an ensemble of about a dozen folks who are involved in some of the group things."
She said Macon Little Theatre looks for family-oriented productions during this time of year and those are sometimes tied to the holidays and sometimes not.
"There are so many opportunities out there in December and so many wonderful things to see," Haynie said. "We like to be a part of the variety of things that people can see -- some of them connected to the holiday and some of them just great family fun."
"Little Women"
When: 8 p.m. Dec. 4-5, 9-12; 2:30 p.m. Dec. 6 and 13
Where: Macon Little Theatre, 4220 Forsyth Road
Cost: $20 adults, $15 seniors (60+), $10 students (5-23 with I.D.)
Tickets: 478-477-3342; www.maconlittletheatre.org
This story was originally published December 3, 2015 at 1:15 PM with the headline "Macon Little Theatre stages musical version of classic story 'Little Women'."