Little Women

Little Women
By Allan Knee, Mindi Dickstein and Jason Howland. Miranda Musical Society. Sutherland Memorial School of Arts (NSW). June 10 to 19, 2011.

An attractive period setting, beautifully furnished and dressed, establishes a sense that something special is in store as soon as you enter the small suburban hall.

Miranda Musical Society’s production well and truly lives up to that initial impression.

Well-matched to its intimate venue, this musical setting of Louisa May Alcott's well-loved novel engages and entertains all night. It’s a musically demanding piece, but vocally there’s no weak links, and, acted as drama, with healthy dollops of comedy, and its fair share of tears, the characters spring to life from the pages of the novel.

With a small ensemble cast, this adaptation never overwhelms the story with any superfluous chorus numbers (probably limiting its possibilities on the amateur circuit).

The immediacy of the polished production in this small venue makes it a warmer experience than the professional production seen on the thrust stage of the Seymour Centre a few years ago. It’s a bright, lively production which never lags.

Leading the way is Chiz Watson as Jo, the demanding central role of the show. Chiz was ill, and had been all week, but showed just how a performer can rise above illness, on adrenalin and sheer willpower. Fiercely independent, funny, and combining a cross between tomboyish spark and drama queen, with a sympathetic underlying vulnerability, she drives the show impressively.

The ‘little women’ of the title, Jo and her three sisters, are absolutely believable siblings, with strong, clear individual characterizations and delightfully linked by a genuine, credible rapport. Erin Bruce is a warm, gentle Meg, Jenni Little is sympathetic and serene as the tragic Beth and Lauren Mellor, vivacious and engaging as Amy.

Leonie Johnson’s richly maternal Marmee is warmly embraced within in the rapport of her stage family, and really delivers with a couple knockout numbers.

Miranda’s ‘little women’ are well-matched with credible male counterparts: Zach Smith’s charming, high-spirited Laurie; Tim Moxey’s earnest, sincere Mr Brooke; Ian Johnson’s initially forbidding, yet ultimately warm-hearted Mr. Laurence and Garth Saville’s Professor Bhaer, a splendid foil to Chiz Watson’s fiercely independent Jo.

Cheryl O’Brien doubles up admirably as a formidable Aunt March and a larger-than-life boarding house landlady.

In splendid contrast to the rest of the play, cast members ham up Jo’s sensational stories in two delightful melodramatic pantomime interludes.

Bob Peet’s set, which I’ve already praised, is complimented by atmospheric detail, down to flickering lights, and attractive period costuming.

Taut direction from Tim Dennis, strong stagecraft, attractive groupings and occasional appropriate, effective choreography by Michael Astill, in a show that really doesn’t ask for a lot of movement and strong decisive musical direction from Andy Peterson with balanced sound, combine for a touching, funny, and occasionally teary night of community musical theatre.

Neil Litchfield

Photographer: Andre Moonen

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