Everett, Wash.
Published: Friday, May 2, 2008

Village Theatre's lyrical 'Little Women'

The musical retelling of the beloved novel finds Jo March and her sisters facing love and loss in their journey toward womanhood.

By Theresa Goffredo
Herald writer

 The book "Little Women" spawned one opera, two musicals and about a dozen movies. Obviously we can't get enough of this Louisa May Alcott classic, written a staggering 140 years ago. So what's up?

Well, it's not what so much as who. And that who is Jo. Jo March, the second oldest sister whose character, based on Alcott herself, created the feminist mold for basically the rest of sisterhood, said writer Sean Hartley.

"In general, Jo was a character way before her time. The first feminist character anyone had read about up until that time … this wonderful misfit striving to make herself. She's a more common type now, but I can't think of any other examples of her in literature," Hartley said.

Hartley wrote the story dialogue for this new Village Theatre musical production of "Little Women," which opens at 8 tonight at Everett Performing Arts Center and runs through May 18.

Hartley wrote the story and collaborated with lyricist Alison Louise Hubbard, composer Kim Oler and director Daniella Topol.

Hartley called Jo March the "oversized character" of "Little Women," the story of Jo and her three sisters' -- Meg, Beth and Amy -- journey to womanhood. Mother Marmee March guides them as the girls love, question gender identity and experience loss, all against the backdrop of the American Civil War.

Hartley spotlights Jo, played by Victoria Huston-Elem, but also showcases the relationship between her and next-door neighbor Laurie, played by Dane Stokinger.

Stokinger was born to play Laurie and exudes the character of a golden retriever -- meant in a good way -- bounding after things and being a good-natured big guy, funny and at times childlike, Hartley said.

"He matched my perception of who the character was very closely," said Hartley in a phone interview from New York.

Laurie falls in love with Jo, but Jo rejects him. At the time of the novel, Alcott received a huge response from readers about how Jo should have married Laurie. Hartley believes that back in the day, readers wanted the independent woman to find her man because they needed that to be part of the story.

"I'm just so thrilled she didn't because you can't always have the perfect happy endings work out the way we think they should," Hartley said. "We might really like our next- door neighbor, but we don't want to marry him."

Several of the songs from "Little Women" can be heard on the Village Theatre Web site, www.villagetheatre.org. The song "Fly at Me" is a lovely lyrical ballad Laurie sings when he first discovers his love for Jo.

A favorite song for Hartley from the score is "Hold on to Me." The song references Jo's total denial of Beth's sickness. Beth eventually forces Jo to believe that she is going to die, and when Jo finally understands, Beth sings the poignant refrain: "hold on to me."

Hartley, who called himself "over 40," received his graduate degree in music education from the Manhattan School for Music. "Little Women" was his first time writing dialogue for a musical, he said, joking that the five songs he personally requested for musical moments "are some of the best."

Actress Huston-Elem called "Little Women" all good.

"I have seen people giggling through Aunt March's lectures and heard gasps as unfamiliar children see Jo's chopped hair for the first time," Huston-Elem was quoted in press materials. "This is the kind of theater that makes me love my job."
© 2009The Daily Herald Co., Everett, WA