Dance Rehearsals for Little Women | Photo Courtesy of Julia Yates
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Little Women: The Musical Comes to MC

Warning: This article contains spoilers for the musical Little Women

The production Little Women the Musical  is underway for Theatre at the Mount’s spring musical.

The musical’s ensemble features strong female leads, and provides technician crews with an opportunity to work on a show set in a different era. Drama teacher Stacy Michelle Walker will direct alongside Musical Director Marti Martinez.

The Cast in Practice Skirts | Photo Courtesy of Julia Yates

“I think we have a lot of strong women singers, […] sopranos and altos and we needed to feature them,” Martinez said. “Little Women is based around life and the love of four sisters and their mother. They’re kind of forced to be on their own because of the father’s involvement  with the Civil War,” Martinez said. 

Little Women follows sisters Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy as they each pursue journeys together and apart. 

Meg, played by sophomore Chloe Flores, is the eldest sister. She wishes to settle down and find happiness in a partner and kids.

“Meg, I think, gets everything she wanted. She wanted a husband and a family. She’s kind of the more stable one. I think she changed the least. […] She knew what she wanted from the very beginning,” Martinez said.

Jo, played by junior Sara Wilson, is the second oldest and the main protagonist of the story. Jo yearns to travel the world and be a world-renowned writer. She wishes to make her own living and provide for her family — a difficult goal to achieve for a woman in the 1800s. Along the way, she discovers who she is as a person and what that means to her.

“Joe finally realizes it’s okay to love somebody, and you won’t lose yourself if you love somebody,” Martinez said.

The second youngest sister,  Beth, played by junior Mara Ayres, has a different journey from her sisters. 

“Beth’s journey kind of colored everyone else’s journey […] her death changed everyone. I think it put a spotlight on what was important and  what wasn’t,” Martinez said.

The youngest of the four March sisters, Amy is played by senior Tatum Lalli. She struggles to step out of Jo’s shadow and her jealousy leads to spite between the two. Amy dreams of being an artist and to travel the world.

“Amy transforms into an older person, but imto somebody that realizes that maybe she was a brat back then [and] as she has learned to grow up a little bit, maybe [she] became a little bit too materialistic,” Martinez said.

The sisters share this story with many other close family members and friends including their mother, Marmee, played by junior Gabriela Alverese. Marmee, with her husband in the war, has to navagate raising their kids without him. Along the way the Marches’ nextdoor neighbor Laurie, played by MC senior Joaquín Vintimilla becomes their honorary brother. Together, the bunch discovers what it means to be a family. 

The Cast During an Act I Run Through | Photo Courtesy of Julia Yates

“It is really about love and just a family, meaning the good times and the bad times. The fighting of the different personalities of the sisters and how they navigate that and how the mother navigates that,” Martinez said. “Then there’s also loss, extreme painful loss in there with when Beth dies, but it’s about the love of sisters or family.”

This musical provides amazing opportunities for both the actors and technicians. 

 “There are so many solos – it’s really solo-driven and these actors have to carry that, every lead has a big solo. It’s a heavy responsibility to carry that on stage,” Martinez said.

Like the cast, the technician crews prepare for months in advance to build the set, make costumes and props, and tech the show’s lighting and sound. These positions teach skills and habits that can be used throughout life.

“I think that is such a great opportunity for students to gain that experience and teach responsibility and commitment and do your job and do it well. […] Everyone is an important cog in that machine,” Martinez said.

The work from the ensemble and technician crews will fully come together during tech week, the week before opening night.

The shop will open March 23 and close the first of April. The cast and crew will prepare until the show premieres at MC in March, getting ready to tell the story of these four little women.

Written by Julia Yates

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