LITTLE WOMEN & Its Audience. What Went Wrong? — Page 2

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Updated On: 2/7/06 at 01:23 AM

That is most unfortunate for all concerned.

Anyone else care to express their opinions on this topic?

I agree with most of the above. A poor adaption, weak book and score all played a part in the show's demise despite a good cast. For the poster who wrote that it is difficult to take a book of that size and turn it into a musical, I disagree. When the right talent is involved, it can be done. Les Miserables is a perfect example. Little Women was also turned into very satisfying movies. You just need the right talent to do so and unfortunately, this musical didn't have the right talent.

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Amy McAlexander with her Cheno Lite routine did the show no favors, but that only bothers you after you get into the theater. Now this is the first time I've seen her....was it the character or the actress? I assumed she was playing Victorian Sally Brown as a character choice... is always nasally and screechy?

Aside from geeks like me, is there any innate male audience for Little Women?

It had a strong cast but aside from Maureen and Sutton, was it a "Oh, I've got to see him/her" or "Oh YEAH, now I remember him/her". For me it was the latter.

If any show would have benefited from stunt casting it would have been this one... by stunt casting I mean a Brooke Shields or Christina Applegate. Sutton and Maureen are luminous but aside of the theater community, frankly who cares? The non theater "insiders" who show up once a year were going to Spamalot, or Phantom and Chicago ....again!

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1. The utterly confusing book. I see theater all the time, and I didn't realize until intermission that the show had gone back in time and then forward in the first act. And then in second act, the "action" picks up where the first scene in Act I left off. Make sense? Didn't think so.

2. The score. Why did every character have to have a song? So many of the songs were unnecessary, and almost all were unmemorable. Songs sung by each of the cast members just diluted the show.

3. The direction and casting. Sutton Foster is mighty talented, but I found her performance annoying in this. I really felt like I was watching a compilation of reruns from the old "Carol Burnett Show." The nutty characters Ms. Burnett created were funny in minutes-long skits, but two hours of saying "bloooood and guts" and acting out Jo March's stories while the ensemble performed the operatic tragedy -- and it was tragic, but for the wrong reason -- over and over again, got old -- fast. As for the rest of the cast, Maureen McGovern signs lushly, but I have to concur with the sentiments expressed about Amy McAlexander. Her performance made me cringe. She's not without talent, but she was not well directed.

The marketing didn't fail this show at all. The show failed itself, because it was not cohesive, compelling, nor musically enticing.

I suspect it will largely be forgotten, and of no use to high schools, because it is without a chorus. Unless modifications are made to the book...how 'bout a rousing kick line to the 'thrilling' Masachusetts song Beth sings?...it won't attract schools or theater groups.

Luke...you made some nice points but I disagree with your description of Sutton's performance.

But the play was definitely hurt by the play within the play which didn't work.

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I love how Tiny posted a picture of Amy McAlexander with a caption that read "Run For Your Lives," when she has an icon of that screaming wench of a musical Brooklyn. Talk about running for your lives.

Someone sent me the Little Women cast recording tracks online, and I've only listened to them a couple of times. The music never really grabbed me, and I found most of it to be boring. The only song I like is Day of Plenty...I am sorry for the cast and people involved with this show. Like Good Vibrations, I hate to see a show close b/c they can't find their audience or because their show just plain stinks. So much hardwork and dedication is put into getting these things off the ground, it just makes me feel bad when they all don't workout. Good Luck LW cast!

Katecab: I also tried to catch the show last night and was informed rather rudely that "there was no show" I have to say if they have been haveing that kind of attitude to the people who actually come in wanting tickets it is not hard to imagine them closing.
Why would they switch to a matinee, does anyone know? It seems they had to have lost a lot of business that way.

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THe LW Tour will play very nicely in the red states.

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I'm not a fan at all of the source material so I'm a bad person to ask about this, but regarding the Thursday matinee, that was apparently announced a month ago or so.

Margo - that promotion you mentioned "Where was the big Mother's Day promotion for the show (moms go free, daughters for half price all weekend)?" - was that wishful thinking or was it actually a promotion that wasn't marketed well?

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Madame X, then why couldn't they have any kind of notification at the theatre!
It was just weird to watch as they yelled at people for trying to pick up tickets to a show that was closing.

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I saw the show once a few weeks afetr it opened. I really only saw it for Sutton Foster and my mom saw it with me for Maureen McGovern. One of my not-very-theater-geekish friends saw it with us. I have to say the show is enjoyable, but mediocre. The show is nice but extremely forgettable and the book was pretty bad. I remember reading about the original composers, and they should have kept them. The show probably could have lasted much longer, also if they had a different person write the book. Also, the commercial wasn't very good. The Brooklyn one is a good commerical, but the Little Women just has the ending orchestrations for Astonishing, a picture of the logo and says "Mothers and daughters should come to Little Women!" I think they should have had a tiny clip of the end of Syutton Foster singing Astonishing instead of just the orchestra, because hearing that doesn't make you want to see the show. Also, I had to agree about Amy McAlexande. God, she's annoying.