Little Women -12/15/ Matinee.. Holy Sutton!

[NightLaughs]

Posted: 12/16/04 at 4:07pm

So yesterday my mother and I braved the chilly NYC weather and went to go see Little Women. I had no idea what to expect and and was just hoping to be entertained.

Before I get into my dinky review, may I just say I ADORED this show.

Sutton Foster. Oh my God. I had heard lovely things about her, raves and exclamations of how brilliant she was, but as I came to realize within the first few minutes, this women is TRULY one of a kind. Sure, there are many great performers on Broadway at the moment. But out of all that I have seen, she is far above everyone else. She captured the essence of Jo so perfectly, the gawkiness, the drive, the kindness. Everything from her way of speaking to her posture. (Which made me giggle. In fact my mother leaned over and whispered "She slouches like you!" Yes, guilty as charged. ) And how slowly and beautifully she transformed at the end. She was so amazing I need to invent a word for her.. hmmmm how about "shimmerific"? I like it. I saw pieces of myself in the character, and I believe many other teenage girls would be able to do the same. She was a huge personality, but felt so real. While the show was wonderful, Sutton really brought it to another level. Yay for Sutton! I am officially in awe. (A rare event for me)

I am not as knowledgable as the others that posted reviews for the evening performance, so I will not try to match their eloquence. But I have seen a great deal of shows for my (fairly) young age, so I'll just give you things from my point of view.

First, let me say I did feel there were some flaws in the show as others have said. The fathers sudden lack of mention was a large plot problem in my oppinion. At least let there be a line somewhere about his whereabouts. I suppose if it were to be followed straight from the novel, the show might be come more complicated than some want it to be, I understand that. But there should be closure there some how. It was a glaring issue.

A few of the songs lagged. I found myself become a bit bored with the duet between John and Meg. I felt guilty about that since they were such strong performers, Jenny Powers especially. (I particulary enjoyed her performance as well) Also, the duet between Jo and the Aunt was interesting but just plain odd. Cute. But odd. It was a joy to watch the two go back and fourth but... odd. You get the point. I wasn't a fan of the song.

Other than that, I loved the score. I found it quite catchy and sweet. I look forward to when the OBCR comes out, I have been singing bits and pieces of the songs all day. It was lovely I and can't understand why some found it boring. Eh, to each his own. Songs that stood out to me were "Astonishing" of course. (Have I mentioned Sutton is amazing? Yes? Ok, moving on...) I was loving "Better", and how adorable was "the Volcano Press" and the opening number? Oh, so cute and fun. Maureen McGovern was fabulous as well, that can't go without saying. Her songs touched me deeply. "Days of Plenty" really stood out, so gorgeous and painful. I loved the staging here as well. It truly felt like a real moment between a mother and a daughter, that's the best I can describe it, and one of my highest compliments. ('Cause I am so important and all ) It was beautiful.

"Some Things Are Meant to Be". I cannot even describe this song or scene because it is to poingnent for my words. I wouldn't be able to do it justice. It broke my heart in the best possible way, stole the breath from my lungs. (Maybe because I was sobbing? I'm not sure.) Megan McGinnis and Sutton were magnificent. Possibly the highlight of the show, though there are some other wonderful moments previously mentioned.

I could rave for days about the rest of the cast, each one of them blew me away at one point or another. (The anger that rose within me when Amy burned Jo's story was greater than I expected, Amy Alexander was great. I found myself hating her throughout the show. Kudos) But honestly I feel I have babbled enough this afternoon and am trying to finish this thing. Maybe I will come back and add later.

Bottom line: (Yes, there's a buttom line to this endless rave.) The show felt so warm to me, I couldn't help but love it. No, its not the best show I have ever see. But it is one of my favorites. I hope critics and audiences will feel the same as I did, I'd like to see it run for a very long time. :)

Updated On: 12/16/04 at 04:07 PM

[kangaroo]

Posted: 12/16/04 at 4:23pm

that's awesome you got to see it already. thanks for your review.
Were they selling CDs at the show?

Updated On: 12/16/04 at 04:23 PM

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/16/04 at 4:26pm

Awesome. "Holy Sutton" indeed. She's incredible; can't wait to see this!

[broadwaystar2b]

Posted: 12/16/04 at 4:26pm

Thank you so much for your lovely review!
Little Women is one of my favorite novels and I'm so happy to hear of it's success on stage

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/16/04 at 4:27pm

I was up there last night, and I think that every single person I saw exit the theatre was smiling. That was nice to see.

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 12/16/04 at 4:32pm

I really hope this show is successful!

[ponine24601]

Posted: 12/16/04 at 4:37pm

me too, Bwaytheatre11, me too.

thanks sooo much for your review!! i can't wait to see it!

[chinkie azn jai]

Posted: 12/16/04 at 5:31pm

Nice reveiw, did you find the stage door easily?

[PJ]

Posted: 12/16/04 at 6:05pm

Hopefully I'll be seeing this show Saturday! When the Wicked lottery declares me a loser, which it will, I'm goin' to see Little Women. I missed Sutton in TMM, and I'm still sore over that. Hopefully she'll blow me away.

Glad you enjoyed the show. I too hope it's a success.

[LittleFish8386]

Posted: 12/16/04 at 6:28pm

Ahhh Sutton...

[NightLaughs]

Posted: 12/16/04 at 6:33pm

I saw many happy faces too. :) And yes, the stage door was very easy to find. Sadly Sutton didn't come out but some of the others did and they were very nice, a lot of the cast breezed by, smiled and said hi. I wanted to ask everyone for autographs but I was afraid they had somewhere they had to go. John Hickock signed my playbill, though. He seemed quite nice.

And nope, they weren't selling CDs at the show... at least I don't believe so?

Updated On: 12/16/04 at 06:33 PM

[ElphieDefiesGravity]

Posted: 12/16/04 at 10:45pm

Yay! I'm glad you liked the show! I love it too. And "Holy Sutton" is the perfect way to describe her. I loved her performance! Simply amazing.
The cast recording won't be out for a few months probably. I can't wait!