My Little Women Review! 10/16

[ElphieDefiesGravity]

Posted: 10/16/04 at 11:58pm

Okay guys, I just got back from the pre-Bway run of Little Women and now i get to post my first ever review on bww.com! I was in row M.
It was great! I really loved it! I laughed, I cried. I will go through it step by step, starting with......

Sutton Foster!!!!- Oh-my-G-d she was AMAZING! I had never seen her in anything or heard her sing before, so I was really excited about seeing her. What can I say, she was awesome!!! She has a very warm and comforting speaking voice and a beautiful singing voice. Her "Astonishing," the act 1 closer, brought down the house!!! She has great comedic timing, and was just great! I have nothing negative to say about her. The best word to describe her really is 'adorable.' You could also tell she seems like a truly nice person. At curtain call she did this cute little jump thing as everyone was coming out. Unfortunately, the poeple at the theatre said there was no stage door thing tonight, so I couldn't get her autograph, which I was very dissapointed about. I am going to try to find out if there will ever be a stage door, and maybe go try to get her autograph if there is.

Maureen McGovern-She was also extremely good. She has a really nice voice. Marmee did not have a huge role in this play, but she stood out in her part. Her acting was very good.

Amy McAlexander- She played Amy. She was good, but her voice was VERY annoying, especially in the first act. She was very nasal when she spoke. I guess she was trying to sound like a young girl, but it didn't work. In Act 2 her voice was less annoying as she matured. She has a very strange body. She is very short, but unlike Kristin Chenoweth she looks kind of out of proportion. Maybe it was just the costume.

Jenny Powers- She was Meg, and she was very very good. She is gorgeous, she looked exactly like Belle in Beauty and the Beast. Which brings me to...

Megan McGinnis, who apparently played Belle in BATB. She was an excellent Beth, very frail looking and kind. Her makeup when she was sick made her look like a ghost. She was SOOOO pale.

John Hickok- He played Prof. Bhaer. He was good, except for the fact that they say he is German, yet he had a slightly English accent. odd....

Everyone else was very good as well, Janet Carroll, who played Aunt March and Mrs. Kirk was a perfect Aunt March in my opinion.
Laurie's character was not developed as well as I would have liked, but Danny Gurwin was good.

Now on to the sets- The sets were phenomenal!!!!! Every set was gorgeous and very realistic looking. there were also very smooth transitions. The costumes were also amazing and beautiful. I would love to be able to wear hoop skirts like that. *sigh*

The direction was very good. They did some cool stuff with a mixture of fantasy and reality.

Now, on to the less amazing stuff- I personally thought the story was good and cohesive. My mom was upset because the story was not completely faithful to the book. SHe didn't like Jo's 'attitude' towards Prof. Bhaer, and she didn't like that Jo wore pants (gasp!). However, she only wore them in the house. If you go expecting the story to be completley like the book, you might be disappointed, but overall it was vbery good. My aunt thought it was too long. It was almost three hours with one intermission. I personally was enthralled, but my aunt thought there were too many songs that didn't further the plot. Sutton's wig in the beginning was kind of ugly and weird, but then it got better.

In conclusion ( if you are still reading). It was a very, very good night at the theatre. I think this play has the potential to do very well on Bway, if not become a blockbuster. Even if you don't like the story, go see it just to see Sutton, she was truly amazing. I am sorry I didn't get to see her in Millie. go see Little Women when it comes to Bway!!!! YAY!

Updated On: 10/17/04 at 11:58 PM

[Blair]

Posted: 10/17/04 at 12:12am

I'm glad you loved it! I am dying to see this show, seeing as Little Women is very near and dear to my heart. The movie is what made me want to be an actress (I remember at like 7 years old, I had memorized Beth's whole death scene and made my sister be Jo...annnd I'm sure you all care.) and the book is one of my favorites in the world. And of course Sutton Foster is my favorite actress. Anyway, it sounds amazing, and I hope it does well on Broadway.

[WhatDoINeedWithLove?]

Posted: 10/17/04 at 12:15am

Im so excited! Thanks for the review!

[Poppy2]

Posted: 10/17/04 at 12:17am

Thanks so much for the review. I loved Sutton in Millie. And would love to see her in LW.

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 10/17/04 at 12:20am

Idina and Eden...your days are numbered.

SUTTON IS BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!

[Bway_Mill_Fan]

Posted: 10/17/04 at 12:27am

SUTTON IS BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!

YAY!!!

tony #2?

[ElphieDefiesGravity]

Posted: 10/17/04 at 12:27am

I forgot to talk about the music. I thought the best song was 'Astonishing.' 'Somethings are Meant to Be' (b/w Beth and Jo) made me cry, and I also liked 'The Fire Within Me.' The other songs were good. Not great, but good. I really want to get the cast recording when it comes out, I think the songs will really grow on me.

I think Sutton's performance is good enough to be Tony worthy, but somehow, I don't see it happening. Not that I know anything about it.

Updated On: 10/17/04 at 12:27 AM

[Crazy4MattMorrison52]

Posted: 10/17/04 at 12:32am

im looking forward to this i used to enjoy the book when i was younger..and i liked "Astonishing" when sutton sang it at bway on bway

[Broadway Matt]

Posted: 10/17/04 at 12:39am

does hickok get to sing much? love the voice. and i think that generic european accent is called mid-atlantic or similar. many sweeney's use it.

[ElphieDefiesGravity]

Posted: 10/17/04 at 1:03am

Hickok has three songs in which he does the majority of the singing.

[adampascalgal]

Posted: 10/17/04 at 2:04am

Thanks for the review, I am really looking forward to this one, I love Sutton!!!! I did not realize that John Hickok was in it, very exciting news!!!

[My Fair Lady]

Posted: 10/17/04 at 9:52am

I have tickets for December! I'm so excited!

[timote316]

Posted: 10/17/04 at 10:21am

great review. glad you had a good time!

[Princess MimiChica]

Posted: 10/17/04 at 11:04am

Oh, I can't wait to see this show!! thanks for the review =)

I didn't know John Hickok was in this!! As in, AIDA's original Zoser? for some reason it just strikes me as funny picturing Radames' evil dad trying to woo Jo March...LOL his voice just sounded so different on the clips i've heard of the songs. This is gonna be a great production!!! Updated On: 10/17/04 at 11:04 AM

[KChenowethfan]

Posted: 10/17/04 at 11:43am

I have tickets to see this in mid December- I can't wait. Thanks for the review. This show will be a first for me- because though I have seen many shows, this will be the first I see with my mom.

[BroadwayDiva]

Posted: 10/17/04 at 11:50am

Great review! I can't wait to see this show!

[ElphieDefiesGravity]

Posted: 10/17/04 at 12:22pm

Yes, it is the same John Hickok who player Zoser in Aida. He did a good job of playing the very proper and somewhat stern charcter that Prof. Bhaer is, although my family felt he was not 'romantic' enough.

[ElphieDefiesGravity]

Posted: 10/17/04 at 3:24pm

Question: Does anyone know about some sort of promotional CD with some songs from LW on it? I feel like it was mentioned here before...