Foster Showcase

Little Women is all about Sutton Foster. She does a great job, but as shown by the earily closing of the show it, one actress can't fix a flop. The songs in Little Women which tell a story or forward the plot of the show like "Weekly Volcano Press," "Astonishing," and "An Operatic Tradegy" are good and very entertaining, however a lot of the other songs in the show are stagnant. Basically any number without Foster or McGovern in it is not worth listening to. The show comes across as having good intentions. Though it has some good songs (I know people who have used some as audition pieces well), it does not seem to jump out at the audience at all.

Little Women, has a lot of problems

First off, this show should be called JO!, because she is the only character you ever hear from in this weak adaptation of Little Women.

A Treat for Young and Old, the Old Fashioned Way

I just saw "Little Women" last night in Boston, at the Opera House, an incredible theatre, built in the 1920's, and judging by the audience's reaction, this terrific show will do MUCH better on the road than it did on Broadway, where it was unfairly ripped by the NY Times critic, Ben Brantley, and didn't get the attention and respect it deserved. Simply put, the music is wonderful, overall, with several standout numbers, including "Days of Plenty," "Some Things Are Meant to Me," and "Astonishing." The wonderful number, at the beginning, which binds the four sisters together, "Our Finest Dreams," is lovely and spirited. It is very difficult to take a classic book and make it into a musical. Certainly some of the depth of the characters is taken out, but enough is there to carry the story across and, what's more, at the show I attended, there were MANY teens and children in the audience, as the theatre offered a free child's ticket for every adult ticket bought - and what struck me was how beautiful this story is about female empowerment - and sisterhood. Every time the sisters seem to be coming apart, they remind each other of their love and support for each other. What a courageous, wonderful message! The mother, played beautifully by Maureen McGovern, is instrumental in keeping home and hearth together while the girls' father is away at war. And with a REAL war going on in Iraq, this production was that much more moving. I disagree with many of the negative comments - the music and lyrics are of high quality, often moving, sincere, literate, and emotional. This may not be Rodgers and Hammerstein, but what is these days?