The
Alcott Family Pablum …oops, …Album.
by
Michael Dresdner
Cassie Jo Fastabend, Marissa Tate (hidden in shadow) all photos by Kate Paterno-Lick
There
are two groups of people who will absolutely love Little Women, now playing at
Lakewood Playhouse; those who revel in Louisa May Alcott and her ilk, (surely
an acquired taste, at least for males,) and those who appreciate the craft of
theatre. It’s a rather mundane slice-of-life script, delivered up by a near
perfect cast, director, and technical crew. In other words, all the sizzle, not
much steak.
L to R: Cameron Waters, Laura Strong
You’ve
probably noticed that I’ve filled the blank space above, where I’d normally
tell you the plot synopsis, with a nice photo, since there really isn’t a plot
to speak of. Instead, Alcott gives us a mid-19th century marriage minuet; a
partially autobiographical account of a fairly normal family successfully
marrying off its surviving daughters. Yes, one of them dies, but you probably
knew that already.
Now, you
don’t need to take my word for it that this is not Indiana Jones or Harry
Potter. We can listen to Alcott herself, who said, while writing it, “I plod
away, although I don't enjoy this sort of things." After sending the first
12 chapters to her publisher, they both agreed that they were dull.
That
being the case, let’s spend our time on the cast and crew, beginning with the director,
the redoubtable Suzy Willhoft, who provides a veritable case study of how to do
a theater-in-the-round production correctly. After skillful casting, she added dynamic
blocking to an open-feel set to create convincing, well-paced scenes with no
blocked lines of sight. Trust me, that’s way harder than it sounds, and she’s a
master at it.
Ashley Mowreader
Now the
cast, beginning with the “little women.” Jo is played, appropriately enough, by
the thoroughly delightful Cassie Jo Fastabend, who delivers her lines with
the crisp clarity and machine gun pace
of The Gilmore Girls. She’s the spritely Tigger of the family, a bouncy tom-boy
with enough boundless energy to drive both her family and this production.
Meg, the
“mature” sister, was calmly and convincingly created by Laura Strong, and her
stalwart, even-tempered suitor John Brooke, husband material if I ever saw any,
was nicely executed by Cameron Waters. Ashley Mowreader was Amy, the artistic
and socially mobile sister who added much of humor in scene one with her
frequent (yes, intentional) malapropisms. Then there’s Beth, just too sweet for
words, whose Pollyanna persona was left to Marissa Tate to craft. Each sister
did a wonderful job of fabricating separate, endearing, and very identifiable
personas.
L to R: Marissa Tate, Joe Grant
Our own
Beau Brummel of the South Sound, Joe Grant, did a flawless job, as always, of bringing his character, Mr. Laurence,
convincingly to life while simultaneously making the costumer look good. No one
wears costumes so well, though his “son” Laurie, played by the ever appealing
Coleman Hagerman, is starting to give him a run for his money. Hagerman is one
of those actors who is so comfortable on stage that you barely believe he’s
acting.
Mrs.
March was Carol Richmond, one of the more than capable old hands of this and
other local theatres, and she was as refined and realistic as we expected from
this very talented actor. Ditto for Syra Beth Puett as Hannah Mullett, the
housekeeper, whose role, while wonderful, was way too small for such a skilled
actor. Darrel D. Shiley, Jr. was Mr. March, playing a character a good bit
nicer than the real life one he was based on, and Virginia Yanoff did a very
credible job as cranky Aunt March. And let’s not forget John Munn as Professor
Frederich Bhaer, who, like Marley, seems to be visited nightly by the ghost of
accents past.
A lovely
and very workable set by Dylan Twiner, lighting by Niclas Olson, and delicious
costuming by Kelli McGowan and Diane Runkel, aided by wigs and hair (as well as
props) by Jeffrey Weaver all contributed to this extremely well crafted
production.
In other
words, everything about this play is right except possibly the property
itself. It’s like eating a meringue; it’s delicious, but you walk away without
having gotten any real sustenance. Still, it is lovely to eat, so if you are
female, home and hearth inclined, or simply an aficionado of fine theatre
craftsmanship, put this on your attendance list for the season.
Little
Women
Nov. 7
to Nov. 30, 2014
Lakewood
Playhouse
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