Director’s Diary – Little Women
Emmaus College took out five awards at the Music Theatre Guild of Victoria Bruce Awards for its production of the musical Little Women. The director, Elise Cavallo, describes the unique staging and choreography which made the production a success.
A story that transcends generations and finds new resonance today, Little Women came to me as a show suggestion from an old friend. He knew that I was searching for a unique kind of canvas; something that was classic and beloved but that also had the potential to be moulded into something new.
In Emmaus College’s version of Little Women, the writing of the novel was built into the story—and the author wasn’t Louisa May Alcott, but the novel’s protagonist herself, Jo March.
In this way, Little Women became a tale of the birth of an artist—a female artist, at a time that was hostile to women and the telling of women’s stories from a woman’s point of view.
The musical was adapted for the stage in 2005, featuring the prodigious Sutton Foster as Jo March. With Sutton at the helm, the production team chose to employ a small cast of 10 to support her. The production was criticised for being more of a play than a musical, with little to no choreography, lengthy scenes and the majority of ballads taking the “stand and sing” approach.
The script had heart and the characters had charm, but the interpretation seemed to be lacking the one thing that made the title so very popular in the first place: evidence of the fierce March sisters’ love and loyalty. And so, this became our focus. To take the material, with that brilliant score, and insert the sisters (and an ensemble) into the story as much as possible.
Kirra Plavin, our choreographer, worked tirelessly to add original choreography to the show, including a full company ballroom number into “Take A Chance On Me”.
We were heavily inspired by the physical storytelling of Hamilton and used this influence to weave dance throughout the show, an example being Jo’s Trio (Clarrissa, Rodrigo and Braxton), who followed Jo’s writing process and guided her to make creative choices. “Fire Within Me” was a particularly satisfying project as we took a number traditionally sung by a solo actress and created a moving montage where Jo saw herself and her sisters as children and then watched them grow up and leave her.
In her despair, Beth appeared and helped her to write her final line “but we’ve got each other”. Jo’s sisters watched her give her manuscript the title “Little Women” as the song concluded.
In my eight years directing at Emmaus, I have never seen such a strong emotional response from an audience and consider myself lucky to have been present for that particular moment each night.
If there is anything that I have learnt from this production it is that as a director at a school, choosing a title that you feel a personal connection with is key if you wish to have success with your students.
If I can listen to a soundtrack and see a version that has not been done before, if I can feel new possibilities, then I know we should do it. Youth will follow you anywhere you go, as long as you are genuine in your belief that what you are creating is special, unique and worthwhile.
The fire that burned within us to make this story ours, to make it something that had not been staged before, is what I believe led to its success and ultimate recognition. It was no mean feat to make a 150-year-old novel feel current, alive and relatable to a modern audience, but I believe that in every young woman's heart beats the heart of Jo March and it is her fiery spirit that guided this production to become what it was - something truly astonishing.
