As you've probably heard around the school, the spring musical is back! This year our theatre department will be putting on Little Women by Allen Knee and Mindi Dickstein, based on the classic novel by Louisa May Alcott. It follows the lives of the March sisters (Meg, Beth, Amy, and Jo) as they grow up during the Civil War. Throughout the play, the sisters mature and learn to navigate their love and losses in life. They learn that with the right people surrounding them and the right modes of support, they can prosper through any life curve they encounter. In preparation for this show, students have been spending as many as 30 hours a week in rehearsals! As we head towards opening night, we decided to speak to a few cast and crew members to get their thoughts on the show.
Phoenix (who plays Jo March), had originally shown excitement for this show months ago when she heard we were putting on a musical again. Aside from loving theatre and wanting to showcase her talents, Phoenix says she is specifically excited to showcase Little Women because of the message it sends out. “Most of the leads in this show are women, and many of them go on to achieve their dreams. If these young women in the 1860s can go after their dreams, so can we.” Much like the character she plays, Phoenix has a lot of energy. Fellow cast members say “there is no one comparable to Phoenix, she’s astonishing." When asked if she could play any role in the show, Phoenix said “Playing Jo is everything I dreamed and more, and I'm very grateful to be able to bring Jo to life here at Bay Ridge Prep.”
A family on and off stage, her “sister” in the show, Meg, played by Stephanie, said she wanted to do this show not only for her love of theatre, but because “Family is the biggest theme that speaks to me.” From a young age Steph has used theater as a therapeutic outlet. Finding comfort in cast members and the bright lights they soak up together. Bringing non-existent people to life in front of hundreds. This show is all of that and more for her, and she is not alone in that feeling.
To me, everyone in this cast is so different, and each brings their own positive qualities to the show, truly bonding together as a family to highlight each other's strengths. Most stage and crew members all say the same thing when asked why they joined the show: the energy. The feelings of the bright lights hitting you when you step on stage, and the rewarding applause at the end of each show being soaked in by the entire cast. Whether you are on stage or back stage during any production, excitement is always boiling and stars are flying through the dark dressing room. To me theatre isn’t all about expression or being someone else on stage. To me, theatre is a community, a large family, who will be there at your highest and lowest moments.
Every family has parents, so I asked our theater mom and director Cait Hynes what she thinks of this coming musical. One year, she spent over 500 hours on producing one of our shows! Before directing this show and becoming our theatre mom, she was little Cait Hynes in the Second Grade reading her very first copy of Alcott’s Little Women, and she fell in love with the story instantaneously. Back then, she would have never guessed that she would be managing an adaptation of the story as a high school musical. One of Cait’s many roles as production director is to see that all the puzzle pieces from practice come together into one amazing show. Cait says one of her goals for this show is to bring light to all the March sisters, “While they may all have different dreams for themselves…part of the beauty of the March sisters story is that it embraces the direction that each of their lives took while celebrating the strength of their continued bond to each other.”
In case this article has not convinced you to come watch our show, we are saddened to inform you that this production will be Cait’s last and greatest work here at BRP. I speak on the behalf of our entire cast and crew when I say we are so excited to bring this production into the lights on the BRP stage. Please come and support us on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday (May 18th, 19th, and 20th). You can buy tickets at https://bayridgeprep.org/arts/littlewomen/. We hope to see you there for some pre-show games, and we hope you enjoy watching the show as much as we love performing it.
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