The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 97, No. 36, Ed. 1 Friday, February 13, 2009 Page: 5 of 8

                                
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February 13, 2009
■■veryone loves tales of ac-
■Icomplishment, of over-
BBcoming the greatest or
even the most mundane of ad-
versities, of romance and hap-
py endings, and of course, tales
that involve a loving, support-
ive family. So if a story already
has all these elements,
could possibly be done to make
it better? Why, set it to music,
of course.
The Department of Theatre
is bringing the musical ver-
sion of one . of the best-loved
stories in American culture to
the stage. Little Women, which
opened Thursday with follow-
ing shows Friday and Saturday,
will run Feb. 20-21 and 27-28
at 7:30 p.m. each night, and it
is a fun adaptation of the das-
' sic story about staying true to
yourself, with all the sweeping
drama and powerhouse songs
of a Broadway musical.
This version of Little Women,
however, is probably not the
version you know. Gone is the
March girls’ goodness to their
less-than-fortunate neighbors
and courage in the face of pover-
ty; gone is the struggle between
doing what is good for yourself
or good for all; and gone is the
carefree, yet poignant portrayal
of childhood that so many have
come to cherish. Instead, this
musical begins with an agenda
and rushes like a train to the
ending. This is an understand-
able adjustment made for the
sake of time, since not many
people I know would sit in a
theatre for the time it would
take to do justice to the whole
story. However, one cannot
hdp but wonder as the curtain
falls if something was not left
out or forgotten.
That said, ACU has once
again pulled off a remarkable
job of taking a less-than-perfect
show and making it something
worth watching. Armed with a
minimalistic, yet beautiful set
— something I am beginning to
realize is a staple for ACU the-
atre — the actors take the stage
and dance, sing and emote their
way through the show.
Charlene Koepf, who plays
Jo March, is solid and be-
lievable in her role, and her
brash, confident vocals are
ideal for the part. Although
Koepf fails to convey her
character’s growing sense
of maturity with her small
amount of lines, she com-
pensates beautifully with a
solid, unassuming voice, and
her last few songs make the
Dick Schissler :: staff photographer
Clbckwise from Top: Beth, Jo, Meg and Amy March perform for themselves in their attic; Jo ponders where she
was “Better" off; Marmee reads a letter from their father at war to her daughters, the March sisters.
whole first half of the play
worth the wait.
I Rebecca Wheeler, who plays
Mjeg March, is good as the
older and more reserved sister
aiitd has one of those voices
that catches you by the wrist
arid yanks you, quite willingly,
ai jong with her. From her first
appearance as the damsel-in-
d[stress in Jo’s exotic fantasy
world to the last number, you
find yourself hoping in each
s ::ene that she will have at least
a small solo. t
Cara Leahy is delightful as
tike loyal and shy Beth March,
and showcases not only solid
acting but also a pure, lovely
singing voice, which is grace-
fully showcased in her last
ipumber, Some Things Are
Leant To Be.
And of course, Jenavene
Hester is perfect for the part
of Amy March, accomplishing
the difficult feat of making her
character as obnoxious as we
all remember Amy to be but
also as lovable as the youngest
sister should become.
Jerry Mendl is charming as
Theodore Laurence, and his
boyish goofy abandon provides
a great counterpoint for the
estrogen overload the hyper
female cast sometimes brings.
Peter Hargrave is great as Mr.
Brook, and Jeremy Varner, as
Professor Bhaer, also provides
some needed calm and solid
vocals, even if his accent seems
to fluctuate from line to line.
The real stand-outs of the
show, however, were not the
main characters. Brittany Mur-
phy’s turn as Aunt March is
quite enjoyable and saves the
show from becoming too melo-
dramatic at times. Carlee Cagle
gives an astounding perfor-
mance as Marmee, which can
be a hard role to play. However,
her unobtrusive presence was
both impressive and a relief,
and her performance of Days of
Plenty certainly wins my “Best
Song” award.
And finally, Eric Hamp-
ton steals the spotlight and
the audience’s attention in
his faultless character per-
formance of the crotchety
old Mr. Laurence; each ap-
pearance he makes lends so
much-'energy to the rest of
the performance. His light-
hearted duet with Beth was
easily the best moment of
the show, and also one of the
most genuine./
All in all, this is a solid show.
It is not the best I have seen at
ACU, but it is still a quality per-
formance. Even though one or
two of the actors seem terribly
miscast, they all take the ma-
terial they were given and run
with it. And while this results
in a few extreme lows, the ex-_
treme highs more than make
up for it. Overall, the perfor-
mance is solid enough to carry
the audience to the final curtain
call. The set and costumes are
appealing, and although many
die-hard fans of Little Women
may find this version of the sto-
ry a tad lackluster, this particu-
lar production is enjoyable and
worth the price of admission.
E-mail Melby at: Igm05e@acu.edu
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