Village Theatre’s Blog

Time has flown! We have only four shows left in Issaquah before we pack up and move the show to Everett. I’ve posted two of my favorite Little Women moments for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

-Michelle Sanders, Public Relations and Promotions Manager

When asked about her relationship with Louisa May Alcott’s story Little Women, Shanna Marie Palmer had some interesting feedback to offer. Take a look!

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 Of course I heard about the book Little Women while growing up, however I never actually read it back then. I am sort of ashamed to admit it because now after having read the story I know there are a lot of people out there who are devoted to Alcott’s books. My relationship with the story began in August of 2006 when I was a part of the reading in the Festival of New Musicals at Village Theatre. While I was thrilled to join the cast as Amy March at first, I was definitely a little curious about taking on the role of the youngest of the March girls.

Shanna Marie Palmer as Amy March in “Little Women” on Village Theatre’s Mainstage

 After day one, however, it was very clear that Amy was going to be my biggest challenge. Through the reading I fell in love with the depths of these very different yet connected women. I read the novel after the reading and watched all of the film versions. There was something about the complexity of strength in each of the March girls that really intrigued me. After hearing that Little Women would return for the Mainstage season I was elated! To be cast, re-investing in the role of Amy, is a dream come true. To get another chance to develop her and be a part of this new work is an honor. Though our relationship has been relatively short, the beauty of this story is now one I hold dear to my heart.

-Shanna Marie Palmer

Introducing Michaela Koerner! Michaela plays the role of Beth March in Little Women, and has kindly agreed to share some of her warm insights. Please enjoy!

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When I tell people that I am playing Beth in Little Women, people less familiar with the story chime in and say, oh, is she the youngest one…the one that gets married…the one that Winona Ryder played in the movie? As I answer no, faces draw sad and say, oh…is she the one who gets sick, the quiet one?

Michaela Koerner as Beth March

Beth is the one that gets sick. However, she has become quite a dear friend to me, and I like to describe her a bit differently. Beth is the quiet one who watches, wiser for her reservation of speech. She is the thoughtful one who knows how to help her loved ones by careful observation of their needs. She is also the shy one who ventures out as little as possible, whose fear restrains her from embracing the world outside her home. In our production, Beth proudly tells Jo that “Marmee calls me her little cricket on the hearth, happiest at home.”

Beth’s dreams do not venture far from home, but they are splendid dreams just the same. To play beautiful music, to be surrounded by her loved ones, to rejoice in their adventures! She also dreams of being brave someday and conquering her fears — a dream we could all benefit having.

In the novel, Louisa May Alcott writes that “There are many Beths in the world, shy and quiet, sitting in corners till needed, and living for others so cheerfully that no one sees the sacrifices till the little cricket on the hearth stops chirping, and the sweet, sunshiny presence vanishes, leaving silence and shadow behind.”

Although Beth’s passing leaves a shadow in the March family, our musical version gives her a life beyond the present. Beth guides Jo through the past, urging her to remember the high and low points of her life. In remembering, Jo finds healing. So you see, in our version of Little Women, Beth is not just the one that gets sick. Beth is the one who is a catalyst, who knows when to keep quiet and when to show off her newfound gumption!

Victoria Huston Elem as Jo March and Michaela Koerner as Beth March

I hope you will join us. Our creative team, cast, and crew are extraordinary. If you haven’t seen the show, please stop reading this blog, and buy your tickets now…I’ll see you at the theatre!

- Michaela Koerner

“To find a cricket on the hearth is the luckiest thing of all.” – Charles Dickens

Village Theatre’s Wig Master Doug Decker was kind enough to put together a little something special to give us some behind-the-scenes action on the wigs our actors run around in on stage. Check it out!

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One of the questions I get a lot (right after “Is it made of real hair?”), is “Do you reuse wigs?” My answer is, “Oh yes.” I pull as many wigs from my stock as I can.

For Little Women, I lucked out. Jo had to have looong beautiful hair at the start of the story, and halfway through the show she cuts it all off to raise money. This, of course, means that she needed a wig with shorter hair. When we produced The King and I, I built Jen Paz a looong wig for the role of Tuptim. Honestly, when I found out I needed another long wig for the role of Jo, I was kinda hoping that I could use the same wig. When the costume designer Cathy and I got around to talking about Jo’s hair, it turned out she wanted her to be a brunette and I was able to reuse Tuptim’s wig. The ‘dos are a little different, but the two photos below are of the same wig:

I hinted to this a second ago, but I had to build Jo two other wigs after she cut her long hair to show that her hair was growing back over the course of the story:

I also lucked out with Meg. I had built two wigs for Krystle Armstrong for last year’s new work Once Upon a Time in New Jersey, and was able to put them right back on her:

My luck ran out with Amy; I had to make Shanna Marie Palmer a blonde:

- Doug Decker

Last weekend’s preview event was a kick in the pants. Full costumes, wigs, mics on stands, and a little stage tucked away in the heart of Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park. We had a very engaged audience who enjoyed our twenty minute preview of Little Women. Keep an eye out for photos of the event, which will be posted on the blog in the coming weeks.

We just ran across a Little Women review by David Edward Hughes on TalkingBroadway.com, and thought we’d pass it on:

www.talkinbroadway.com/regional/seattle/se366.html

We got a great review of Little Women in the Issaquah Press this week. Hopefully this scan is legible enough for you to read all the nice things they said about the production!

This Saturday at 12:30 PM, we are hosting a special preview of Little Women at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park. Victoria Huston-Elem and Dane Stokinger (who play Jo March and Laurie) will be at the bookstore to perform a few musical numbers from the show for your entertainment. We have not done this kind of preview event before — we’re so excited! The event is free of charge and open to the public. Here’s your chance to see the action up close!

On Tuesday night, two nights before opening, the show got a lot of laughs, but I didn’t feel the audience was particularly caught up with the story. Wednesday night, the opposite: not a lot of laughter (at first) but I felt the audience paying attention and really getting involved with the story of the March family.

Last night, opening night, it all seemed to come together. There was plenty of laughter, right from the beginning, but the audience also seemed to be enthralled with the story. There was an audible gasp when Jo revealed her cut hair (she had sold her hair to pay for Marmee’s train ticket). There was a murmur of sympathy when Meg told Aunt March “Love in a cottage is better than no love in a mansion.” (Sympathy, by the way, not just for Meg, who is fighting for the man she loves, but also for Aunt March, who is trying, in her own, obnoxious way, to help Meg.) There was a knowing chuckle when Amy and Laurie begin flirting with each other in Paris, and then a palpable sense of relief when Jo has her breakthrough moment, the moment we refer to as the “writing explosion”, and begins to write the book which will become . And finally, a roar of delight and approval when Jo and Professor Bhaer manage to fumble their way into an engagement.

Why was last night better than the night before? Well, of course, there’s the excitement of opening night. Knowing the long and rocky road this musical has traveled, it was great to see it cross the finish line. But I think it was also that, after over a week of worrying about timing their entrances, getting used to orchestrations, finding their stage positions, maneuvering costumes, etc., the actors were finally able to forget about all the technical problems and focus on each other again. When I looked at the stage, I saw a family, a community. I didn’t see actors in costumes, I saw the March family and their friends. And, as Father says in his letter from the front lines, I couldn’t have been fonder or prouder of our Little Women.

-Sean Hartley

After a week of technical rehearsals, we are back to doing run throughs — and how the show has changed. Last week, it was a bunch of actors and a pianist in a rehearsal room. Now, there’s an orchestra and costumes and sets and lights and sound engineers and stage hands. When you’re writing a show, you don’t have to think technically. You write: “Lights come down on the parlor and up on a street in New York” and than you get on with the dialogue. But the design team and the stage management have to work hours to make that simple little transition smooth. There are palettes (little platforms) to come on and off stage that have to be timed precisely. There are walls that fly up and down, and light cues to time, not to mention underscoring music that has to be written, arranged, copied, and rehearsed before that simple little transition can happen. All this is done, by the way, in the hope is that the audience won’t notice what’s happening, that they will go right from the parlor to the street corner without noticing how it’s done. Just like the writer does in the first place!

-Sean Hartley