“Amazing” and “astonishing” are adjectives heard often in the latest production from the Lyric Music Theater. They surround the dreams and aspirations of four sisters who want their lives to be truly special.
Based on Louisa May Alcott’s famous novel “Little Women,” the 2005 musical centers around Jo, a young woman who longs to see the world in order to better write about it. In a tough balancing act, she tries to avoid the pitfalls of marriage and domesticity as defined by 19th-century society while still appreciating the bonds that hold her family together.
In the lead role, Shannon Oliver was an engaging bundle of energy on opening night, adding palpable intensity to her character’s restless nature and desire to pursue goals beyond those prescribed for women of the period. In one telling scene, Oliver’s Jo does some roughhousing with a suitor. Her bobbing and weaving, with clenched fists and game face on, came to define her overall performance.
Her vocals on “Astonishing” and “The Fire Within Me” met the challenge of the big, soaring numbers that, not unexpectedly, jumped a century or so stylistically from the setting of the piece as a whole. The humor within some playful sequences, in which Jo’s early melodramatic fictions are acted out on an upper stage level as she reads them aloud below, suggested her liberation.
Jennifer Kennedy, Jericah Jo Potvin and Gabriella Salce play Jo’s three sisters. Each had featured numbers that confirm their character’s identity and mission in life. Kennedy’s Meg modestly reached to be “More Than I Am.” Potvin’s bratty Amy stole scenes on her way to “The Most Amazing Thing,” and Salce’s Beth touchingly reflected that “Some Things Are Meant To Be.”
Angela Libby established the strength of her character as the wise but lonely matriarch during “Days of Plenty,” and Patty Sprague earned laughs as a feisty aunt. The male roles were filled by Kyle Aarons, Samuel Allen, Ryan Walker and Bruce Lancaster, each becoming a willing “victim” to the charms of these unusual young women.
Joshua Chard’s direction framed the characters well and kept things moving around a period-detailed, two-level set designed by Steve Lupien. Near-to-the-audience musical backing from an ensemble directed by Bob Gauthier only occasionally competed for the ear with some of the softer singing voices on stage. Jamie Lupien Swenson’s choreography furthered the sense of spontaneity in the occasional outbreaks of dance, and Cindy Kerr’s costumes and hair design served to contextualize this entertaining take on a classic story.
Steve Feeney is a freelance writer who lives in Portland.
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