The lives, loves and dreams of four sisters cascade into vividly melodic life in Marquette University Theatre’s production of Little Women. Marquette brings the story to the stage with well-balanced costuming on a set that swiftly glides from one location to the next. Louisa May Alcott’s beloved book makes for a passionate coming-of-age onstage as four young actresses are launched through the lives of four sisters living in Massachusetts in the 19th century.
The first sister onstage is aspiring writer Jo March. Lindsay Webster is mercurially passionate as a woman who dreams of literary success. Webster’s quick flashes of deeply emotional expression serve a voraciously reckless intellectual restlessness that drives the rhythm and pacing of the musical. She’s there at the beginning and the end. We see the story through her eyes.
Jo’s three sisters are all brought to the stage with clever, distinctive personality. Perhaps the single most dynamic character outside of Jo is youngest sister Amy. Amy’s transformation from beginning to end is gracefully carried in all of its extremes by Caroline Norton. Norton has cunning comic instincts that provide contrast to Amy’s more serious dramatic moments.
The musical covers intense emotional moments over a rather large span of time. There’s a lot going on in the lives of the four sisters while they’re not onstage. Director Lenny Banovez keeps each member of the cast moving in her or his own emotional reality with an attention to detail that places individual moments well within their emotional context. It’s a thoughtful, well-paced staging of the lives of four women.
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Through Oct. 7 at Helfaer Theatre, 525 N. 13th St. For tickets, call 414-288-7504.
