[rehearsal photo from the Backdoor Playhouse Facebook page]
When yearning burns the air: a musical Little Women warms up the Backdoor Playhouse
When people find out that I work in an English department and have a graduate degree in literature, they will start name-dropping books and authors, certain I have already studied them and have my nuanced interpretive take prepared to share. When I am admittedly flummoxed by some of these challenges, it’s embarrassing to admit how many gaps in the literary canon I can confess, but that is also a beautiful challenge. There’s always more stories to learn and linger in.
Since its first printing sold-out instantly, Louisa May Alcott’s 19th century always-popular masterpiece “Little Women” has inspired countless versions and visions, a panoply of plays and editions, commentaries and podcasts, movies and finally a musical. How did I miss this in English class back in the day? How did I bypass Greta Gerwig’s epic 2019 cinematic revision? But I was this-week-old when I finally got swept up in this fierce celebration of female siblings and their various ambitions, whether literary or romantic.
The occasion of my crash course in all things Little Women is Tennessee Tech’s sparkling production of the early-2000s musical with music by Jason Howland and lyrics by Mindi Dickstein. For this production, Tech’s vocal professor Wendy Mullen returns to the director’s chair, and our newest thespian faculty member Nicholas Gwin is running everything behind-the-scenes for the kind of visually and sonically gorgeous show where a solid crew is truly indispensable. The set and costumes, the band and choreography, everything is on point; even the lobby is decorated out like the bedroom of a bookworm. A trip to the Backdoor Playhouse is always an immersive journey into whatever show you are seeing. When you pick up your Playbill at the show, be sure to read all the credits and take note of all the names besides the performers who made this exhilarating production possible.
The independent fire and ineffable passion of “Little Women” springs from Alcott herself, and inside the world of the book and play, that confidence comes through clearest in the character of Jo March. Tech sophomore musical theatre major Talyn Mocco transforms the cozy Playhouse space as she transcends time and space with a singularly compelling and charismatic rendering of Jo’s joy and defiance. Mocco’s spectacular singing and acting embody the spirit of the character, the times, and the “Little Women” multiverse benefits from the inclusion of this musical in its world.
As the literary legacy has it, Alcott did not originally want to conclude her story with so much marriage, and something so needed about this play even now is its more expansive views on women’s vital roles in society, creatively in the world and confidently outside the home. But the romantic industrial complex of the publishing world demands romance too, and Alcott made this compromise as she sought the popularity and fame that would be hers, thus Jo has a strong romantic arc within the story and the show. This brings us to the eccentric and fashionable Professor Bhaer, portrayed perfectly by Kendall Smith. Alcott fans and scholars have speculated that this character is based on Henry David Thoreau, an intriguing and inspiring factoid that I will ponder as I seek to learn more about this story’s vast influence.
The rest of the cast also shine and shimmer in a production that is sure to uplift. But of particular appreciation for me was seeing a magnificent Cadence Howell really lean into the role of Aunt March, with such a rousing vocal performance as to give chillbumps, but she also embodies a contrasting character that adds some laughter, levity, and comedic relief.
Over the last several semesters, the staff, faculty, and students have really embraced musicals, and audiences benefit from the professional vision of a growing musical theatre major within the College of Fine Arts. In this new era for the Backdoor, partnerships with places like the Cumberland County Playhouse have helped our students and really made connections in the larger regional theatrical scene, which is thriving as ever. Fans of musicals and of stories with strong female characters really don’t want to miss this delightful and dynamic rendering of “Little Women.”
-”Little Women” runs November 5-14. See the link for tickets and more information
-Andrew William Smith has been Cookeville’s local theater critic for 20 years. He is also a poet, teacher, preacher, and superfan of so many things.
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