Little Women

Ben and I go to our fair share of plays. Mostly we can fill our calendar pretty easily by attending shows starring (on some level) friends we've made in other productions. We seldom see a show full of strangers. We just don't have time. Most of our friends do plays in Utah Valley. It's just a pain to drive much further. But occasionally one ventures outside. . .

I have never been to the Hale's theater in West Valley. It's a bit of a jaunt, the tickets are expensive, and despite all of the great word of mouth I've heard about how cool the place is, I just never managed to make it up there to a show. Mostly because I don't have a lot of friends in their shows.

This weekend, that came to an end.

Our dear friend Cecily was in a show at the WV Hale. Cecily was our Lily in the production of The Secret Garden that we did at Provo Theatre Company last spring. She made the long drive from Bountiful every day to be a part of that show, and we came to appreciate both her AMAZING vocal talents and her wonderful, sweet, and hilarious personality.


The show was Little Women, which is one of my favorite musicals at the moment for several reasons. A) I LOVE the story. What girl doesn't read that book and get sucked in? It's a great story. B) The music is great. OK, like most shows, there are a few songs that I LOVE, and a few that kind of bug me, but overall it's got great songs. C) Sutton Foster as Jo March. On the Broadway cast recording that woman can SING. She's amazing. It didn't run for very long on Broadway, but it's a fun show.

Cecily was playing Jo, and though we knew that she was an amazing classical singer, we weren't sure how she'd be as a belter. Many a classical singer has stumbled trying to make that transition, so we were bracing ourselves for having to give her compliments that were half-hearted.

SO not necessary.

The male cast members ranged in talent from so-so to downright awful, but the March sisters were all great! Luckily, the sisters make up the majority of the show. Cecily was brilliant. Jo is on stage for a huge portion of the show, and she had a LOT to do. She was wonderful.

We have a few friends in our lives that I honestly believe are going to make it big in the world of theatre. Cecily is one of them. If she chooses to pursue theatre as a career, she WILL make it.