Wilson Memorial students bringing the classic 'Little Women' to life in school's spring musical

FISHERSVILLE — First published in 1868, "Little Women" is one of the most beloved books ever written. Check any list of top novels or best young teen books of all time and you're likely to find the classic written by abolitionist and feminist Louisa May Alcott.

Multiple movies and television shows, as well as a Broadway musical, have been based on the book, which was inspired by Alcott's own life. Wilson Memorial High School students will be performing the Broadway adaptation as its spring musical Feb. 17-19.

"It's kind of a scary concept to do something that's so well-known," said Wilson junior Quinn Franklin, who plays the lead, Jo March. "But you try to put your own spin on it so that it's the iconic character, but also you playing it."

Wilson Memorial choir director Austin Gilbert called putting on a familiar play a double-edged sword.

"It's attractive because people are like, 'Oh, I know this one, I want to go see this,'" Gilbert said. "But everyone knows it so well ... so living up to what people expect for this show to be is part of the challenge in putting on something familiar."

The musical focuses on Jo and her three March sisters — Amy played by Kaileigh Atkinson, Beth played by Mary McCoy and Meg played by Miley Thomas — who live with their mother in New England. Their father is a chaplain in the Civil War and, with him away, the family struggles to support their household. It's a coming-of-age tale as the story follows the sisters' lives.

"Amy is the youngest of the four sisters," said Atkinson. "She's 12 or 13 in the musical at the beginning, and she's kind of a brat. She throws a fit if she doesn't get her way and the first time I watched the movie she was my least favorite character."

Now, with months of rehearsals under her belt, Atkinson has done a complete 180, saying Amy is her favorite character.

"You have to put yourself in their shoes and see why they feel a certain way and why they're saying a certain thing," Atkinson said. "You have to give their actions a certain motivation because it's not explicitly written in the script."

Franklin loves Jo, calling the character imaginative and creative, but also somewhat regimented.

"She likes things to go exactly as planned," Franklin said. "She has some anger problems when things don't go the way she wants them to. Then it's very frustrating. But the whole plot of the story is kind of her finding her way through that with loss and grief, but coming back from it with everything still being OK."

Stage direction is by John Tindall, vocal direction by Amelia Camacho, and choreography by Sarah Wendtlandt.

"It is so enjoyable working with this cast, and watching them gradually bring these familiar and classic characters to life in their own style," Tindall said. "This show has a lot of heart, and you are going to love it."

Freshman Summer Baisley has done musicals in elementary and middle school and is looking forward to her first high school production.

As a member of the ensemble, she plays several characters, but said her favorite is probably Annie Moffat, a wealthy friend of Meg's. The fashionable clothing Moffat wears drew Baisley into the character.

"I really like Annie Moffat because I like to try on new stuff," she said. "I like fashion."

Tickets (students/seniors $5, adults $10, preferred $15) can be purchased online at: https://our.show/wmhs/littlewomen. The musical is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 17, at 7 p.m.; Saturday, Feb. 18, at 7 p.m.; and Sunday, Feb. 19, at 3 p.m.

Willow Holmes plays Mrs. Kirk in the musical. She encourages everyone to come see the production, saying the themes surrounding the musical are love and support, but it's both emotional and funny.

"It's a classic," she said. "Most people know 'Little Women,' but I think every story is different, even the earliest versions to the later ones are drastically different. So then putting the musical aspect in, that can be something new that someone might not have seen."

With a little over one week remaining before the final performance, some of the cast is already thinking about what life will be like without "Little Women." All four lead characters have done musicals before so they know what's coming once there are no more rehearsals, no more performances to anticipate.

"It feels like something is missing," said Thomas. "Like it feels very empty."

Following past productions, McCoy would have dreams about the show for two weeks after the final performance. After she finished "Guys and Dolls," McCoy had a dream that they were about to do one more performance, but this time the choreography for the final number had been changed and now the cast was doing it on ice skates with an ice rink on stage.

Thomas said she was still dreaming about "Beauty and the Beast" two years after she finished the play, waking up in a panic because she couldn't remember the lines.

So the main cast is certain "Little Women" will remain with them long after the show closes at Wilson Memorial.

"You've been playing that character for five months and, all of a sudden, they're gone," Atkinson said. "It's like a piece of you, as cheesy as it sounds, it's like a piece of you is gone."

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— Patrick Hite is The News Leader's education reporter. Story ideas and tips always welcome. Contact Patrick (he/him/his) at phite@newsleader.com and follow him on Twitter @Patrick_Hite. Subscribe to us at newsleader.com.

This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Wilson Memorial bringing the classic 'Little Women' to life in spring musical