By Carol Davis
VISTA, California–When Kathy Brombacher retires this year she will have been at the helm of Moonlight Stage Productions for seventeen years having produced over 200 shows. In other words, she has been there from the beginning. She has been a pioneer for the arts in the North County. It was she who proposed her vision to the City of Vista and as they say, the rest is history.
The very first musical that was produced in Vista at the Moonlight Amphitheatre was in 1981. I remember the space vividly because it was half the size it is now and it had porta potty’s outside. And OH yes, in 1986 “My Fair Lady” was first of the summer offerings that I ventured out to see in Vista. Throughout the years the City of Vista has been generous to the theatre community and more and more improvements and additions had been made to the completely renovated outdoor theatre, thanks to Brombacher.
Now she finds that it is time to hang up her director’s hat and turn the reins over to someone else. She has earned that privilege. Little Women, The Broadway Musical was her personal pick to be her last show to direct and what a lovely valentine it turned out to be.
In her own words: “I have wanted to produce and direct this musical for many years, knowing the evocative musical score and the vibrant story is one that speaks to our current generation; especially through the central character Jo, whose determination to succeed as an author and independent woman in a war-torn American society is a story that inspires with humor and passion.”
I remember sitting through the 1949 movie version of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. I know it’s hard to believe, but I had not yet reached my 13th birthday in 1949. I was the same age as Amy, one of the ‘little women’ played by the magnificently beautiful Elizabeth Taylor. I thought she was older (well she was a bit) and I was still a tomboy. Beth is one of the four March sisters in the novel. Actually Jo, or Josephine March is the tomboy and aspiring writer, most likely fashioned after Alcott herself.
Little Women, The Broadway Musical is based on the same Alcott characters from the 1896 novel, but with more emphases around dynamics of the girls rather than the family comings and goings itself. The book is by Allan Knee with lyrics by Mindi Dickstein, and music by Jason Howard.
It still takes place in Concord, Massachusetts, Alcott’s hometown, during the Civil War Days. That’s important to know because the March father is never seen since he is in the Union Army and away from the home front. Unfortunately the Broadway Show had a short life with only 137 performances with Sutton Foster as the leading storyteller, Jo. The National Tour came through San Diego in 2005. This is a wonderful opportunity to catch it once again.
In this current rendition the strong and independent woman Jo, Hilary Maiberger is a larger than life character both in her acting but most powerful in her singing. In fact, her voice is almost too big for the indoor venue at The Avo, Moonlight’s winter producing theatre. The musical begins where the book or movie almost ends and that is in a New York City boarding house (remember the time is 1865) where Jo, and one of the male boarder’s with whom she is smitten but doesn’t know it yet, Professor Bhaer, (the fine acting Bryan Vickery) are discussing her manuscripts and her writing future when a telegram calls her home.
Knee’s book zeroes in on the four sisters; Meg (Alexis Grenier) is the oldest and most gentle of the four; Amy (Leslie Tammone) is the spoiled one; Beth (Sarah Errington) is the sickly one whom everyone loves, and then of course ambitious Jo. The story wiggles back and forth bringing out the sisters’ relationships toward one another, their love interests, their coming of age, their relationship with the wealthy neighbors, and of course Jo’s writing career. Rounding out the March family is matriarch Marmee March (Susan Stuber), who’s needed every now and then to referee. Finally bossy and fussy Aunt March (Susan E.V. Boland) their paternal aunt plays an important part in Amy’s life.
Outside the family, Laurie Lawrence (Jacob Haren has a beautiful tenor voice) is their closest neighbor and is in love with the ‘I never want to get married’, Jo. One can understand why he is attracted to her. She’s that unconventional and most fun to be with. Laurie lives with his curmudgeon uncle Mr. Lawrence (a perfectly wonderful and agile Don Ward making a very endearing showing) who later will bequeath his piano to sickly sister Beth. John Brooke (Andrew Wade) Laurie’s tutor later marries Meg. Finally, spurned by Jo, Laurie will marry Amy and you guessed it, Jo will marry the professor and, we assume, they will all livehappily ever after.
Eventually all their little daily vicissitudes get resolved, and certain life altering changes take place but not before we see some wonderful fun and games as the sisters act out a few of Jo’s little adventures from her “Blood and Guts” stories that she’s had published in a New York newspaper. This is about the liveliest interplay that takes place between the sisters with the exception of who gets to wear what very large ball gown to the ball (Carlotta Malone is credited as costume coordinator).
The costumes, with the exception of some of the male actors attire, are beautiful and right in period. Especially attractive and very prim are Aunt March’s outfits, bonnets and all and Boland wears them well.
Overall the strong and consistently even voices of the whole cast in this production outweigh the acting, but then again, it is a musical and the surrounding tales of the sisters tend to look more like a melodrama than anything.
In particular, as was noted, Maiberger’s (“Astonishing” and “The Fire Within Me”) voice really belongs in a huge arena outdoors (She is playing Princess Jasmine in Aladdin: The Musical Spectacular at the Disney California Adventure) or less amplification is needed in the indoor space. Right up there in the voice department is Sue Boland singing “Could You”.
N. Dixon Fish’s set is simple and versatile with an attic and stairs leading to bedrooms we don’t see. Curtis Mueller’s lighting design worked for the most part but on the day I attended, every now and then when the spot was following Maiberger, some light spilled over onto the walls of the theatre and was distracting. Musical Director/Conductor Dr. Terry O’Donnell and his six-piece orchestra along with Carlos Mendoza’s choreography offer a great touch.
Hat’s off again to Kathy!
See you at the theatre.
Dates: though March 11th
Organization: Moonlight Stage Productions
Phone: 760-724-2110
Production Type: Musical
Where: 303 Main Street, Vista, CA 92084
Ticket Prices: $22.00-$30.00
Web: moonlightstage.com
Venue: Avo Playhouse
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Theatre critic Davis is based in San Diego. She may be contacted at carol.davis@sdjewishworld.com