Sarah Pruys
Half the usual number of students were able to put together a two-and-a-half hour musical in half the usual amount of time this spring at Fort Frances High School.
The 22 students performing in “Little Women” only had eight weeks to rehearse, but that didn’t stop the musical from being as successful as it always is.
Due to job action taken by teachers, no extra-curricular activities were conducted until the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation decided Feb. 22 to suspend the political action, allowing the musical to begin production weeks later than usual.
“I think it all came together really well,” said Fort High teacher Susan De Gagne, who directed the production.
“Everybody went above and beyond what their roles actually were, and it made the show just that much better.
“It surpassed our expectations,” De Gagne added. “When we got to show night, we were all really impressed.”
The musical was based on Louisa May Alcott’s classic 1869 semi-autobiographical novel, which focuses on the lives of the four March sisters—brassy, tomboy-like aspiring writer Jo (played by Maggie Gauthier), romantic Meg (Taylor Shouldice), pretentious Amy (Alyssa Van Drunen), and kind-hearted Beth (Anne Jean)—and their beloved Marmee (Larissa Desrosiers) at their home in Concord, Mass.
While “Legally Blonde” offered many comedic moments on stage last year, “Little Women” had more of a serious tone.
The musical ran May 15-18, and De Gagne noted the theatre “was at least three-quarters full for Friday and Saturday nights, which was good since we knew it was a long weekend and a lot of people would be out of town.”
The community also was very receptive to this year’s musical.
“It was just a good night out for everybody that went,” said De Gagne.
“We heard really good things,” she added. “People were really impressed at the quality of singing that the kids did, as were we.”
Earlier, she had stressed that “Little Women” was chosen for its music.
“The music tells the story really well,” De Gagne explained. “It’s catchy without being overdone.”
The musical boasted more than 20 songs, and “our lead [Maggie Gauthier] had to memorize most of those, so she was certainly well-prepared and we really appreciated all of the hard work she put into memorizing them.”
The rest of the students also had to put in a lot of work, attending practices that ran at least half-an-hour longer than in past years.
Still, De Gagne said they loved it.
“It was nice that it was a small group,” she added. “We had 22 in the cast and they all got really close.
“I think there were some friendships made and they had their own secret little jokes.
“Nobody was excluding anybody else and so it was a really nice group to work with,” De Gagne said.
“The music is a lot fun,” said Desrosiers. “It’s definitely my favourite of all the musicals I’ve been in.”
“We really have just come together and it feels like we’re one big family,” echoed Mallory Duffy, a Grade 12 student who played Aunt March.
“It was stressful but it all ended up working out,” De Gagne noted.
“We’re not exactly sure how it did that, and I certainly wouldn’t try to do another one on purpose in eight weeks, but we know now that we can do it,” she reasoned.
De Gagne also thanked the art crew, led by art teacher Owen Johnston, because they got a set together in about a week.
“We actually didn’t see the whole set completely finished until opening night, so they were certainly working really hard on that,” she stressed.
“It was definitely a huge team effort.”
