Every two years, the Ole Miss Theatre department puts on a musical. This year’s production was “Little Women” by Allan Knee, based on the classic novel by Louisa May Alcott.
The story is centered on Jo March, the oldest of four sisters, and her dreams of becoming a famous writer. It follows the evolution of her family as she and her sisters grow up during the Civil War.
The actors are very proud of what it has become and what it means to them to be part of the cast. Lydia Myers, who played Jo, said she was ecstatic to find out that she had been cast as the lead.
“There were a lot of tears, a lot of screams and a lot of phone calls that I made to my parents, and they both cried because I just didn’t expect it at all,” Myers said. “That was probably one of the best days of my life.”
As she and the cast worked for 150 hours over the last five weeks on the show, Myers found that she had a deep connection to the plot and values of the characters.
“This show means everything to me because it’s about family and it’s about resilience, and those are two things that I really hold dear to my heart. I see myself a lot in Jo,” Myers said.
In the musical, Jo is very close with her family and is deeply hurt when she loses her sister to scarlet fever. Myers identifies with that because she lost her brother.
Elizabeth Burrow, who played Beth, one of Jo’s sisters who inspires her to write her book, “Little Women,” had the same feelings about the show as Myers.
“I think very obviously, it’s a message of familial love and I think also people who have left you aren’t truly gone. If you kind of keep them there in your memories, they still exist in your heart,” Burrow said.
Lawson Marchetti, who played the role of Jo’s love interest Laurie, was honored to work with the cast and crew.
“To share the experience of being in the show has really strengthened my sense of theater community. I love doing this. I love working with the people,” Marchetti said. “I think it’s just really refreshing to see so many honest relationships between women and so many very real, very intense and lovely emotional moments. It’s primarily a show about women. I’m honored to be a small part of that and really watch as women shine and take the stage.”
Jacob Heuer, who portrayed Mr. Lawrence, had a different experience than the rest of the cast. Originally cast as an understudy, he was placed in the show on opening night. He discussed how he channeled his nerves before going on stage for the first time as a freshman. He considered this his big debut, not expecting to have been cast as an understudy, let alone being able to perform in the show.
“Honestly, how I just deal with nerves: You breathe. You breathe calm yourself down, and then you go out there, because nine times out of 10, you’re only nervous because you’re just nervous about not succeeding. When really, you’re going to succeed,” Heuer said.
He said that breathing and channeling that nervousness into adrenaline helps him to amp up his character.
Although the performers had a rough opening night with a set malfunction, they were able to pull off three more performances that ended with a standing ovation.
