No decent parent would name which of their children they like best. But Kaelan Gildart is only playing a mother on stage, so the rule against naming favorites doesn’t apply.
The show is “Little Women” at the University of Southern Maine. It’s a musical adaptation of the literary classic by Louisa May Alcott. The plot revolves around the changing relationships between four sisters as they grow up during the Civil War. Gildart is Marmee, the family matriarch who holds them together. But one daughter gets a little extra attention.
“I definitely identify the most with Jo, if we’re talking primarily with archetypes,” Gildart said. “My behavior and how I present doesn’t feel like it really fits into a traditional woman mindset. So, I resonate a lot with her fervor and her need to be different.”
Jo is short for Josephine March. Her dream of becoming a published writer is the show’s narrative throughline. The list of big stars who have played Jo on film include Katharine Hepburn, Winona Ryder, and Saoirse Ronan. USM’s Jo is played by Taylor Ciotti.
Gildart is only a few months older than Ciotti. They’re both juniors in the Musical Theatre program. Playing the mother of a classmate initially felt strange to Gildart. But the script by Allan Knee punctures Marmee’s calm exterior with flashes of maternal anger. Those moments allowed Gildart to draw on personal experience to humanize the role.
“I get very protective of my friends when someone does something rude or disrespectful,” Gildart said. “Channeling that has been helpful.”
Talon Moody, a sophomore Theatre major, had to age up even more than Gildart to play the grandfatherly Mr. Laurence. He’s introduced to the audience as the neighborhood curmudgeon. His attitude softens, however, as he bonds with Beth March over their mutual love of music.
Beth (played by Emma Hall) is the shiest of the sisters and at first cowers in front of Mr. Laurence. But once she starts playing the piano, her full personality comes out. Hall and Moody illustrate the transformation by singing “Off to Massachusetts.”
A reprise of the song in Act II adds a note of dread. Beth’s illness has taken a turn for the worse. The heartache reaches its peak as Ciotti sings “The Fire Within Me,” while the other performers pantomime Jo’s memories. Moody’s part in the scene is small, but its emotional impact hit him hard.
“The music is beautifully composed,” Moody said. “It adds a whole other level to the experience because it helps you see the inside of Jo’s mind even more. And when you add instruments to her thoughts, it really escalates it to a whole other level.”
Credit for the music goes to composer Jason Howland and lyricist Mindi Dickstein. The local cast relied on musical direction from Ed Reichert to reach their vocal potential. For choreography, they had Vanessa Beyland to guide them.
The elaborate costumes added an extra layer of difficulty to not only dancing but any kind of movement. The women are outfitted in period-appropriate hoop skirts that take up a lot of space on a small stage. They had to practice basic functions like sitting down and climbing stairs just to look natural.
“We started rehearsing with the skirts from day one, so there is a comfort to them,” said director Danny Hutchins. “We’re fortunate to have over half of the costumes having been hand constructed for the show. The cast is adjusting well to it, and we’re lucky to have such a great costume team behind us.”
The production crew’s innovations extended to the set design. A large screen spanned the back of the stage. The images projected across its surface gave the rural Massachusetts setting a photographic level of detail, as well as an illusion of depth.
Several rows of seats were sacrificed for a few extra feet of floorspace jutting into the audience from stage left. That section was reserved for scenes of Jo’s adult life in New York where she builds her writing career and falls in love.
Jo and Professor Bhaer, Meg and John, Amy and Laurie. The play is filled with romantic pairings. But it’s the love story between the sisters that matters most of all, and Hutchins credits his cast for pulling it off.
“Over the rehearsal process, they’ve really worked together to find what I think is their unique chemistry with the four of them,” Hutchins said. “It really comes to life on stage and allows the audience to fall in love with, not just Jo, but all the sisters together.”
“Little Women” opened on April 4 at the Russell Hall theater in Gorham. Its two-week run wraps up on April 13. Tickets are available on the Theatre Department’s website.