Cast List (with nomination possibilities out of 10)
NY TIMES REVIEW EXCERPTS:A Tomboy With Gumption (and Her Sisters): By BEN BRANTLEY: Admirers of Ms. Foster's performance as an ingenuous flapper in "Thoroughly Modern Millie," for which she won a Tony Award, will be pleased to know that her level of pluckiness remains stratospherically high. "I've got a fire in me," announces Jo, an ambitious aspiring writer. Indeed, she glows with a fever that practically scorches. Though Ms. Foster shows winning flashes of a previously undetected gift for fresh comic line readings, theatergoers not enamored of unstinting eagerness may find her energy less infectious than exhausting. Beth is memorialized in a power ballad sung in a strong, lovely alto by Ms. McGovern (best known for the Top-40 hit "The Morning After," from the 1972 movie "The Poseidon Adventure"). There are several such ballads, which are of the sub-Lloyd Webber variety. Otherwise, Mr. Howland's score is brisk, sprightly and forgettable, though appealingly performed by a synthesizer-free acoustic orchestra, a rarity on Broadway these days. Ms. Dickstein's lyrics are largely so generic they could slide right into a variety of different musicals. ("Take a chance on me." "I may be small, but I have giant plans.") The slim and supple Ms. Foster has a lot to carry on those twitchy shoulders. If "Little Women" does develop the following of young girls and their mothers the producers have targeted, it will be largely Ms. Foster's doing. Her Jo brings to mind another brass-larynxed misfit, Elphaba, the green-skinned witch created by Idina Menzel in the reigning schoolgirl favorite of musicals, "Wicked." Jo even has an eardrum-quaking first-act curtain number like Elphaba's in "Wicked." It is called "Astonishing." But while Ms. Foster invests it with every ounce of her considerable skill and vigor, like so much of the show the song feels too ersatz to raise a single goosebump, much less astonish. TONY AWARDS HAVEN OPINION: If there ever were a sure nomination, it is Sutton Foster for Lead Actress in a Musical. Maureen McGovern has been universally praised as well, so, she is a lock as well for a Best Supporting Actress Nomination. Look for set, lighting, and costume designs, with a possible set win. Likely for Best Book, and definitely in contention for a Tony for Best Musical.
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