Jo: The Little Women Musical | Theatre Royal Drury Lane

Adapted from the book by Louisa May Alcott, this musical tells the tale of the March family from the perspective of Jo. Jo, the aspiring writer of the four sisters, who dreams of great adventures (which definitely do not involve romance) whilst battling with reality. Change is a natural part of growing up, but when life sends the siblings in different directions, what keeps the family together?

The writers began working on the idea in 1996 in anticipation of a New York opening in 2003, which didn’t end up happening and the musical disappeared…until winter 2020. The writers decided to give it another go and spent the next few years writing, creating demos, doing presentations, shaping it into the form of the current concert performance. Its first public appearance. 

The first act is flawless. A Rodgers and Hammerstein esque dream. The book writing has a clear sense of direction and character arc, especially within the character of Jo. They show her inner torment of wanting to experience the world and achieve her dreams, yet also not feeling ready to grow up and let things change. In this sense, the base story confronts a challenge we all have to face at some point in our lives: how to enter the world and embrace the change, the musical sets this soaring, giving the show a universal quality grounded in the real. 

The orchestrations are very reminiscent of golden age musicals, creating a sense of grandeur, like a sonic cathedral. Lyrically the music is simple without being simplistic and conveys character voice with ease. We are introduced to lyrical motifs, like hands and gloves in Meg’s romance arc and pirates in Jo’s exploration arc, which give it a beautifully poetic almost fantastical quality. Whilst the songs themselves, more often than not, don’t progress the action, they do highlight the inner depths of these wildly different characters and explain the decisions they make in the book of the musical. We find this to be effective in act one, the build up to Jo’s decision to leave the family home and go to New York…

However in act two, these story telling techniques fall short. Given the amount of action that happens in act two, the songs inevitably need to take on the role of progressing the plot, especially as act one basically teaches us how the characters feel and how they will react to certain events, in consideration of their context. And the musical flounders. 

The book seems to have lost the plot, unsure of how to connect the dots set up in act one. Poor Beth falls so much to the wayside that her death lacks emotional impact and they move on from this so quickly that it holds no real significance. Meg alas has been forgotten and pops up occasionally for consistency. Laurie goes from being rejected by Amy to being engaged to her in a matter of minutes, after a whole song about him not knowing who he is and wanting to discover this first. 

This all feels incredibly rushed for the sake of hitting the runtime, which is already pretty long. It's like they spent so long perfecting the first act that they realised that they had more content than time in the second and crammed in as much as possible. The show would benefit from the creative team being more selective about which moments of the story are essential in being portrayed on stage. 

Not to mention that the most important moment for Jo, the key to the entire story, is omitted, causing the show to collapse on its feet. Yes the characters all have a happy ending, but it feels redundant without this moment. The second act is fundamentally listless.

Likely because the book loses its purpose and footing, the lyrics lose their substance and the orchestration becomes an ornament. At this point, we just see performers on a stage and the all absorbing world fades away, no longer grounded and no longer brilliant. 

That being said, there’s no denying the practically ethereal quality of the performers and full bodied performances they gave- they each clearly put their heart and soul into this concert. It couldn’t have been cast better. 

Christine Allado’s voice is as enchanting as the most perfect fairytale, her characterisation of Jo with her inner conflicts about what she feels she should want, what society tells her she should want and what she actually wants, is carefully constructed so it practically pours out of every fiber of her being. She has a palpable energy that consistently helps to lift the show and it is infectious.

Kerry Ellis, in the role of Marmee. Arguably one of the more understated roles that she has taken on, she conveys the character with quiet gentility and grace, elegantly showing us the kind of supportive and guiding figure that we all hope to find in our own lives. Her voice is still as powerful as ever, but the crisp edges are dulled to match the voice of her character, making this performance particularly effective. 

Let’s not forget Tracie Bennett in the role of Aunt March, a true icon. Her comic timing is off the charts and she manages to make this matriarch so likeable, in spite of some of her more challenging and controversial views, that we find ourselves cheering whenever she enters the stage. Bold, unapologetic and taking up space in the best way, her voice has an unexpected power to match. 

One of the highest heights followed by the lowest of lows, this musical flew too close to the sun and fell before it could hit perfection.

★★★☆☆ (3*)

Gifted tickets in return for an honest review | Photography by Roger Alacorn