Sarasota Players' 'Little Women: The Musical' aspires to be astonishing

Marmee would be very proud of Amanda Finnerty.

Who is Marmee? She’s the mother of the four March sisters in Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women.”

Finnerty is directing Sarasota Players’ production of “Little Women: The Musical,” which runs through Dec. 15. In the process, she’s embodying some of the Yankee values of thrift and resourcefulness that inform the classic 1868 novel set in New England during the Civil War.

You see, Finnerty was supposed to direct “Little Women: The Musical” for Venice Theatre before Hurricane Ian hit in 2022 and the show was canceled.

Like the Sarasota Players’ temporary home in The Crossings at Siesta Key mall, Venice’s Pinkerton Theatre has a stage surrounded by the audience on four sides. Staging a production for a theater in the round can be a tricky proposition.

“The hardest part of directing any play is the staging,” Finnerty says, “but it’s particularly challenging with theater in the round because you can’t have one section of the audience looking at the characters’ backs the whole time, so they have to move. At the same time, you don’t want something to look contrived.”

Since she still had notes from her canceled 2022 production, Finnerty says she felt confident going into the latest show.

Her interpretation of “Little Women” uses a fire motif. Each of the four March sisters wears a flame-inspired color that is hers alone. Jo, the tomboy of the family and future author, wears red. Meg, the oldest sister who is driven more by love than money in her search for a husband, dresses in purple.

Beth, the beloved sickly third sister, wears orange, while Amy, the youngest, dons yellow hues as she looks for a wealthy man who will appreciate her artistic gifts.

“My team has been really great — the music director, the set designer, the costume shop. The costumes are kind of crazy because they are hoop skirts. That took a little getting used to by the actors,” Finnerty says.

Before Allen Knee’s “Little Women: The Musical” became a Broadway hit in 2005, there were several plays produced on the Great White Way, starting in 1912.

Over the years, Hollywood has brought the heartwarming story to the silver screen no less than seven times. The latest, in 2019, was directed by Greta Gerwig before she made her megahit “Barbie.” 

Against the backdrop of such history, does Finnerty feel any pressure? 

If she does, she doesn’t show it. “I love this story so much,” she says. “I just want to be able to tell the story well.”

Besides the rescued remnants from the Venice Theatre production, Finnerty draws confidence from her cast, including Lexi Lowther in the role of Jo. In the Broadway show, Sutton Foster played Jo and made “Astonishing” the anthem of young girls everywhere who dream big.

Lowther, a newly minted graduate of Florida Southern College, is a veteran of the Sarasota Players’ children’s theater. 

While “Little Women” isn’t a holiday story per se, it does begin with a Christmas scene as the coming-of-age tale unfolds over a two-year period. 

“It’s a feel-good musical, so we decided to put it in the lineup for the holidays,” Finnerty says. “It’s something everybody in the family can enjoy.”