‘Little Women: The Musical’

PALMER — “Little Women,” which opens at the Glenn Massay Theater this weekend, marks a number of firsts for the cast, crew and women of the United States.

Louisa May Alcott’s classic story was first published in 1869, 50 years before women were afforded the right to vote, and, as actress Ryan Clinkenbeard pointed out, before women started to wear pants. Yet Alcott’s main character, Jo March, not only wears pants, but always speaks her mind, is prone to passionate outbursts, and frequently defies social and gender norms defined by the time.

“She’s the adventurous sister,” Clinkenbeard said, and “arguably one of the first feminist characters in literature.”

“She’s very much trying to pave her own way in a world that has a very specific place for women.”

Director Kristen Clinkenbeard (nee Nagel) agreed that Jo “doesn’t fit in the box” that society puts her in, which is one of the things that drew her to the story to begin with, she said. Because of Alcott’s strong female characters — and because her mother did costume design for a production of the show when she was a young girl — “Little Women” has long been a favorite of hers.

“It’s really cool to see a girl you can identify with,” Kristen Clinkenbeard said.

Growing up with two brothers and no sisters also gave her reason to like the story, she said, and perhaps do a little vicarious living through the March sisters.

“Little Women” is the first play Clinkenbeard has directed at the Massay, and the first she’s directed since college. Alongside her wife is Erin Walker as Meg, Bronwyn Embree as Beth, Sara Shipp as Amy and Jamie Fenton as Marmee, the girls’ mother.

“She’s very strong, and she cares a lot about her little girls,” Fenton said, of her character.

Fenton recently moved to the Valley from Soldotna, where she had participated in Kenai Performers productions since 2009, cast as the understudy for Peter Pan in 2011. She said Marmee is her first major role, and she loves the fact that it’s a musical one, too.

“I love musical theater,” Fenton said. “I’m classically trained as a vocalist and I can pretty much always be found singing songs from Broadway musicals.”

“Little Women” wasn’t made into a musical until the early 2000s, but Ryan Clinkenbeard said the composers and writers have managed to retain the classical feel of the original story with the modern addition.

“It really livens it up,” she said.

Chase Knutson — who plays Meg’s love interest, John Brooke — and Stephen Sponsler — who plays Laurie, Brooke’s pupil and Jo’s good friend — both said the music is what drew them to the show as well.

Knutson last acted in “Chicago” at the Glenn Massay last year, and he and Sponsler are both students at Mat-Su College. Sponsler said he hopes to become a professional singer someday and is happy to be making his theatrical debut in “Little Women” as the “socially awkward” but “very chipper” boy-next-door.

Knutson said he’s just glad to be back on this particular stage.

“I love this theater,” he said. “It brings way more energy to the stage in my opinion.”

The small cast is complemented by an even smaller crew, with Kristen Clinkenbeard on costuming, props and sound, in addition to directing, and her lone co-worker, Matt Sale, as producer, set designer, light master and actor.

“We wear a lot of hats here,” Sale said.

“Little Women” opens at the Glenn Massay Theater on Friday, Oct. 28 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $12 for students, $19 general admission and are available at the door and online at www.glennmassaytheater.com/events, where additional showtimes and dates also are listed.

Contact reporter Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com.