BECCA MARTIN-BROWN

bmartin@nwaonline.com

Joplin Little Theatre is undeniably a classic. Born in 1939, it’s a nonprofit with its own building — the 240-seat Park Playhouse, which opened in July 1948 and was renovated in the 1990s. It draws audiences from Arkansas, Kansas and Oklahoma in addition to Missouri; and it’s in the middle of its 2024-25 season.

However, it should be said that JLT doesn’t shy away from contemporary community theater. The first two shows of the season were “Billy Elliot: The Musical” and “Elf: The Musical.” “Little Women,” opening Jan. 29, is the 2019 script by Kate Hamill, known for what The New York Times called her “smart, sprightly … adaptations” of the classics.

“Traditionally adaptations are sort of copy and paste jobs, very faithful to the original,” Hamill said in a 2019 conversation on PBS. “I believe in creating something much more surprising and theatrical.”

Her message in “Little Women,” she said, was that girls can be the heroes of their own stories.

JLT veteran actress and director Marilyn Marshall-Bouldin, who is helming “Little Women,” says she’s “made sure there are still many of the original touches.”

“This version certainly focuses on how strong the March women are, [but] it’s not an overtly feminist adaptation,” she said. “I think patrons will find familiarity more than anything else.”

The same might be said of JLT.

“All of us have struggled,” Marshall-Bouldin said of local theater companies after the pandemic shutdown. “We really try to reach out to our community through social media, asking our audiences what shows they would like to see. We want to keep our finger on the pulse of our community in the four-state area, [and offer] everything from what’s currently popular to shows that are family oriented — what this particular area would like to see.

“We also make sure we’re involved with our local chamber, host things at no charge such as actors’ workshops, and audition workshops, and we’re about to start hosting some community events such as karaoke and improv nights out,” she added.

But the heart of the company will remain its five-show season, which concludes for this year with “The Odd Couple: Female Version,” March 26-30, and “Absurd Person Singular,” May 14-18. Marshall-Bouldin says the 2025-26 season will be announced in the next couple of months.

In the meantime, she said, the cast members of “Little Women” are “all having fun with the show. We’re cracking up with laughter working the scenes every night at rehearsal.”

Charity Brower, a psychology major at Missouri Southern State University in Joplin, is playing Amy and bringing the lighter side to the story of the March sisters growing up in the middle of the Civil War.

“Amy is just the most bizarre, dramatic, fun character I’ve ever played,” Brower said. “She can be elegant and graceful, but she’s very dramatic; everything is about her. That’s what the audience loves about her the most! But you can still see that she loves her family, and they love her, too.”

Brower said she was a “very dramatic little girl” herself.

“I was the youngest out of all my siblings as well — I had four older brothers — so I was the only girl and the youngest,” she said. “It’s been a lot of fun getting to put some of that into Amy.”

Brower, who got her start on stage in a church production of “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” when she was 8, said “community theater can be a little weird at first, because in college or high school you’re used to people your own age.” The benefits include working with “seasoned actors” older than she is and mentoring the younger actors coming up behind her, as she got to do in “Elf.”

“There’s something about getting to be in the space where the magic is happening,” she said of live theater.

“And ‘Little Women’ is perfect for this time of year after the holidays,” added Marshall-Bouldin. “We want to stretch out and do new and interesting things nobody has ever heard of, but at the same time, we want to pick shows people know and love. I grew up with ‘Little Women.’”

__

FAQ

Joplin Little Theatre:

‘Little Women’

WHEN — 7:30 p.m. Jan. 29-Feb. 1; 2:30 p.m. Feb. 2

WHERE — Joplin Little Theatre, 3009 W. First St. in Joplin, Mo.

COST — $15-$18

INFO — joplinlittletheatre.org; (417) 623-3638

FYI — The season concludes with “The Odd Couple: Female Version,” March 26-30, and “Absurd Person Singular,” May 14-18. The 2025-26 season will be announced in the next few weeks.