Lifestyle
'Little Women Ballet' leaps into a historic L.A. site — and you're part of the story
As contemporary Angelenos, seeing the immersive “Little Women Ballet” might be as close as we’ll ever get to stepping into a time machine.
The series of dance works about Louisa May Alcott’s beloved 19th century novel are staged inside the stately Victorian homes of Northeast L.A.’s Heritage Square Museum. Dancers and actors are dressed in period-inspired costumes, from cap-sleeve pioneer dresses to Steampunk-style fashions. Before each performance, the scene is set by a narrator who speaks in a prim, puritanical accent reminiscent of a bygone era. And the production demands the audience’s full participation: as guests, we’re invited to do everything from visit the homes of the novel’s March sisters to step in to play roles to advance the plot.
We begin by splitting off into small groups and following along as a character — in my group’s case, the girls’ wealthy Aunt March — leads us into the various houses where the ballet will be staged. The show is intimate — dancers are not even two feet away from audience members, who are granted limited seating and space to stand in the small rooms. They’re so close that you can hear the muffled sounds of their ballet shoes on the carpet and can make eye contact, which feels both intimate and mildly discomfiting.
Directed and choreographed by Emma Andres, the experience kicked off in May with a spring iteration before bowing its autumn production last month. In late November, the series will conclude with a winter immersive before staging a full-length version of the story at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in December.
The trilogy emerged organically. “We wanted to take this project in steps to see how it was going to grow and be received by audiences,” Andres said. “When I originally created the spring immersive, I did not know that I would be creating autumn and winter as well.”
Andres created the work with the intention of making space in ballet for more stories focusing on women. “The story of ‘Little Women’ is complicated, but I felt that it would be great for narrative ballet,” she said. “I see myself in all four of the sisters and I felt that they were a group of young ladies who could be inspiring for young audiences to watch and take influence from. Even though they come from a time that’s 100 or so years before our own, they still have very relatable traits to us in 2024.”
Ellen Relac and Alberto Hernandez, as Meg March and John Brooke, perform in a room of the L.A. Heritage Museum.
Constructed during the Victorian era, the Heritage Square Museum is in many ways the perfect backdrop for this production.
“We don’t have the privilege of being in Concord, Mass., where Louisa May Alcott grew up, but I feel like Heritage Square really shows where we developed our performance, which was California,” Andres said.
Dancing in the antique homes required careful planning. Luckily, it turned out that pointe shoes moved easily across the carpet-covered floors. “[The carpet] kind of acts like rosin so it provides this friction that’s actually really nice and never slippery,” Andres explained.
However, there were other design challenges, particularly the low-hanging chandeliers. To prevent a catastrophe, the team measured all of the rooms and taped down the dimensions in their home studio of Pasadena Civic Ballet. The dancers also walked the space and noted every piece of furniture and potential pitfall during a dress rehearsal.
Denise Moses as Aunt March introduces a scene before a group of guests.
Andres grew up dancing with the Pasadena Civic Ballet, which she attended from the age of 4 through 18. “It’s a very unique studio, because they create all their own ballets,” she said, including interpretations of Disney titles like “Peter Pan,” “The Little Mermaid,” “Snow White” and “Alice in Wonderland.”
The company has been directed by Diane De Franco Browne, Tania Grafos and Zoe Vidalakis since 2000. Browne served as production advisor on this project. “I watched these three really creative women come together and create a very inspiring and creative environment growing up,” Andres said. “I think that a lot of my passion for the arts came from watching them as I grew up.”
Guests congregate outside of one of the Victorian buildings that comprise L.A.’s Heritage Square Museum.
The Pasadena native graduated from UC Irvine in 2020 with a BFA bachelor of fine arts degree in choreography and a minor in literary journalism. After the pandemic hit, Andres moved back to Pasadena and became manager of Pasadena Civic Ballet, helping it build several outdoor dance studios to keep dance going live. “Even though I was really happy to be coming back, it was very difficult having all of our students on Zoom. But luckily we transitioned back to live pretty quickly,” said Andres.
It was during that time that she first conceived of the idea for a “Little Women”-themed ballet. Cooped up inside, she watched Greta Gerwig’s 2019 take on the classic work and soon after screened all three previous feature-length film adaptations (from 1933, 1949 and 1994) and read the book.
“I’m glad I [first] read it when I was older because I feel like I related to it way more than I would have as a child,” Andres said. “I feel like translating it into a ballet is a way that younger audiences can really relate to it and the emotions of the characters and their personalities.”
She began by crafting a six-minute summation of the book for Pasadena Civic Ballet in 2021, featuring students at the school. “I tried to target key points in their lives,” she said. “I went directly into Jo meeting Laurie and then directly from there, the relationship between John and Meg. Because when Meg starts to fall in love, that’s the first time that Jo really sees that their family could come apart when people start growing up.”
From left, Chris Flores, Evan Hernandez, Ross Clark, Jacob Robleto and Alberto Hernandez perform in the immersive “Little Women Ballet.”
She established each character’s personality visually by creating recognizable dance motifs for each of the sisters, which live on in the current production. “Each of the sisters has a pose that they do that symbolizes their interests and personality,” Andres said. “Jo holds her hands up like she’s reading a book, Amy like she’s painting a canvas with a paintbrush, Beth’s on a piano and then Meg’s are up by her face to symbolize an acting mask.”
Dance sequences were created to illustrate scenes in the girls’ lives including Amy and Laurie’s courtship in Paris, Beth’s final days with Jo and Jo’s romance with professor Fredrick Bhaer.
‘Little Women Ballet’ returns for two performances this winter
The winter immersive runs Nov. 22-24 at Heritage Square Museum. Tickets are $60. The full-length ballet will be held Dec. 7 at Wilshire Ebell Theatre. Tickets start at $28. For more information, visit littlewomenballet.com
Andres made a deliberate choice for all the sisters to dance on pointe — except for Jo, a character who is unconventional in her tomboyishness. Jo dances with flexed feet.
“Some of our dancers are not pointe dancers, but they are excellent ballet dancers,” she said. “If I feel that someone will play the character really well, that is more important to me than them doing pointe. But my hope for the full-length is that it will just be Jo not wearing them, to emphasize the idea that she’s not only breaking societal norms as a woman of the time, but she’s also breaking ballet norms.”
The show itself is doing the same.
Madison Marsh performs as Amy March. Dance sequences were created to illustrate scenes in the sisters’ lives.
Mara is a single mother of two in Minnesota. She and her family have depended on SNAP benefits to make ends meet.
Caroline Yang for NPR
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Caroline Yang for NPR
Although Mara is unemployed, she is busier than ever.
When she is not taking care of her two children, Mara is at her desk applying for jobs. She is surveying her belongings to see what she can pawn off to buy toiletries. Or she is sifting through bills, calculating which ones can wait and which need to be paid right away.
Soon, Mara, a single mom in Minnesota, may have another task on her busy schedule: figuring out how to afford food for her and her family.
That’s because of new work requirements for people receiving aid from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP or food stamps.
“It would be so beyond hard” to lose SNAP benefits, Mara said. “Without SNAP, there’s no funds for food.” Mara asked for her last name to be withheld given the stigma tied to receiving government assistance. She is also worried that speaking publicly will affect her chances of getting a job.
Previously, SNAP recipients with children under 18 were exempt from work requirements mandating that recipients work, volunteer or participate in job training at least 80 hours a month. But now, under President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, that exemption only applies to those with children under 14 — which is how old Mara’s youngest child turned in December.
“It would be so beyond hard” to lose SNAP benefits, Mara said.
Caroline Yang for NPR
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Caroline Yang for NPR
The Trump administration has argued that the mission of the nation’s largest anti-hunger program has failed.
“SNAP was intended to be temporary help for those who encounter tough times. Now, it’s become so bloated that it is leaving fewer resources for those who truly need help,” the White House said in a statement in June.
But policy experts say the SNAP changes do not fully take into account the unique challenges faced by single parents like Mara or the sluggish job market in many parts of the country. They argue that losing food assistance will only create more barriers for recipients struggling to find work.
The timeline for implementing the new SNAP policy varies based on state and county. In Mara’s home state of Minnesota, recipients who don’t qualify for an exemption or meet work requirements will be at risk of losing assistance as early as April 1. Others may have more months depending on when they next need to certify they are eligible for benefits.
Over 100 job applications
Mara imagined she would have a job by now.
It was August when she was let go from her part-time administrative assistant role due to her workplace restructuring. Since then, Mara estimates that she has applied for over 100 positions. She has also attended job fairs and taken free workshops on resume writing.
She has been working since high school, she said, but “ I’ve never been out of work for more than one month, so it’s very difficult.”
Mara spends time working at the computer at CareerForce, a resource for job seekers in Minnesota, on March 4.
Caroline Yang for NPR
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Caroline Yang for NPR
Although she misses her old job, Mara said it didn’t pay enough to support her and her kids, so she relied on SNAP benefits.
Many recipients are part of the low-wage labor market, where job security is often unpredictable and turnover tends to be high, according to Lauren Bauer, a researcher at the Brookings Institution who has studied SNAP extensively.
“SNAP is supposed to be there to help people smooth that and not let the bottom fall out when they experience job loss,” she said. “And this policy doesn’t account for that at all.”
Mara’s lowest point came in November when the government shutdown led to disruptions in SNAP benefits. Not only was she searching for a new job, but she was constantly figuring out where to get her family’s next meal.
“I might be looking for food stuff during the day when I should have been looking for a job,” she said. “Then, I’m trying to make up that time in the evening after my kids go to bed.”
During the pause, Mara turned to food banks, which revealed other challenges. First, food pantries do not always provide enough for an adult and two growing teenagers, she said. Second, they often lack gluten-free foods, which is essential for her daughter who has celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder that causes digestive problems if gluten is consumed. Gluten-free products tend to be more expensive.
If Mara loses access to SNAP again because of the new work requirements, she fears another stretch of long days spent looking for the right food and enough to feed her family.
“I would be so reliant on looking for food shelves or food banks,” she said. “There would not be time to even live.”
“We’re going to see increases in poverty. We’re going to see increases in food insecurity”
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that roughly 2.4 million people will lose food benefits in a typical month over the next decade as a result of the new SNAP requirements — including 300,000 parents like Mara with children 14 or older.
Gina Plata-Nino, the SNAP director at the nonprofit Food Research & Action Center, says many of the affected recipients will be single mothers who make up a majority of single parent households in the U.S. She added that the changes target a group that often lacks or struggles to afford a support system to help care for their children.
“How can they have a full-time job when they need to pick up their children [for] various activities?” she said. “And they are working — just not enough hours because they need to be there present for their children.”
Mara shops for groceries at a local discount grocery store.
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Caroline Yang for NPR
The new law also imposes work requirements on veterans, homeless people, young adults aging out of foster care, and able-bodied adults without dependents from ages 55 to 64.
It also toughened the criteria for waiving work requirements for recipients in areas with high unemployment. Previously, there were multiple ways to determine a weak labor market and secure a waiver. Now, it only applies to places with an unemployment rate above 10%. (Alaska and Hawaii have a different measure.)
For those who fail to meet the work requirement, SNAP provides assistance for up to three months within a three-year span. But Bauer from the Brookings Institution argues that it is not enough and the impact of SNAP changes will be widespread.
“We’re going to see increases in poverty. We’re going to see increases in food insecurity. We’re going to see increasing strain on the charitable food sector,” she said.
Mara holds her favorite anchor ring, which carries the inscription, “God for me provide thee.”
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Caroline Yang for NPR
As anxiety hangs over her head, Mara tries to put on a brave face for her children. She does not want them to worry, explaining that her recent struggles have reminded her how tough life can get as an adult.
“I remind them it’s not their responsibility and they’re not accountable for me or for what’s happening,” she said. “I say, just know you get to be a kid.”
Dylan Dreyer
Savannah Will Likely Come Back … Just Not Sure When
Published
TMZ.com
Dylan Dreyer is giving a small update on her embattled “Today” co-host, Savannah Guthrie, as the search continues for Savannah’s mom, Nancy — telling TMZ she does believe she’ll likely return to the show at some point.
We caught Dylan leaving NBC Tuesday afternoon, and she said while she thinks Savannah will come back, the timing is totally unclear — adding everyone at the show is simply giving her the space she needs because they care about her so much.
TMZ.com
Dylan also reflected on Savannah’s emotional visit to the “TODAY” studio last Thursday, saying the hug they shared was something they both really needed in that moment.
Catch the full clip — Dylan says the visit was incredibly emotional, adding Savannah clearly wants to get back to some sense of normal life … she just doesn’t quite know how yet.
Still, Savannah managed a few smiles during the brief stop by the studio, doing her best to keep moving forward during an incredibly tough time.
TMZ.com
As we reported, Nancy was taken from her Tucson home in the middle of the night on February 1. She was last seen entering the house just before 10 PM on January 31 after dinner with her daughter Annie and Annie’s husband, Tommaso Cioni.
Kevin Kline plays actor Richard Bean, and Laura Linney is his sister-in-law Kristen, in American Classic.
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David Giesbrecht/MGM+
American Classic is a hidden gem, in more ways than one. It’s hidden because it’s on MGM+, a stand-alone streaming service that, let’s face it, most people don’t have. But MGM+ is available without subscription for a seven-day free trial, on its website or through Prime Video and Roku. And you should find and watch American Classic, because it’s an absolutely charming and wonderful TV jewel.
Charming, in the way it brings small towns and ordinary people to life, as in Northern Exposure. Wonderful, in the way it reflects the joys of local theater productions, as in Slings & Arrows, and the American Playhouse production of Kurt Vonnegut’s Who Am I This Time?
The creators of American Classic are Michael Hoffman and Bob Martin. Martin co-wrote and co-created Slings & Arrows, so that comparison comes easily. And back in the early 1980s, Who Am I This Time? was about people who transformed onstage from ordinary citizens into extraordinary performers. It’s a conceit that works only if you have brilliant actors to bring it to life convincingly. That American Playhouse production had two young actors — Christopher Walken and Susan Sarandon — so yes, it worked. And American Classic, with its mix of veteran and young actors, does, too.
American Classic begins with Kevin Kline, as Shakespearean actor Richard Bean, confronting a New York Times drama critic about his negative opening-night review of Richard’s King Lear. The next day, Richard’s agent, played by Tony Shalhoub, calls Richard in to tell him his tantrum was captured by cellphone and went viral, and that he has to lay low for a while.
Richard returns home to the small town of Millersburg, Pa., where his parents ran a local theater. Almost everyone we meet is a treasure. His father, who has bouts of dementia, is played by Len Cariou, who starred on Broadway in Sweeney Todd. Richard’s brother, Jon, is played by Jon Tenney of The Closer, and his wife, Kristen, is played by the great Laura Linney, from Ozark and John Adams.
Things get even more complicated because the old theater is now a dinner theater, filling its schedule with performances by touring regional companies. Its survival is at risk, so Richard decides to save the theater by mounting a new production of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, casting the local small-town residents to play … local small-town residents.
Miranda, Richard’s college-bound niece, continues the family theatrical tradition — and Nell Verlaque, the young actress who plays her, has a breakout role here. She’s terrific — funny, touching, totally natural. And when she takes the stage as Emily in Our Town, she’s heart-wrenching. Playwright Wilder is served magnificently here — and so is William Shakespeare, whose works and words Kline tackles in more than one inspirational scene in this series.
I don’t want to reveal too much about the conflicts, and surprises, in American Classic, but please trust me: The more episodes you watch, the better it gets. The characters evolve, and go in unexpected directions and pairings. Kline’s Richard starts out thinking about only himself, but ends up just the opposite. And if, as Shakespeare wrote, the play’s the thing, the thing here is, the plays we see, and the soliloquies we hear, are spellbinding.
And there’s plenty of fun to be had outside the classics in American Classic. The table reads are the most delightful since the ones in Only Murders in the Building. The dinner-table arguments are the most explosive since the ones in The Bear. Some scenes are take-your-breath-away dramatic. Others are infectiously silly, as when Richard works with a cast member forced upon him by the angel of this new Our Town production.
Take the effort to find, and watch, American Classic. It’ll remind you why, when it’s this good, it’s easy to love the theater. And television.
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