Role suits Hayden to a tee

After its international success, the hit Broadway musical Little Women has found its way to Australia for a season at the Seymour Centre.

Popular GLBT performers Hayden Tee and Judi Connelli are expected to deliver standout performances in this new adaptation of a literary classic.

Tee has starred in many productions, but this time will play Professor Bhaer, the weathered German professor of philosophy.

Based on Louisa May Alcott’s best-selling classic novel Little Women, the show will tell of the adventures of four sisters coming of age during the American Civil War.

The musical was written in 2005 for the Broadway stage, based on the novel and three different film versions over the last century, Tee told Sydney Star Observer.

It’s the story of the four March sisters during the 19th century dealing with love, life and loss while their father is at war.

The score is like a slightly contemporary version of Les Miserables. The thing I like about it is that it evokes a feel of the 19th century but is still accessible to a modern audience.

The musical is directed by Stuart Maunder, who recently had a stint at My Fair Lady. For him, Little Women reminds him of the great films from the golden years of Hollywood.
This show has charm with a capital C, he said.

If you root for Vivian Leigh at the end of the first half of Gone With The Wind, or for Bette Davis when she looks into Paul Henreid’s eyes and takes a lit cigarette in Now Voyager, or for Judy Garland when she taps her heels together while repeating -˜There’s no place like home’ -” then this piece is for you.

It’s the operatic equivalent of Bill Collins on Saturday night, but without Bill. The -˜heart’ in Little Women is irresistible. It is in turn moving, charming, romantic, amusing, tuneful and sentimental.

info: Little Women opens at the Seymour Centre on 4 November. For more details and bookings call 9351 7940 or
www.seymourcentre.com.au.
Hayden Tee as Professor Bhaer in Little Women.
Connelli