Little Women Show Blog

Take Our Daughter's to Work - a memory

One morning, several years ago, upon arriving at my job at a local television station I was greeted by about 25 girls ranging in age from 5 to 17 who were milling around the newsroom. It was "Take Our Daughters to Work" day...

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UGH! I had heard of it but I didn’t have kids so I never gave it a second thought. At that moment, however, it was all I could think about. I was very angry that I would be dealing with it all day. This was, after all, a serious workplace and I was young and ambitious and didn’t have time for kids who were going to be loud, annoying and in my way. I was about ten minutes into this arrogant mental tirade when I overheard one of the producers explaining her job to her daughter. Whoosh! My giant ego lay deflated on the floor and I realized I had this scenario all wrong. This wasn’t just about bringing kids to work with you. This was about something way bigger than that.

I grew up in the early 1980’s. Every morning my mother dressed in a nice suit with a pretty blouse that had a big bow at the neck (think Jane Fonda in the movie 9-5) and was off to her job just about the same time I would get on the bus to go to school. I never gave it a second thought that my mother had a job. That’s just the way it was. Now when I think of it, it is astonishing to me that at the same time I was in school anticipating the day I would start my career my mother’s choice to work was raising eyebrows all over the neighborhood. Although my mother never discussed her personal struggles in the workplace, making the choice to work rather than stay home with the kids was relatively rare for a woman of her generation and nearly unheard of for the women of my grandmother’s generation. I have been so blessed to believe that I have choices but it has been easy for me to forget all of the trials that my foremothers endured to ensure that both my mother and I were allowed the opportunities that we have had.

In my high school history class we spent maybe a minute considering the women’s rights movement - a lesson that was as abstract as it was brief and limited to voting rights. It wasn’t until several years later that I came to understand the broad spectrum of this movement and that it wasn’t just a blip on a time-line but alive in the hearts of millions of men and women who fought for voting rights, reproductive rights, equal pay for equal work, job security, job consideration, Title 9, property ownership rights and legal rights for women. On this day in my office, those 25 girls joined their foremothers and experienced the beautiful invocation of possibility. Just as I had years earlier when my mother chose to go to work. This seemingly small gesture of taking our daughters to work was about giving these impressionable girls and young women the chance see a variety of choices and opportunities, embrace the value of their personhood and consider the myriad ways they can contribute to the well being of themselves, their families and humankind.

Thank you, Diane Smith, Pauline Elliott, Belva Koenig, Sophie Collins, Stephanie Reel, Louisa May Alcott, Susan B. Anthony, Eleanor Roosevelt, Sandra Day O'Connor, Geraldine Ferraro, Dr. Condoleezza Rice, Bessie Coleman, Amelia Earhart, Dani Davis, Hon. Hillary Clinton, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Sojourner Truth,Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, Jane Alexander, Lt. Kara Hultgreen, and so many more.

Road Rebel Ren

Vintage Housekeepers love Louisa

I found this post today from Ms Robyn who writesdaily parcels- all about her obsession vintage things. She loves Louisa May Alcott and just got a letter from a friend of hers....

J O Y ~what fun to go to my mail box today and find a gorgeous pink envelope from Alison at the vintage housekeepers circle. It had a sticker on the front with the words 'royal mail' printed on it,which immediately made me feel like a princess. It was raining out....rainy days make me feel so snug and secure and I made myself a cup of hot chocolate...snuggled on my cane settee under one of my quilts, propped up by some pillows ( feeling very Jo from Little Women ) and proceeded to open the envelope with utmost care. I am beginning to sound like a child, but I was so excited. Inside was treasure ~ a gorgeous tag with the word 'JOY' in scrabble letters * a lovely card wrapped in a ribbon to send to someone special, a little card with a saying from Louisa May Alcott ( just how did Alison know that Louisa May was special to me ?) and the most divine letter from Alison. with lots of wonderful ideas to bring back the art of letter writing...certainly inspiring.

Do any of you still write hand written letters for the regular mail? What was the last one you wrote about? What was the last one you received?

100 Shows!!!!!!

Wednesday evening, April 20th, Little Women - the musical celebrated its 100th performance since its opening on Broadway on January 23rd. The cast had their own small celebration before the show on Wednesday and celebrated with the authors, producers, friends and family on Thursday at the CD release party at Angus McIndo's. Check out photos of the event at Broadway.com.

The latest from Blogger Tom

Hi All- BLOGGER TOM here, a little lost without my usual home of the Production Diary, but happy to be reporting to you, none the less!

With all the confusion of our little technical mishap, I didn't get to the 92nd Street Y this past weekend, but did get this report from our friend Linda, who had this lovely bit to share-

The event went very well. There was a moment where Sutton shared deeply about the process to face such an energetic show so often. She searched for words and demonstrated a deep passion for what she sometimes has to process. It was rather lengthy and frustrating desire to impart to us something very personal and intimate. We were all very moved at the authenticity. Maureen was her usual elegant and smooth self.

Before the event I spotted Maureen in the lobby and had a chance after 23 years to tell her I was listening to her sing in the "Pirates of Penzance" in '82 the very moment my mother passed away. I know because Gary Sandy (like a brother to me and using my apartment at the time) was newly in the Kevin Kline lead and I went to see him, coming to NYC (after two months with my very ill mother) for only 24 hours to check mail. After the show, I learned that my mother had passed. Weeks later, I took my nieces to the play and waited until the moment of her death to see what was happening in the play, and thus discovered what I had been doing at that moment. Maureen was in the middle of one of her songs. This all sounds so silly now but I had never heard Maureen's name that I did not think about that connection. I shared it with her tonight and she was very moved, holding both of my hands, and thanking me for telling her, and relieving me of thinking about wanting to tell her.

Thank you Linda, for sharing that deeply personal memory- and for Maureen, truly one of the greatest humanitarians I have had the pleasure of getting to know! I'm certain everyone who attended the evening at the Y realized how endearing our leading ladies are, and continue to be.

There was some other press on Sutton recently, but unless you are a true theatre insider, you probably didn't see it! The latest issue of SHOW PEOPLE (with Christina Applegate on the cover) featured a lovely write-up on Sutton getting a pedicure! Apparently this is one of the few indulgences our wonderful star allows herself- and she deserves it! If you get a chance to glance over this publication turn to page 20 to see Sutton glowing as Party Time gets applied to those beautiful nails!

Three of our great talents had some well-earned coverage recently as well- Set Designer Derek McLane, Lighting Designer Kenneth Posner and Sound Designer Peter Hylenski had an 8 page spread in LIGHTING & SOUND AMERICA, an industry publication. Many insights into the development of the show were revealed- I learned a lot from reading it! I am going to see if we can reprint the article on our website!

I think that's all for now- I know Mojo and her support team are busy trying to get the rest of the LITTLE WOMEN website back in place, and I look forward to writing you from my regular home again REAL SOON!

BLOGGER TOM