Waseca presents Little Women

Laughter and heartbreak. Hijinks and solemnity. Comedy and tragedy.

The Waseca High School Theater’s production of Little Women had it all with four fantastic shows on November 17-19 at 7 p.m. and on Sunday, November 20 at 4 p.m. Little Women was adapted from Louisa May Alcott’s book by playwright Kate Hamill. It was two hours of thoughtful and playful entertainment from the cast and crew of 29 led by Director Anna Pollock.

Saturday night was a special performance for the group as, after taking their bows, senior cast members Grace Lapides and Lindsey Kopetzki presented a bouquet of flowers to Director Pollock. Each flower represented the characters from Little Women, where there is an allegory related to planting flowers during which the characters compare each other to certain blooms. For example, the daisy represented Beth March, while the rock represented Jo March.

As Lapides presented the flowers, Pollock was confused since the last performance–when such gifts are usually presented–wasn’t until the next afternoon. “We didn’t want the flowers to die!” Lapides exclaimed.

Pollock was nearly in tears as she took the bouquet of flowers (and the rock) from Lapides and Kopetzki. “This cast has been the most amazing to work with,” she said. “Thank you so much for everything.”

Lapides replied, “You have made us feel safe here. You’ve made it fun to work on this play every night. Thank you.”

Pollock said that if it hadn’t been for her father, Chuck, the facilities manager of the Waseca Performance Arts Center, the play wouldn’t have been as great as it was. He helped with the audio, visual, and scenic design of the play.

Others thanked were the Waseca Drama Department Board, Johann de Jager for aiding in building the set pieces, Culligan Ultrapure and Subway of Waseca for providing water and food for the actors, and many more individuals and organizations.

This year’s cast included five seniors. Cast members were: Lindsey Kopetzki as Marmee March; Josie Perrizo as Meg March; Kiera Landrum as Jo March; Katelyn Robeck as Beth March; Grace Lapides as Amy March; Elaina Andrs as Hannah; Esme Pearce as Aunt March; Sophie Farris as Mrs. Mingott and a messenger; Andrés Vásquez as Theodore “Laurie” Lawrence; Nathanael Andrs as John Brooks; Alexander Kotz as Mr. Laurence; Branden Busse as Mr. Dashwood; Mason Wadd as Robert March; Patrick Howe as a doctor; and Adrian Arreguin as a parrot.

There were fourteen stage crew members and background characters for Little Women. They are Quinn Dahle, Arianna Krogseng, and Timothea Volkmer, Kacie Perrizo, Gabriel Beltran, Sadie Schimming, Layla Keith, Alyssa Kilmer, Mia Mitchell, Sunny Mei, Elliott Galle, and Amber Hagen. Dahle was the stage manager. Cody Sieberg was in charge of the lights with Allen Kopetzki taking charge of the sound.

While it was an emotional night for the seniors, the theater department has two more shows on the docket for this school year. They are How to Succeed in High School Without Really Trying (authored by Jonathan Rand) and Mamma Mia! by Catherine Johnson.