ILYSE ROBBINS

Little Women: The Broadway Musical

Greater Boston Stage Company

(formerly Stoneham Theatre)

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Direction/Choreography:

Ilyse Robbins

Music Direction: Matthew Stern

Set design: Shelley Barish

Lighting design:

Katie Whittemore

Sound design: John Stone and Adam Smith

Costume design:

Gail Astrid Buckley

Properties Design:

Jason Ries

Production Stage Manager: Shauwna Dias Grillo

Photo credits: Nile Scott Studios​
 

Theater Mirror Top Ten of 2022

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"So, if you need your holiday entertainment to contain a lesson or a message, Little Women checks that box... I want mine to actually be entertaining and heartwarming. Thanks to Director/Choreographer Ilyse Robbins' lifelong affection for Louisa May Alcott's creation and a stellar ensemble, the Greater Boston Stage Company production checks both of those boxes with big, bold marks... Walking into this show, it is natural to think that you know the story and you know what to expect. After all, it is a New England story, the author and her family grew up just down the road in Concord, and many of us have probably visited the home, read the book, and seen one of its many iterations on film. However, as pleasurable as any of those experiences have been, they pale in comparison to the GBSC production of Little Women. Remember the scene in "The Wizard of Oz" when Dorothy steps out of the black and white fallen farmhouse into the glorious, eye-popping technicolor landscape of Munchkinland? This is like that." - Nancy Grossman, Broadway World

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"Greater Boston Stage Company has a knack for picking the perfect material and director for its holiday offering. Last year, the musical, ‘All Is Calm,’ also directed and choreographed by the talented Ilyse Robbins, was a crowd pleaser that raised the bar and spoke to audience members of all faiths with a message that transcended the usual Christmas pablum. This year, with its flawless production of Little Women: The Broadway Musical, that bar got even higher. Robbins’ director and choreographer chops are on full display." - Shelley A. Sackett, Theater Mirror/The Jewish Journal

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"...one of the best productions ever mounted by Greater Boston Stage Company. Ilyse Robbins directs and choreographs with her usual inventiveness and flare. " - Joyce Kulhawick, Arts & Entertainment Critic, Joyce's Choices

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"What a wonderful production! And what a nicely written musical. A high level of performance – both acting and singing – prevails throughout, clearly a testament to the estimable direction and choreography of Ilyse Robbins. Robbins, who has been on the Boston theater scene for years, has justifiably won numerous awards for her choreography, and this production is a strong affirmation of that capacity. The elegance and inventiveness of her choreographic design is not fussy nor overdone but clever and appropriate, giving just the right amount of dramatic umph to the scenes in which it is applied. One can go see a lollapalooza Broadway production with all sorts of fancy and extensive dance routines; the kind of choreography which Robbins creates here is so artful and integrated that it does not need that kind of lollapalooza in order to to excel, which it clearly does, in spades. One could go to this show simply for the choreography, though the dramatic and musical riches of the production extend well beyond that.

Robbins is also incredibly talented as a stage director, and manages to draw wonderful performances from almost everyone in her cast. That is the true mark of great directors – they leave no one behind. The range of the acting here is wonderful – sometimes very funny and caricaturishly accentuated in hilarious ways, sometimes exceptionally nuanced and touching." - Charles Munitz, Boston Arts Diary

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"Greater Boston Stage Company’s Little Women is emotionally moving and exquisitely performed, a testament to Robbins’ and Stern’s talents, love of collaboration, and strong casting choices – a combination of old favorites and newcomers." - Linda Chin, Theater Mirror

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"All of the ensemble performances are well executed under the astute guidance of esteemed director and choreographer Ilyse Robbins. " - Kevin T. Baldwin, METRMag

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