This is not a critique of the young actors in the production: they threw their hearts into it and their acting and singing, if not brilliant, were certainly adequate but sadly, let down by the material they had to work with. One observation/ mild criticism I will make about the cast: it was rather unfortunate that the young man they had playing Laurie was at least a foot shorter than the actresses portraying Jo and Amy, which gave a rather strange vibe, especially in the first half of the production when Amy is supposed to be a child. Although, considering the feminist leanings of the production, they may have considered this a feature, not a bug. Yes, I know that Little Women is considered a proto-feminist work, but it always irritates me when characters in period pieces think, talk, and act in ways which no one at that actual time would have. For example, in several scenes, Jo is going about dressed in men's trousers and suspenders- even traipsing into town dressed like that. It's the 1860's.
The production, unlike the book, starts out in New York where Jo has gone to live and write- and meet Professor Bhaer- and then flashes back to a few years before when Jo is at home. Various scenes from the book are acted out, interspersed with some selections from Jo's rather lurid stories she's trying to get published. And, of course, all these scenes are punctuated by a number of songs, as this is a musical. To be honest, most of this didn't work for me. The production relies on the audience knowing the story well instead of putting in the work to provide a convincing and well-framed narrative. If I had been watching this musical without any knowledge of Little Women, I would have no reason to believe this was a close family of loyal sisters... we aren't given enough of their characters or interactions to convincingly convey this. Also, the hopping back and forth between past and present, their lives and Jo's stories, seems disjointed rather than telling a cohesive story. Again, it's okay if you know the plot of Little Women, but if you didn't, I can't imagine that you'd be able to get a good sense of the story from this musical.
Speaking of music, the songs in this are unfortunately almost universally bland and forgettable. I saw this production two days ago, and I already don't remember what any of the songs sound like. Mrs. March does get a song with some emotional resonance after Beth's death (oops- 154 year old spoiler alert)- Days of Plenty- but it's the only one that has any weight to it. There's also a cute little duet which Beth and Mr. Laurence sing/play- Off To Massachusetts- which is fun and believable... the rest of the songs, not so much. Jo's solo at the end of Act I- Astonishing- does not live up to its title; I suspect this was supposed to be a showstopper, leading into the intermission... it isn't one. To reiterate, this is not a reflection on the abilities of the young players: the actress playing Jo had a good voice and wasn't a bad actor. Objectively, the writing just isn't that good, and neither are the songs; since this was never one of my childhood favourites, the nostalgia factor does not make me view this musical through rose coloured glasses. My two sisters who also viewed this production, and really love the book, had a much more favourable opinion of it than I did... I still think I'm right, though.