Broadway musical “Little Women” hits the stage at the Holmes Center for Arts

For someone who’s seen her fair share of Broadway musicals, Georgia Jaeb, a music teacher in the West Holmes School District, thinks Rachel Miller could fill the role on Broadway.

Miller stars as Jo March in the Holmes Center for the Arts’ musical production “Little Women”, a four-show performance at the Ohio Star Theater – 6:30 pm Friday, July 9; 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Saturday July 10; and 2 p.m. on Sunday July 11.

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“Rachel is amazing. She could do that on Broadway,” Jaeb said.

Holmes Center for the Arts presents its first musical since 2019, featuring “Little Women,” a musical based on the life of Louisa May Alcott and the book she wrote about it.

The play follows the story of four adventurous sisters – Jo, Meg, Beth and Amy. Jo tries to sell her stories for publication, but the publishers are not interested. Her friend Professor Bhaer suggests that in order to do better she write more about her personal life. Reluctantly taking this advice, Jo weaves a story of herself and her sisters and their experiences growing up in Civil War America.

Miller makes her debut on the music scene, but it’s not the first time she’s sung

Miller made his musical theater debut, but sang in the college choir and performed in his church’s Share-A-Christmas benefit show. She said the cast get along well and they’ll put on a good show.

“I really appreciate the community support for the opportunity to do this show,” she said. “It’s great that people are ready to invest in the Holmes Center for the Arts.”

HCA Music Director Jaime White directs the 18-member local cast musical and is excited to be back in action.

“Oh my word, it’s so amazing to be back doing theater, music and dancing,” White said. “Doing these creative things, it feels like they’ve been dormant for about a year and have woken up.

“We’ve been rehearsing for about five weeks and I have an amazing group of talented community members,” she continued. “The community should be very proud to claim them.”

White said the cast includes five teachers and several children, ranging in age from 9 to teens. She estimates that about half of the cast is new to community theater and the rest are regulars who have done other productions with the Holmes Center for the Arts.

Prepare to roll with laughter and wipe away a few tears

White adds that the show is full of wonderful music and the story will have audiences laughing down the aisles one minute and close to tears the next.

“It’s a very entertaining show,” White said. “As many times as we’ve hiked it in the past five weeks, I just can’t get enough of it. It’s a great show.”

Tickets can be purchased by calling 855-344-7547 or at www.holmescenterforthearts.org.

Tickets cost $ 24 for adults and $ 20 for children 12 and under.

Holmes Arts Center

“Little Women” is funded in part by a grant from Cause Connector, a group designed by the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio to showcase the work of nonprofits in Appalachian Ohio and connect them with donors who want to help. serving more people and calling the area home.

For more information on other projects, visit www.CauseConnector.org.

Home – FAO Cause Connector

White has said that she would like to remake “Little Women” in the new building of the Home Center for the Arts which is going up in Berlin.

“This new theater that we are building would be a perfect venue for this show,” she said.

Holmes Center for the Arts is supported in part by the Ohio Arts Council and many local donors, and is a United Way partner, providing scholarships to those in financial need to attend art classes.