Wilson Directs LITTLE WOMEN – THE BROADWAY MUSICAL for Hendersonville's Actors Point Theatre Company

Greg Wilson, artistic director of Actors Point Theatre Company, will direct Little Women - The Broadway Musical, which is based on the classic novel by Louisa May Alcott, running March 8-17 in Hendersonville.

Starring Crystal Kurek, Corrinne Bupp, Savannah Stein and Elise Piliponis as the four March sisters, the musical features book by Allan Knee, music by Jason Howland and lyrics by Mindi Dickstein. Actors Point's production features musical direction by Gail Davis, with choreography by Tucky Myrhe and costume design by Kaila Emery.

Little Women follows the adventures of Jo, Meg, Beth, and Amy March as they come of age in Civil War-era America. Jo longs to publish a novel. Meg longs for a fiancé. Beth longs for a piano. Amy longs to be admired. This timeless tale has been recreated as a new musical that celebrates personal discovery and growth in a time of challenging transformation for the country.

"I'm very excited to share this powerful cast with our audiences," Wilson sayks. "This is a brilliant musical adaptation of a powerfully classic tale that really delivers. Louisa May Alcott's tremendous writing coupled with the excitement of a musical provides an exciting vehicle that our audiences will love."

Alcott was a prolific writer producing more than two hundred stories, sketches, poems, and serials. According to the New York Public Library, Little Women was first published in two volumes (1868 and 1869). It was later published in one combined novel in 1880 and has never been out of print. Alcott followed up the popular story with two sequels, Little Men (1871) and Jo's Boys (1886). In the mid-1970s, thrillers written by Alcott under a pseudonym were discovered and published under the title of Behind a Mask. The works revealed a far more complex Louisa May Alcott than was previously assumed.

Little Women has been adapted for numerous stage, film and television treatments, as well as an opera that was recorded in 2000. A new British-produced version debuts Sunday, March 4, on PBS stations across the country, starring Emily Watson, Angela Lansbury and Michael Gambon.

APTC's version of Little Women runs March 8-10 and 15-17, with shows at 7:30 p.m. each evening at God Why Church, 100 God Why Court, in Hendersonville. For details, go to www.actorspointtheatre.com; for tickets, call (615) 431-9620.

About the cast

Savannah Stein (Jo March) is a native of Atlanta, where she attended North Springs Performing Arts high School. She went on to receive her Bachelor of Fine Arts in musical theatre from The Boston Conservatory in 2015. She then took a summer abroad to study with The British American Dramatic Academy in Oxford, England where she studied under Julian Glover, John Barton and Fiona Shaw. After school, she moved to New York City, where she worked primarily in commercial, film and TV. Savannah's credits include TV's Mr. Robot, and feature films Sleight and Central Intelligence. Some of her favorite theatrical roles include: Maureen in Rent, Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors, Izzy in Rabbit Hole, Jane in Tennessee Williams' Vieux Carre, Hodel in Fiddler on the Roof, Velma Von Tussle in Hairspray, Dorine in Molière's Tartuffe and many more.

Corinne Bupp (Beth March) is excited to make her Actor's Point Theatre Company debut in Little Women. Little Women is one of her favorite stories of all time and she has previously played Amy (Roxy Regional Theatre). She has a BFA in Musical Theatre from Shenandoah Conservatory and has performed professionally across the country. Some of her favorite local credits include: Betty Lou Who in How the Grinch Stole Christmas at the Grand Ole Opry, Hope Harcourt in Urinetown and Squeaky Fromme in Assassins (Street Theatre Co.), Honey in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Boiler Room), Bessie in Drowning Girls (Distraction Theatre Co.), Emma in Emma (Springhouse Theatre Co.) Laurie in Oklahoma! (Music City Theatre Collective), Acacia in Myth the Musical (Blackbird Theatre Co.), Nina in Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (Tennessee Women's Theatre Project)

Crystal Kurek (Meg March) has been active in the theater since childhood. Most recently Crystal has been seen in the role of Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, the title role in Mary Poppins, Truly Scrumptious in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Maria in West Side Story (for which she won the Broadway World Award "Best Actress in a Musical" in 2015), Fantine in Les Miserables, Hodel in Fiddler on the Roof, Tuptim in The King and I, and several others. As a child actor, she appeared on stage with Shirley Jones, Jodi Benson, The Osmonds, Phyllis Diller, Barry Williams, and others. Crystal has appeared in print ads for Gitano, JC Penney, Coca-Cola and others, and in TV shows including Live with Regis and Kathy Lee and The Today Show. Crystal received her major in music and then earn her master's degree in education at Vanderbilt University. She has taught music, directed children's choirs, and also has directed and choreographed children's musicals and concerts, including Peter Pan, Annie Jr., and Alice in Wonderland.

Elise Piliponis (Amy March) has been involved in theatre since she was 13 when she played the role of Jenny-Any-Dots in (Cats the Musical). Some of her favorites since then have been The Little Mermaid (Ariel), Into the Woods (Little Red Ridinghood), Shrek the Musical (The Gingerbread Man), Charlotte's Web (Goose), My Fair Lady (Featured dancer), and Fiddler on the Roof (Shrpintze). She also originated the role of Siri in Eclipse: An Original Musical with Actors Point Theatre Company. Elise has been dancing since she was five, starting out in Irish Step moving onto ballet, tap, jazz, and contemporary styles.

Loren Echols (Margaret "Marmee" March) This role is Loren's debut at Actors Point Theatre Company. She has been acting since childhood, most recently appearing as Mrs. Little in Stuart Little (Purpose Players). Favorite past roles include Alice in You Can't Take It With You, Mrs. Pearce in My Fair Lady, The Duchess in Alice in Wonderland and Annie Sullivan in The Miracle Worker.

Cameron Bortz (Laurie Lawrence) His recent APTC credits include The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Quasimodo), Zander in Eclipse: An Original Musical. Other credits include Cirque Dreams Holidaze (Dickens/Singer), Catch Me If You Can (Frank Jr.), Beauty And The Beast (Beast), The Sound Of Music (Rolf), The Addams Family (Lucas), Anything Goes (Billy), Pippin (Pippin), and Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (J. Q. Adams) with the Nashville Rep. Cameron's TV and film credits include Nashville, Still The King, several web series, short films and a new feature to be released in theaters in 2018.

Aaron Echols (Professor Bhaer) When Aaron isn't working his day job as an engineer, he likes to spend most of his free time doing theatre. Aaron is excited to make his debut with Actors Point Theatre Company. His recent theatrical credits include George Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life and Col. Pickering in My Fair Lady. Past favorite roles include Gary in Noises Off, Boolie in Driving Miss Daisy, Jinx in Forever Plaid and Forever Plaid: Plaid Tidings, Arnold in The Boys Next Door, and Horton the Elephant in Seussical.

Noah Geerholt (John Brooke) is well known on the Actors Point Theatre Company stage for roles including Shrek in Shrek the Musical, Chef Louie in The Little Mermaid, Zolton Karpathy in My Fair Lady and Charlie in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Noah is a gifted musician and is in his last year of theatre studies at Volunteer State Community College. His additional theatre credits include Lurvy in Charlotte's Web, and The Big Bad Wolf in Big Bad - The Musical.

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