Presented by and at Wings Theatre, 154 Christopher St., NYC, Oct. 23-Nov. 9.
An emotional children's musical about a young orphaned girl left in a boarding school, "A Little Princess," based on the classic Frances Hodgson Burnett novel, enchants with carefully drawn characters, nicely written songs, and a comfortably old-fashioned feel.
Robert Sickinger's book recalls the Shirley Temple movie, but resets the action from Victorian England to America during the Civil War. Sara, a rather privileged young girl, has no mother and is very close with her father, the dignified and warm Colonel Crewe. When duty calls the colonel to war, Sara is left at a boarding school with a group of resentful girls and a fantastically vicious headmistress named Miss Minchin.
Things go terribly wrong for Sara when she learns that the colonel is dead on the battlefield. She is forced to sell her clothes, fineries, and possessions, and Miss Minchin turns her into a scullery maid to keep her place in the school. As a result, she strikes up a friendship with Zoe, a young girl of color who is also an orphan and maid. Along the way, there is a possibly superfluous subplot involving a young employee of the school named Mariette, who seeks to marry a young man named Ricardo.
If it sounds melodramatic, it is, but the children in the audience loved it, including my daughter Olivia. And though it might seem too dark a subject for a children's musical, the good-natured feel throughout and the happy ending make this a piece suitable for even young ages.
Mel Atkey's songs were catchy; I heard Olivia humming them during intermission. Adapter-director Sickinger drew strong performances from his large and able cast, with Grace Clary solid as Sara and Monica Soyemi extremely appealing as Zoe. As Miss Minchin, Patty Montano created a dramatically potent villain. Jenna Rose sparkled as Mariette, also showing a potent voice, and Doug Wynn was quite able as Ricardo.