Show Synopsis:
A young aspiring author named Jo is living in New York, and she is upset that her friend, the German professor Friedrich Bhaer, does not care for her latest story. She remembers when she was full of hope for her writing career as a young woman growing up in Concord, Massachusetts during the Civil War with her three sisters. She remembers a Christmas when they put on a play that she wrote while missing their father, who was fighting in the war. Jo meets a neighbor boy Laurie at a dance while her older sister Meg begins to fall in love with Laurie?s tutor Mr. Brooke. The third sister, Beth, becomes a friend of Laurie?s grumpy grandfather Mr. Lawrence and Jo learns the importance of sisterly love when Amy angers her but Jo saves her from falling into a frozen pond. Mr. Brooke and Meg become engaged, but Jo rejects Laurie?s marriage proposal and begins to focus on her writing career. Back in New York, Jo tells Professor Bhaer that she has sold a story to a notorious editor just before she finds out that Beth has scarlet fever and she must return to Concord. Beth dies and Jo grieves by writing the story of her life with her sisters, which becomes Little Women. Laurie and Amy marry and Professor Bhaer proposes to Jo and tells her that he has sold her manuscript for publication.
Character:
Meg March, a sweet-tempered young woman who looks after her sisters; wants pretty and expensive things but comes to realize how much value there is in everyday things.
Song Context:
Jo is upset that Meg wants to marry Mr. Brooke and leave her and their family home behind. Meg tries to show Jo that things will change, whether she wants them to or not, and they cannot remain little women forever.
Fun Facts:
1. This musical is based on the novel by Louisa May Alcott.
2. Joyce DiDonato originated the role of Meg in the first production of the opera at the Houston Opera in 1998. She wrote a blog post on her professional website in 2010 describing how "Things change, Jo" had becoming something of a personal mantra for her: "I don?t think I?ve had one change in my life that didn?t lead me to exactly where I needed to be, regardless of whether I knew it at the time or not. This is a bigger change for [my manager] than it is for me, but I know that he shares the same philosophy as well ? Things change, Jo, but that can be a great thing!"
"Of course I love you,
No sweeter sister,
No dearer friend.
But once I saw him,
And once he looked at me,
I can?t explain it, Jo?
I love you,
But things end?
No, things change, Jo.
Things change.
You?re a babe at the breast,
You?re a daughter by the fire.
You have all the love you think you could desire.
Still, things change, Jo.
And, oh, what happens when they do!
Your heart, Jo, your heart,
It?s a bird in the nest
With its head beneath its wing.
Half asleep, it cannot know it wants a thing.
Still, your heart, Jo, I know,
Will dream of something new.
Something that blurred, that broke within me,
A secret word - who was it? - spoke within me.
By some decree, the girl I used to be, she?s simply gone.
I cannot say, I do not know who stirred, who woke within me.
She loves her mother, loves her father, her sisters of course,
But wants her John.
By Jove, things change, Jo!
Angels and pilgrims in heaven, rejoice!
They change!
You?re a rosebud in the night,
You?re a blossom in the morn.
You?re unmade by the light, yet reborn.
Things change, and, oh, one day, my Jo,
I wish only that things change the same way for you, Jo.
Do you understand?"