"Everybody has a special place. It all ties into Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own ? the need for women to have a place where they won't be criticized, especially in times of history when there were so many things women were not allowed to do, but that they could do. They were criticized for being too bold, too expressive, too creative. I mean, these are all the things that we now say, 'What's wrong with that?'"
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Susan (left) played Portia to Susan Sullivan?s Calpurnia in the 1964 Hofstra Shakespeare Festival production of Julius Caesar.
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In Little Women, Susan has been allowed to further explore that theme of "having it all" ? in the timeless terms of wanting love, family and freedom of expression. "Early on Jo makes a decision that she doesn't want to get married, because she feels that if she does she'll have nothing for herself, it will be all about family," Susan says. "She's fortunate to find a man who appreciates her on all levels. She gets her career and the ability to write something meaningful, keeping the history of her family alive."
Each Broadway production takes years to bring to the stage, so naturally, Susan has deep affection for her many projects. "Most of the shows I do essentially are about love and finding love in the broadest sense of the word. I think that fosters a kind of romantic quality between the director and the project."
She refuses to pick a favorite among her shows: "They're all my favorite when I'm doing them. I do have a special place in my heart for Sondheim because that's where I got my start, and Mr. Sondheim was so generous at the beginning of my career."
Susan does find joy in the fact that many of her musicals have deeply impacted young audiences and brought children and teenagers into the theater. "When we did Garden some of the criticism we got was that the show was too complex and too layered for young people. Well, I never met a 6-year-old who didn't know what was going on, and believe me, I talked to them." To this day when Susan meets her admiring fans, many adults ? who were children when The Secret Garden was on Broadway or on tour ? tell her it changed their lives. "Don't underestimate a child's ability to viscerally understand emotion. They understand the struggles that are going on on the stage. The biggest mistake is to play down to young audiences and to think that their attention span won't allow them to stay with a story."
With Little Women playing to enthusiastic audiences each night, Susan now looks forward to the projects yet ahead of her. Next up are productions of A Little Princess based on the book by Frances Hodgson Burnett, who also wrote The Secret Garden; The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T written by Theodore Geisel (better known as Dr. Suess); and a production of Hello, Dolly! at the Stratford Festival in Ontario. At least for the time being, she cannot imagine any medium as rewarding as musical theater. "There's something that music does ? the way it opens up the emotions and frees them and sets them flying through the air."
"I just remember the first time I heard an overture of the first musical I directed. I burst into tears and thought, 'why would you want to do anything else?'"
Little Women is currently playing at the Virginia Theatre on Broadway. The national tour hits major cities around the country starting in September 2005. For the tour schedule and more information on the musical visit www.littlewomenonbroadway.com.
