Tomorrow morning, I get on a train. Destination: New Jersey. To quote Bull Durham, I’m goin’ to the show.
Well, not that show. The “Little House” show. At the Paper Mill Playhouse. I’ve done a little digging–enough to re-familiarize myself with the show since I saw it almost exactly a year ago in Minneapolis, but not enough to give too much away. Steve Blanchard’s “Pa,” as Rebecca noted, seems to have lost his beard. Ouch. And Nellie, Mary and Carrie have been replaced by new actors. I expected as much about Carrie’s role, since the actress playing her was local to Minneapolis. But I admit I am going to dearly miss the actress who played Nellie. She brought such a delicious combination of sympathy and humor to that character.
Another noted addition is Melissa Gilbert’s son Michael, who is playing Willie Oleson. (Michael, the only biological child between her and Bruce Boxleitner, recovered marvelously from his very preterm birth back in 1994. He’s named after both Michael Landon and Melissa’s best friend’s son, Garrett.)
Kevin Massey and Kara Lindsay (Almanzo and Laura) tell me that the script has seen some changes as well. I wonder how well I’ll be able to pick such changes out.
I’ll report back on the play when I return. I hope I don’t miss anything! Tell me: if you were going tomorrow to see the play, what would you look for? What would you be excited to see again? Or even merchandise-wise … what would you buy?