Review: This 'Little House' is road-worthy

"Little House on the Prairie," the musical that did bang-up business during its Guthrie Theater premiere last summer despite mixed reviews, has returned to the Twin Cities following a significant makeover.

There is little doubt that the touring show, based on the books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, is improved. The interlocking narratives are a bit more tightly focused on sisterhood and romance in the late 19th-century, as the Ingalls clan endures hardships to settle the frontier.

Book-writer Rachel Sheinken and director Francesca Zambello have clarified the story. Composer Rachel Portman and librettist Donna Di Novelli have cut some songs and re-arranged others to give them more zest and oomph. The creative has built on the strengths of the original, including additional choreography by Michele Lynch, who made those simulated wagon rides so memorable in the original.

The changes are all for the better, and make for a more winsome evening of theater.

Yet problems remain with "Little House," which is not a long musical but has moments where it feels that way. The first act, which opens with a pioneer tableau, uses too much time to tell us that things are difficult in those days on the prairie, with fire and snow threatening the families with starvation, and with disease causing Ingalls daughter Mary to lose her sight.

The less dreary second act moves with more dispatch, and has more levity. It consists of the blossoming romance between Laura (Kara Lindsay) and Almanzo (Kevin Massey) and is the show's best-told storyline.

When the musical first opened at the Guthrie, Melissa Gilbert was its star both for drawing power and sentiment. Gilbert, who played Laura on the popular TV series, had grown up and was now playing Ma onstage.

Trouble was that she had little stage presence. And the air seemed to leave the production every time she sang.

In the re-tooled version that opened Tuesday at St Paul's Ordway Center with Gilbert again headlining, Ma's role has been reduced. And the re-arranged orchestrations, with strings that provide melody and lead, helps Gilbert's singing along. "Wild Child," her solo number near the end, was even passable.

The real star of the show is Laura, played winningly by Lindsay. She invests her fearless frontier tomboy with spunk and verve. And she has good matches with Massey as Almanzo and Alessa Neeck as her sister Mary. Massey is a charismatic performer and he gives his youthful farmer determination and understated optimism.

The show still includes Nellie Oleson, a sort of bratty Paris Hilton of the prairie. The character is not of a piece with the rest of the show, but as played by Kate Loprest, she is good for a few laughs. The production also includes such Twin Cities talents as Shawn Hamilton, Tony Vierling and Caroline Innerbichler.

Rohan Preston • 612-673-4390

LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE

WHAT: Book by Rachel Sheinkin. Music by Rachel Portman. Lyrics by Donna DiNovello. Directed by Francesca Zambello.

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. today, 2 & 7:30 p.m. Sat., 1 & 6 p.m. Sun., 7:30 p.m. Tue.-Thu. Ends Oct. 25.

WHERE: Ordway Center, 345 Washington St., St. Paul.

TICKETS: $44.50-$80.50. 651-224-4222 or www.ordway.org.