Ryan Mooney has assembled a mixture of greater and lesser lights, and like the odd appointment of divan, wingback and rustic tickle-trunk that constitute his sparse set, his principals make due with such skills as they have—or have not.

Jo March (Julie Casselman) is the dynamo of the March family, the writer with the vivid imagination, and she convinces her sisters they must make a pact to stick together always. Naturally, women have a way of going off and getting married. Mr Brooke (Mark Kroeker) soon ends up marrying Meg (Robin Eder-Warren); later, the boy-next-door Laurie (Kyle Oliver) – who had first asked Jo -- marries Amy (Roan Shankaruk). And eventually Jo finds a ying-yang kind of happiness in the arms of her German tutor, Professor Bhaer (Andrew Wade).

There are plenty of solos and duets throughout, and the singing ranges from mediocre to inspired. Kyle Oliver sings a song called “Amazing” that simply wasn’t. Jennifer Long is at times during her opening solo barely audible over Clare Wyatt’s outstanding piano work (Katie Stewart follows along admirably on violin).

Julie Casselman is a capable singer, carrying much of the show on her own, but she works against herself most when she is at the upper end of her register, belting out the bravado, bravura, or bluster—depending upon how you perceive her heroic timbre’s rise and fall. Perhaps most cloying is the sentimental farewell kite-building scene with Beth (Danielle Melvin) whose tender portrayal of a goodbye-girl must have brought tears to more than a few eyes in the audience.

Clearly, Robin Eder-Warren is the stand-out performer in this tea-totalling toast to maudlin melodrama. She is the type of singer whose lovely soaring soprano notes elevate all others around her and bring the level of entertainment up to a far higher standard than one might suppose possible in such company.

There are no better, and others unnamed are far worse. But it is worth the price of admission to hear Ms. Casselman over-reach her expectations and to enjoy the range and depth of Ms. Eder-Warren.