Amy and Laurie come home from Europe and struggle to tell Jo of their pending marriage because they do not wish for Jo to be upset ("The Most Amazing Thing"). Jo and the family grieve Beth's death. Marmee, being the strong one, tells Jo of how she copes with Beth's death: she tells Jo that she cannot be defeated by Beth's death, and that she must move on ("Days of Plenty"). Jo reminisces while her sisters are still with her. She finds that her family and friends are themselves astonishing and this encourages her to write her novel, "Little Women" ("The Fire Within Me"). On the day of Laurie and Amy's wedding, Professor Bhaer comes to Concord to see Jo. Jo is very surprised to see him because she "never thought he would do it." He then proceeds to tell Jo of his feelings for her saying "Though we are not at all alike, you make me feel alive." ("Small Umbrella In The Rain"). He then proposes and Jo accepts his proposal. The Professor tells Jo that he sent the manuscript of her novel "Little Women" to the Weekly Volcano Press, the same publisher that accepted Jo's operatic tragedy. He tells Jo that the publisher agreed to publish it, and Jo proclaims her happiness ("Sometimes When You Dream (Reprise)"). Doubling of roles The show was written to be performed by a cast of ten who played 18 individual roles. Women:  Men:  In the Operatic Tragedy  Optional Chorus  The script and score include notations for the addition of a chorus to include:   Act I  Act II Note: Better (Reprise), Take A Chance on Me (Reprise), and Off To Massachusetts (Reprise) are excluded from the cast recording. Reception for the musical was mixed to positive. With praise being aimed at Foster's performance, and the musical's score. With criticism for the book, and overall pacing of the production. Ben Brantley, reviewing for "The New York Times", wrote "Watching this shorthand account of four sisters growing up poor but honest during the Civil War is like speed reading Alcott's evergreen novel of 1868. You glean the most salient traits of the principal characters, events and moral lessons, but without the shading and detail that made these elements feel true to life in the book...Since the characters do not acquire full personalities, you don't feel emotionally invested in them." He wrote of Sutton Foster: "The slim and supple Ms. Foster has a lot to carry on those twitchy shoulders.