Photo courtesy of Capital Fringe.

Reminds us of: That time your uncle sang “Rapper’s Delight” at your family reunion.

Flop, Fine or Fringe-tastic? Flop.

This take on Louisa May Alcott’s classic book stops (Hammertime!) the action every few minutes for an original rap song. And while the cast of Lil Women: A Rap Musical could become the most talented kickball team at the karaoke bar, their delivery sounds a lot more like Ben Folds covering “Bitches Ain’t Shit” than Dr. Dre’s original.

That the music falls largely flat is partially the fault of the songs themselves. While they have some clever turns of phrase interspersed with classic lines from rap songs white people love, including tunes from A Tribe Called Quest, Fat Joe, and Ja Rule, they don’t move the narrative forward. Often, musicals use songs to convey emotions otherwise hidden, but Lil Women uses them more as a crude form of underlining.

The songs also lead to a sense of tonal whiplash, because when the cast isn’t rapping, they’re generally playing it straight. How seriously are we supposed to be taking these characters? Marmee (Nicole Farmer) alone brings the necessary campiness and gives a standout performance.

There’s still some charming stuff here from Lil Theatre Company, which traveled all the way from Orlando to perform. The actors are enthusiastic and seem to be having a great time. It’s the first rendition of Little Women where I actually wanted Laurie (Cody Howard) to end up with annoying Amy (Croix Provence) rather than Jo (Molly Brennan). The missives from the father (EB Hedt) play with the fourth wall in fun ways. But the problem remains that Lil Women is trying to distinguish itself with its rapping, despite the audience gaining little from the musical elements.

Lil Women is playing at Atlas Performing Arts Center: Lab II on Wednesday 7/13 at 7:45 p.m., Thursday 7/15 at 7:45 p.m., and Saturday 7/16 at 2 p.m.

See here for more of DCist’s Capital Fringe 2016 reviews.