‘Little Women’ Movie Delivers ‘Switched At Birth,’ ‘High School Musical’ Cast Reunions

From TV shows and films to musicals and operas, Louisa May Alcott’s 1968 novel, “Little Women,” has been adapted quite a few times. The newest version, a movie out on Friday from Pure Flix Entertainment and Pinnacle Peak, reunites “Switched at Birth” alums Lea Thompson and Lucas Grabeel.

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the original story being published, which is something the “Little Women” trailer celebrates. The movie itself aims to celebrate all that the classic tale did, which is the bond and love between sisters, namely, the March sisters — Meg (Melanie Stone), Jo (Sarah Davenport), Beth (Allie Jennings) and Amy (Elise Jones).

Thompson stars as their mother, Marmee, while Grabeel plays a family friend to the sisters named Laurie. The actors worked together on the Freeform drama “Switched at Birth” as mother Kathryn Kennish and son Toby Kennish, respectively, for five seasons, from 2011 to 2017. This will be the first time they’ve reunited onscreen since their show aired its series finale in April 2017.

Although this is the only time they’ve acted together in the last year and a half, both have done quite a few other projects since their family drama wrapped. Grabeel has continued to voice the role of Gustav on “Dragons: Race to the Edge,” as well as an assortment of characters on “Family Guy.” He’s also been doing voiceover work on “Spirit Riding Free” as Julian and on “Pinky Malinky” as the titular character.

As for Thompson, she starred in the late-2017 movies “The Year of Spectacular Men,” with her real-life daughters, Zoey Deutch and Madelyn Deutch, “Literally, Right Before Aaron” and “Who We Are Now.” She also continued her work voicing the character Vonnie Zero on “Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero.” Aside from “Little Women,” the actress put out a few other projects this year, including “Luis & the Aliens,” Netflix’s “Sierra Burgess Is a Loser” and the short film “Over the Hill.”

The reunion between Thompson and Grabeel isn’t the only one happening in this latest adaptation of “Little Women,” though. The actor, who played Ryan Evans in the “High School Musical” franchise, will also be sharing the screen once again with his former Disney Channel movie co-star, Bart Johnson, who played Coach Bolton in the Disney Channel movie and plays Papa March in this 2018 flick.

See all of the onscreen reunions when “Little Women” hits theaters on Friday.