Remember the fairy tales you were told as a child, full of talking animals, plants of unreal sizes, and houses made of the most unlikely materials? Well, what if all of those things could be in one story, plus, so much more? Well then do I have a musical for you! Into the Woods, written by James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim takes classic Brothers Grimm tales like “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Cinderella,” “Jack and the Beanstalk,” and “Rapunzel,” and wraps them into one twisted tale of fate, fortune, and mystery.
Junior Blake Dunham said, “Into the Woods is about the wishes that people make in their lives and the consequences that follow through with these decisions. A plan can often bring sacrifices which never were intended.”
With a wide variety of characters big and small, boisterous and timid, the cast seems eager to accept the joys and challenges of each of their roles.
Blake added, “I play The Baker and I enjoy playing this role because he is more of a timid character. A lot of the other characters that I have played in the past have been the antithesis of timidity so this has been a challenge for me.”
Senior Ava Grace Harbison said, “I play the Bakers Wife. She is a very determined and strong-willed character, but she also becomes softer and more maternal as the show progresses, which makes playing her very fun.”
This year the stage props were somewhat of an ambitious project, using a mix of painted structures and plants, as well as real tree branches to create a realistic forest scene.
Ava Grace added, “The props and sets in this show are extremely well thought out and made perfectly. Props are an essential part of bringing this show to life and I think they are amazing this year.”
However, the beautiful yet delicate and slowly dying fauna creates quite a challenge for the stage crew this year.
Blake said, “I think that this year’s set is very ambitious and perhaps requires the need for more backstage crew members because of the amount of pieces that there are.”
Moral implications are aplenty in this take upon the classic fairy tale genre. Ava Grace said, “Into The Woods is a musical that intertwines many well-known fairytale characters and the baker and his wife, as they go into the woods to fulfill their wishes. As they go deeper into the woods each character tragically discovers that ‘the thing you most wish for, is not to be touched.”
Come see Into the Woods April 9-12 Wednesday-Friday at 7:30 pm and two showings on Saturday, at 1:30 and 7:30 pm.
