WS’s spring musical is the fairytale musical Into the Woods which intertwines different Brothers Grimm fairytale stories. The WS version of the Tony award winning musical deserves never- ending praise as it incorporates beautiful acting, singing, and storytelling while keeping the audience entertained.
For the first time, WS is putting on a production on back-to-back weekends, featuring two different casts. The Orange cast performed on May 4th-6th while the Blue cast will perform May 10th-12th. This is also the first WS musical to be performed in the brand new auditorium. Although construction did make things stressful, the new auditorium was definitely worth the wait.
“We were really stressed for a while because there was no definitive date for when we’d get the auditorium. But I’m so happy we’re in the new and improved auditorium for my last show here,” said senior Eila Nash.
Into the Woods is a very complex musical that involves many of our beloved fairytale characters such as Cinderella, Rapunzel, Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk, and Little Red Riding Hood. This play also contains many different storylines, yet each one entertained the audience and had unique pieces. The main storylines focused on characters such as Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella and Rapunzel along with their princes, Jack and his mother, the baker, the baker’s wife, and the witch who has cursed the baker’s family so they can never have children. In order to be able to have children, the couple must give the witch four objects: a cow as white as milk, the cape as red as blood, hair as yellow as corn, and a slipper as pure as gold. As one may guess, this leads the baker and his wife to run into the rest of the characters on their wild quest for their items.
“Into the Woods is not a dance show and the music is so different than the shows I’ve been in. It’s got a really good moral though, one that everyone should know,” said Nash.
Into the Woods contains a lot of difficult music with each character having a special moment. Act 1 is all about the baker and the baker’s wife attempting to break the curse, while the second act is much darker and contains a more dramatic storyline. It’s a play that contains some adult themes, yet still holds on to the fairytale charm.
“The best part about being in the show for me was getting to perform really beautiful and interesting music. But the most difficult part was learning the music,” said senior Jane Schwartz.
Into the Woods is a fantastic show filled incredible performances from all members of the cast. All the songs were different, from fast paced, witty songs like “Your Fault” to slow, emotional pieces such as “No One Is Alone”.
Overall, Into the Woods was a delightful musical showcasing all the incredible talent we have at WS. For the seniors in the cast, it was a perfect way to end their fairytale of a career at WS.
“It meant a lot to me as a senior to be able to perform. I’ve made a lot of friends in the program and being able to share the show with them was really nice. Also, being able to showcase what I’ve learned in my four years made my performance very special,” said senior Easton Boynton.