By Lauren Seo
Although tawdry affairs and the deaths of loved ones are not themes one usually associates with childhood fairytales, âInto the Woodsâ, the upcoming fall musical production, was never supposed to be conventional.
With music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine, âInto the Woodsâ intertwines the stories of classic characters as each undergo a quest to find his or her respective wish in a magical forest. While Act One sees everyoneâs wish granted, what beings as a light fantasy morphs into a grim tale as the characters must deal with the consequences of their actions in Act Two.
âThe first half is fun with all the different fairy tales coming together, but the second half is much darker with the affairs and killings,â said Kat Arenella â10, who has been cast as Cinderella.
The musical was last performed at Harvard-Westlake in 2001, co-directed by Ted Walch and Michele Spears, the current co-directors.
âItâs a really popular and fun musical,â says Christopher Moore, the showâs producer. âA lot of people liked it last time, so we decided to do it again.â
Among the reasons why the Performing Arts Department chose to produce âInto the Woodsâ again was how drawn it was to the music and lyrics of Sondheim.
âThe music is beautiful and compelling. It creates mood and emotion so powerfully,â said Mark Hilt, the musical director.
In particular Hilt spoke about a song in the second act called âNo One is Aloneâ.
âItâs a catharsis,â he said. âIt speaks not just to those poor characters on stage but to the whole audience. Thatâs really terrific when that happens in the theatre.â
Unlike recently performed musicals such as âLes Miseráblesâ and âCabaretâ, âInto the Woodsâ has no chorus. Instead there are a large number of roles each with its own individual stage time. Spears described it as âan ensemble piece, where thereâs a smaller cast, but every part is complete.â
Although the characters of âInto the Woodsâ are derived from childrenâs literature, the musical itself deals with more mature issues, such as filial relationships, broken marriages, and moral cowardice.
âIt goes more deeply than any recent musical I can think of into the character,â said Walch. âThese characters are truly three dimensional. By the end of it you get a complete human being.â
Auditions for the musical ran the week of Sept. 8, and after two call backs, cast lists were posted outside the Drama Lab on Sept. 15. Rehearsals began the day the cast list was released.
The play will be performed Friday Nov. 14 through Sunday Nov. 16 at the Rugby Auditorium.