By Michelle Yousefzadeh
“Into the Woods,” the upper school musical, will be performed this weekend. There will be one performance on Friday and Sunday and two performances on Saturday in Rugby Theater.
The musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine intertwines the plots of fairytale characters from “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Jack and the Beanstalk,” “Rapunzel,” and “Cinderella,” tied together by an original story involving a baker and his wife and their quest to begin a family.
Seventeen hours of auditions were necessary to choose the 24 students cast. Leads include Kat Arenella â10 as Cinderella, Ben Platt â11 as Baker, Emily Altschul â09 as Bakerâs Wife, Chase Morgan â09 as Narrator, Beanie Feldstein â11 as Little Red Riding Hood, Nick Lieberman â11 as Jack and Serena Berman â09 as Witch.
Co-Directors Ted Walch and Michele Spears have included five more roles to expand the cast, Walch said.
Tickets can be purchased on-line or at the bookstore for $15.
This yearâs big surprise was the quality of talent from the sophomores, Walch said.
“In a school as talented as Harvard-Westlake, we see a lot of talented people who just arenât right for the part,” Walch said, “but we always go into the casting sessions with a blank slate, always.”
