MTC is preparing for its production of “Into the Woods,” a mix of Stephen Sondheim and Grimm brothers’ fairy tales. The musical will be under the vocal direction of Phil Woodmore and is choreographed by Joe Elvis.
Judi Greene, director of “Into the Woods” for MHS, shared some insight on the production.
“The first act is the fairy tales we all know and love.” Greene said.
The play later goes onto talk about “what really happens to fairy tale land after their story,” Greene said.
Caitlin Hunter, senior, is the stage manager for the show and has the job of controlling the entire crew.
“There’s been a lot of paper work, but as stage manager, most of my work is helping people get done what they need to get done and getting things set in motion.” Hunter said.
The play is a combination of many classic fairy tales such as ‘“Cinderella,” “Jack and the Beanstalk,” “The Baker Who Couldn’t Have Children,” “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Rapunzel,” “Snow White” and “Sleeping Beauty.”
Mary Baker, who plays “the baker’s wife,” talked about performing the show.
“My character is from one of two made up fairytales for the show and the baker and I connect the fairy tales together,” Baker said.
The musical centers around a baker and his wife, on a quest to begin a family, and their interaction with a Witch who curses on them.
“The play has themes like love and redemption along with comedy and tragedy and basically anything you want a musical to have,” Baker said.
Before Greene decided to go with “Into the Woods,” she had wanted to produce “Avenue Q.”
“I met the guys who wrote ‘Avenue Q,’ and they promised us they would make a school appropriate version,” Greene said.
When Greene received the script for the school appropriate ‘Avenue Q,’Greene decided the show was still not appropriate to use at MHS, thus making ‘Into the Woods’ the production of choice.
The casting process consisted of almost 100 student auditions.
“I could have easily casted the show three times,” Greene said.
Due to the high amount of students auditioning for the play, Greene expanded the cast from 32 to 45 people.
As for the main character of the story, there really isn’t one.
“This particular play is an ensemble so you can’t say there is a main character,” Greene said.
Production has already begun, with daily rehearsals after school. Each member of the production has their own priorities when it comes to preparing the show.
“The story and the music are difficult to perform but very fun for the audience and the performer,” Baker said.
The crew is also working to build the set.
“We are turning the entire theater into magic woods.” Greene said.
The play won’t debut until November, but that shouldn’t discourage any excitement amongst students.
“This play is so complex and intricate, but at the same time, it is made from familiar fairy tales. I am honestly expecting this to be a really great show,” Hunter said.
The MHS theater company also adopted a charitable organization known as “Whole Kids Outreach,” to which the MTC will be donating some of their proceeds.
Greene said that the prices of the tickets are undecided but in the past have been $8 in advance and $10 at the door. The production will be at 7 p.m. on Nov. 9, 10, 16 and 17.
