A step away from the traditional fairytale, Bullard High School’s production of Into the Woods portrays real-life issues within a fantasy background. The production ran from Oct. 28 to Nov. 6.
The play weaves together several childhood favorites — including “Rapunzel,” “Cinderella,” “Little Red Riding Hood” and “Jack and the Beanstalk” — with a fantastic cast. However, because the play is a musical, it at times comes off a bit cheesy.
Into the Woods begins with three stories told by a narrator (Johannus Reijnders, ’11), focusing on the characters of Cinderella (Lydia Warren, ’14), Jack and his mother, and the Baker.
Following the well-known tale, Cinderella, who lives with her evil stepsisters (Claudia Kosylak, ’12, and Melissa Lyness, ’11) and stepmother (Rosanna Weigant, ’11), learns of a royal ball and desires to attend, but her stepmother refuses to let her go until she finishes the cleaning. Of course, she completes her duties and has nothing to wear, but her Fairy Godmother (Majerle Reeves, ’13) grants her wish and gives her a gown for the ball.
At the same time, Jack (Tommy Lucido, ’11) and his mother (DeJanee Morris, ’11) try to decide on ways to get more money for food, and come up with Jack going into the woods to sell his milky white cow. Also during this intro, the Baker (Phil Sarkisian, ’12) and his wife (Catriona Fray, ?’2) complain about their inability to have children.
The witch (Tori Sasso, ’12) from next door tells them about a curse on their family and how they must gather four items to remove it: a cow as white as milk, cloak as red as blood, slipper as pure as gold, and hair as yellow as corn. Then the rest of the story continues with the intermingling of each tale.
The plot turned out much better than expected, even with its cheesiness. The singing was a toss up — some actors showed great vocals while others were only mediocre. However, it was clear that the actors had worked hard to improve the performance, and that made them great.
Sitting through the play felt like a real Broadway production. Actors portrayed their characters in a way that showed their understanding of the musical. They performed as if they had annotated the play to present their characters in a deeper, fuller perspective before even beginning practice.
Crowd favorite, Sasso, emerged as a shining star of the musical. When she transformed from the old, haggard witch into a young, beautiful maiden, the audience was swept with great emotion. The room was filled with loud yells of excitement.
Despite the darkness of the play, every single member put on a beautiful performance contributing to the fantastic aura of the show.
For more drama reviews, read the Oct. 28 article, ‘Tales of Terror’ stages Poe’s legacy.
The next Bullard High School play is “The Learned Ladies,” and will take place Dec. 8, 9 and 10. A comedy improvisational night is scheduled for Jan. 28, 2011. Please refer to the Bullard High School drama website for more information.
Paul Ocheltree is a junior at Bullard High School.