We are thrilled to be presenting Into the Woods Jr., a musical filled with dry humor, wit, and a touch of hoke. The Junior version of Into the Woods is Act I of the traditional Broadway production. It weaves various fairy tales such as Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Little Red Riding Hood together, while following the original story of a Baker and his wife wishing to have a child. We kept many inspirations from the original production, including some cast members playing multiple roles (a wolf and a prince!) and using a fake cow rather than an actor to portray Milky-White.
For our vision of the show, we wanted to embrace the idea of journeying through storybooks. The sets were designed to reflect children’s book illustrations and fake animals were constructed to reflect children’s toys. The scenery was designed to look realistic yet stylized, with the intent that the audience feels connected and recognizes the tone of the story. We want the audience to travel through the woods with the characters. We realized this concept with moving trees to indicate a changing location, as this musical often transitions from scene to scene without halting.
We are swept away by the support of the Clinton Township community. The cast, crew, parent volunteers, CTSD staff, administrators, and local businesses have worked tirelessly to bring this production to life. We are honored to be a part of this district and community that supports its’ students and the arts.
It is due to the support of the schools that we were able to come together from the Middle School and Spruce Run to work on this production. We met one year ago at the end of last year’s musical when the previous CTMS Directors introduced us. Throughout this process, we have found that we have different strengths, perspectives, and talents that compliment each other. It is always a risk to embark on something new, particularly collaborating on a creative project. We are grateful that the process has been incredibly rewarding with a craft we are so passionate about. We hope that our students will take similar risks with their passions.
We are so proud of how hard-working and dedicated our cast and crew has been throughout this process. We would like to genuinely thank each and every one of you for making this musical a success.
We are brimming with excitement to present to you our first collaboration, Into the Woods Jr.!
Allison Lenig and Brittany Tanis
