“Into the Woods” is a musical that is off the beaten path from mainstream musicals. A few years ago Disney released a movie version of “Into the Woods” with a star-studded cast. The musical itself dates back to the early 80s as written by Stephen Sondheim and James Lupin, starring Bernadette Peters. Our students were extremely excited when they found out that this was the musical for this year. They were less than thrilled to find out the size of the cast, which is only 17 people. The show had many obstacles in front of us. This is the shortest musical season we have ever had, having only 8 weeks. Due to some extenuating circumstances, some cast members learned new roles over the course of the last 2 weeks. Every single student has impressed me immensely over our time together the last few months.
I was very afraid of cutting off our talent pool at the Junior High level because of the small cast. Because of this, I tried something new, and created a double production of “Into the Woods”, and “Into the Woods, Junior”. This gave us an opportunity for a "big" and "little" arrangement between characters in both shows. The upperclassman adopted the underclassmen and seem to have forged some wonderful relationships.
The beautiful part of “Into the Woods” lies in the symbolism and metaphors that are found in all fairytales. Little Red Riding Hood reminds us to be wary of strangers and to listen to grown-ups when it comes to surrounding dangers. The story of Cinderella reminds us that we are in charge of our own surroundings. The story of the Baker and his Wife shows that you need an equal relationship with those around you to accomplish the most difficult tasks. Jack's story is to be happy with what you have and make the most of what is around you.
However, the most important symbols are less evident. For example: The Woods itself. The Woods becomes its own character, which is a metaphor for life itself. Sometimes there is a path and sometimes you have to make one. Sometimes it is bright, sometimes it is dark and sometimes there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Another important metaphor is The Giant in the Senior High show, which is a symbolism of all of the things that can go wrong in life that you never anticipated. So when you see Jack going up the beanstalk to the giant, we realize that it isn't about a giant, but rather Jack tempting fate and taunting all of the things that eventually blow up in his face. This is one of the hardest lessons for us to teach when it comes to our students. It is difficult to have them make mistakes and have to watch them grow from them.
The biggest lessons that “Into the Woods” can teach us are:
- Be careful what you wish for, because you might get it.
- Be careful what you say because even though it might not seem like it, our children are listening to us. More importantly, they’re watching the examples that we set for them.
- The biggest moral of the story, no matter how dark the woods gets, and no matter how difficult it seems, when the worst of life is being thrown on us... no one is alone. In the music and art world there is always a home for these young men and women.
I look forward to the talent that is coming up from the Junior High cast for the many years to come. I look at the underclassmen in the High School and the leadership that I have to look forward to in the next year or two. I look to my seniors... my Munchkins... both in the cast and outside of the cast. You have been a joy and I love each one of you.
To my family; My wife Tina and children Anna, Joseph, and Charlotte, I love you and I miss you so much and I can't wait to see you all on Sunday.
I hope you thoroughly enjoy our performances this weekend and thank you for your support!
