ARTS
MIDDLE SCHOOL FALL PLAY NOVEMBER 16, 2019
When a once-beautiful witch curses a baker and his wife, rendering them childless, they venture “into the woods” to find what they need to reverse the spell and restore the witch's beauty: “A cow as white as milk, hair as yellow as corn, a cape as red as blood, and a slipper as pure as gold.” During their journey, they meet Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and Jack, each one on a quest to fulfill a wish. This is the synopsis of Into the Woods, Jr. by James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim. The tangled web of familiar storylines lends
16 | ENSWORTH ENSIGHTS
itself well to our audience. While our little tigers enjoyed seeing those familiar characters come to life and intersect with each other, James Lapine’s witty characters and irreverent text engaged the adults in the room and gave our middle school performers some meat to sink their acting chops into. Stephen Sondheim’s score is notoriously complex. Heidi Wolter (assistant musical director) searched for a month for a pianist willing to accompany our performance. Most candidates were
unwilling to tackle such difficult music. We were thrilled when Russ Davis agreed to do it for us. When I suggested Into the Woods, Jr. to Aaron Velthouse (musical director) he cautioned me that the music would be difficult, but that our current middle schoolers are a strong group, and he felt confident they could sing it. He was right. Our cast was excited to be presented with the challenges the score presented—most of them were somewhat familiar with it from the movie a few years back. They really rose to the occasion—often being prepared
