This fall at WFS, the Winter Musical Into the Woods is beginning to rouse the attention of students and faculty alike. The story centers around a childless baker and wife as they attempt to start a family and reverse a curse put upon them by an evil witch. During their journey, they meet Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel and Jack, each one on a quest to fulfill a wish. With the musical’s original and unique storyline, the WFS student body is excited to see the musical coming out.

Lauren Gutstein, assistant director of the musical, eagerly commented on the play’s unique characteristics. “In the musical Into the Woods, the audience can see how Sondheim (the musical’s creator) takes elements from fairytale like “Jack and the Beanstalk” and “Little Red Riding Hood”, and put them together to come up with an entirely new storyline” commented Gutstein, director of the winter musical. “It is a challenging musical to carry out and requires a lots of great performers, because the music in this play is really complex. However, I am glad that this year we have a lot of great musical performers joining this play. It will be a lot different than musicals we have done before, and more interesting as well,”  she added.

The musical Into the Woods is definitely attracting the attention of budding student actors and actresses: the audition process for this year was much more intense than usual. Lots of people tried out this year, but unfortunately, due to the lack of a chorus, only some were offered a role. Bella Stuccio ’19 is one of them: she commented,“This is one of my favorite movies made by Disney up until now. I attended the audition last week and got a small part of the musical. Even though I don’t have a lot of lines in this play, I am still excited about it and I just can’t wait to be in a part of the crew!” Not only are the actresses and actors of the musical excited to act, but many others cannot wait to see it performed on the auditorium stage. Brooke Hegenbarth ‘19 commented, “Into The Woods has always been one of my favorite musicals and I saw both the Broadway version along with the Disney version many times. I love almost every single piece of music in the musical, because they are all really fun and unique.” Overall, the music of Into The Woods is really unique and fun, generating abundant enthusiasm from the WFS community.

As well as the music, the story of this musical is also a highlight for spectators. Ruisi “Sissi” Jian ’18 added, “When I first heard our school is going to make Into the Woods the winter musical, I was so glad! I love all kind of fairy tales, especially Into The Woods. I can see a lot of characters from many different other fairy tales and this was super exciting for me.”

The actors and actresses of Into The Woods seem to be gearing up for a spectacular performance! The spectators are eagerly awaiting their chance to see the musical up on the stage. Do not miss it: the in-school performance will be November 11th, and weekend performances the 12th and 13th.