If you go
› What: “Into the Woods”› Where: Chattanooga State Community College, 4501 Amnicola Highway› When: 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, March 23-24; 2:30 p.m. Sunday, March 25› Admission: $15, $10 for children, senior adults or college students with ID› For more information: 423-697-3246
"Into the Woods" will be presented for the first time by the Theatre and Music departments at Chattanooga State Community College in three performances March 23-25.
"Into the Woods" takes classic tales by the Brothers Grimm and weaves them into a modern musical that explores family, the consequences of wishes that come true and the search to break a witch's curse.
With music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine, the Tony Award-winning musical is both enchanting and haunting.
The musical's main characters are taken from "Little Red Riding Hood," "Jack and the Beanstalk," "Rapunzel" and "Cinderella," but appearances are made by other well-known princesses as well.
The musical begins with the narrator introducing four characters who each have a wish. The plot is tied together by a story involving a childless baker and his wife, their quest to begin a family (the original beginning of "Rapunzel"), their interaction with a witch who has placed a curse on them and their involvement with other storybook characters during their journey.
Parents are advised the second act may not be considered suitable for children.
The show covers multiple themes: growing up, parents and children, accepting responsibility, morality, wish fulfillment and its consequences.The music is notable for its use of syncopated speech and the reworking of and entwining of, sometimes in an almost fugue-like manner, musical motifs .
The large cast of just over two dozen includes college and high school students as well as graduates of Chattanooga State's Professional Training Program, an actor who studied with Rex Knowles and Sherry Landrum at The New Actors Workshop in New York City, and teachers Deb Meeks and Brenda Schwab.
Jennifer Arbogast Wilson is stage and musical director of "Into the Woods;" Lindsay Fussell is choreographer.
Darrin Hassevoort will conduct the 15-piece orchestra. Costumes are designed by Brenda Schwab and the set by Sue Christensen.
Advanced tickets may be purchased at www.chattanoogastate.edu/theatre; tickets will also be sold at the door.
THE CAST
Alex Clay: Narrator
Jordan Bennett: Witch
Taylor Williams: Baker
Ryan Laskowski: Mysterious man
Nicole Reidel: Baker's wife
Kimberlin Lacy: Cinderella
Alexander B. Walker: Cinderella's prince
Gracie Gilbert: Rapunzel
Gabriel Shipley: Rapunzel's prince
Richard Nichols: Wolf
Maggie Meller: Little Red Riding Hood
Joseph Watts: Jack
Brenda Schwab: Jack's mother
Deb Meeks: Stepmom, Giant
Megan Smith: Lucinda
Alaina Hill: Florinda
Stephanie Smith: Cinderella's mom, Little Red's grandmother
Tripp Ladd: Steward
Austin Massey: Hansel
Emma Christensen: Gretel
Josie Offutt: Snow White
Nathan Dyar: Snow White's prince
Johanna Frederickson: Sleeping Beauty
Ike Hannah: Sleeping Beauty's prince
Isaiah Tipton: Milky White