MULTI-TASKING AT STORYBOOK
Into the Woods cast does double duty
The students of StoryBook Theatre’s 2018 Summer Intensive are inviting audiences to come with them Into the Woods.
For the past six weeks, 37 students have been working on Sondheim’s 1987 musical that follows the major characters from such fairy tales as Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella and Rapunzel as their stories become intertwined with the tale of a childless baker and his wife who are trying to remove their family’s age-old curse.
This is the fifth year for the Summer Intensive program at StoryBook and, according to StoryBook artistic director JP Thibodeau, the choice of plays this year is a departure.
The previous plays were Les Miserables, Rent, Grease and West Side Story.
“Each of those plays had just a handful of lead roles with dialogue and songs so when we double cast those roles, on alternate nights the actors would perform in the ensemble,” he said.
“Every actor in Into the Woods has an actual part with dialogue and singing. Again we have double cast but, this time, on their alternate nights the actors do not perform. They take over the backstage duties and become the running crew for the new cast.
“I have always felt actors of all ages should have the opportunity to see what happens backstage. The actors should be aware of all the work the crew does for them. Theatre is a true collaborative art and this is one way for our students to experience this process.”
Thibodeau says having the student actors working backstage “teaches them life skills they don’t necessarily get at school or even at home anymore. They learn how to sew buttons on clothing and hem trousers and skirts and they learn how to build sets. These skills were learned in addition to classes in singing, dancing and acting.”
There are 18 characters in Into the Woods so Thibodeau needed 36 actors.
He chose them from the more than 70 kids who auditioned in the spring for this year’s program.
Originally, the narrator in Into the Woods was an old man recalling the stories of his youth.
In a recent revival in New York, the narrator became a young runaway boy who told the stories, trying to keep himself safe and warm.
In StoryBook’s version, the narrator is played by Charlotte Clarke. She is a girl who has been bullied so she ends up telling these stories in defiance of her taunters.
In 2014, Into the Woods was made into a film with Meryl Streep playing the witch, Johnny Depp as the Big Bad Wolf, Chris Pine as Prince Charming, Anna Kendrick as Cinderella and James Corden and Emily Blunt as the childless baker and his wife.
Thibodeau directed StoryBook’s Into the Woods with choreography by Eden Hildebrand and Jocelyn Hoover Leiver and musical direction by Tara Laberge.
The show, which Thibodeau says is suitable for children over eight, runs in the Beddington Arts Centre Aug. 18 to Sept. 8 with performances Tuesdays through Saturdays at 7 p.m. plus Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m.
Tickets are 70 per cent sold already so it is advisable to book as quickly as possible by logging on to storybooktheatre.org.