WARREN, Pa. – From Thursday to Saturday, Junior High students from across Warren County got in costume and persona to wow the audiences with four showings of “Into the Woods Jr.”
The 60-minute adaptation from Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s “Into the Woods” features classic characters such as Jack (“Jack and the Beanstalk”), Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, and many other favorites known from the Brothers Grimm fables. The musical telling of a Baker, his Wife, and their desire to have a child sends them on a journey where to break a curse put forth by the Witch from next door on their family, they must collect certain items.
With lively forests, maidens chasing princes, and a spirit like Mysterious Man, the baker and his wife interact with both Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf, Cinderella, the Witch’s daughter Rapunzel, and Jack to collect the items. The 8th Annual All-County Musical Jr. was directed by Chelsea Burkett.
“When they auditioned at the beginning, I was really impressed with all the talent,” said Burkett. “So I know that we were coming into this with a really good group of kids.”
The musical took 40 students and two months with the final message of the creative theatrical performance touching on practical topics such as selfishness, impacting the future, and being careful as to what children hear and learn. Burkett included that the critical thinking skills and courage it takes to put on a thought-provoking performance such as “Into the Woods Jr” is one of her favorite aspects of directing.
“Theatrical arts have always been a huge part of my life since I was in elementary school,” Burkett said in her Director’s Note. “Theatre teaches so many important life lessons. Teamwork, responsibility, Social awareness, public speaking, trust, problem-solving, memory skills, self-confidence, self-expression, and empathy to name a few.”
The Baker and his Wife, played by Greyson Ling and Meredith Smyth, both seventh graders, touched on the process of getting a solid onstage dynamic, specifically with the musical numbers.
“For ‘It Takes Two’ it was kind of difficult,” said Ling. “Because she would have to go higher, then I kind of made some mistakes and I’d go higher.”
“The harmony, we had to change it a lot,” said Smyth. “We were both like, going opposite sides, and we couldn’t look at each other, so Mr. Neal (Musical Director Parker Neal), had us turn around and have that way.”
Both noted that they eventually got it, and the audience’s reactions made that known.
Lettie Christie, who played Cinderella, was excited to take on the famed role, but her experience was much more than just the character.
“Meeting everyone, and hanging out with them, and becoming friends with them,” Christie said of the family atmosphere developed while preparing for opening night.
Smyth added to Christie’s comments, “I loved the group building and seeing all the different scenes, and how people are acting, like when he (Ling) steals the cape, and she breaks down, and he’s like ‘I got the cape,’ because I was backstage and I saw him running all delirious.”
The Witch, played by Adriana Royo, was no stranger to the family atmosphere as the eighth grader has an entire skating family, but as the perceived villain of the musical, she felt the Witch was also a sad story.
“My favorite part is probably singing my song near the end (“Stay With Me”), said Royo. “I think it’s pretty powerful about her taking care of Rapunzel, even though she kind of came after her. I know she cares for her, and then Rapunzel kind of just disses her at the end and it’s kind of depressing. It’s sad because I think she really does love Rapunzel.”
The four were gracious towards their director, highlighting her flexibility with stage performances, other extracurricular activities, and personal life, as well as feeling gracious for her kindness and inspiration. Burkett, who has been involved in theatre for approximately 25 years with 12 years from the directing end, knew that things come together at the end even with a group that does not have extensive experience.
“I really think because a lot of these kids haven’t done a lot of shows, because of Covid, because of the world for a while, I think it’s been really fun to see a lot of them have their first theatre experience,” Burkett said. “A lot of them have been involved in S.L.T. (Struthers Library Theatre) and that’s wonderful, but it’s really nice to see some of these kids that even at auditions, were really shy and now you’re seeing them, even if they are a tree or a townsperson, you’re seeing them with so much more confidence. So hopefully now that they’ve done one show they enjoyed it enough and feel confident enough, they’ll come back.”