Arts & Entertainment
Review: Woodson High's 'Into The Woods' is Mesmerizing
See what this student reviewer had to say about Woodson High School's fall musical production.
Editor's Note: 'Into The Woods' is presented at Woodson High School this Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. BUY TICKETS
By Alex Poirier of Loudoun Valley High School for The Cappies program
Everyone had their favorite fairy tale as a child. Princesses, giants, beanstalks and golden eggs bookmark the pages of our memory, intoxicatingly filled with possibilities of tomorrow and ever after.
Into the Woods (book by James Lapine and composed by Steven Sondheim), performed at W. T. Woodson High School, is a dream, feeding our imagination with tantalizing "what-ifs." After all, a compilation that weaves together all of our favorite tales is a totally mesmerizing experience that makes it worth your while to go "Into the Woods" with the Woodson cast and crew.
In this musical theater classic, the beloved stories of Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Jack and the Beanstalk weave together into a single entity, all influencing one another as they race through their important tasks in the wood.
Though the show has several stock fairy tale characters, the journey that Sondheim guides them through causes even the Witch (Lara Taylor) to become as real to us as the child paying rapt attention to the stage further down the road.
The Baker (Joshua Reiter) and his Wife (Emily Bubeck) compete with the clock while finding items in a malevolent treasure hunt so they may have a child; Cinderella (Lexie McEntire) desperately runs to and from the prince’s festival, dithering over a decision; Jack (Drew Bondy) explores the skies, finding giants and gold; and Little Red Riding Hood (Maddie Branley) is, of course, trying to get to her grandmother’s house. By the time the show winds to its end, the characters have grown less naïve, as they realize how damaging it can be to wish.
Overall, the show was unbelievably intense. The talented group of actors pulled together and wove their magic, casting us all back to our childhood for some brief special moments. Some of the highlights of the show were completely unexpected, while others are always crowd-pleasers. The Witch (Lara Taylor) and her daughter, Rapunzel (Anna Phillips-Brown), had great chemistry and comedic timing, playing off one another like seasoned professionals in their first song, “Our Little World.”
The Baker (Joshua Reiter) and his Wife (Emily Bubeck) also had one of the strongest relationships in the show, growing and changing as a unit, the married couple that they were said to be. The lighting on the backdrop did wonders for setting the time and the mood, with a softly glowing moon that was an omen of what needed to be accomplished before the time ran out.
Each of the main actors skillfully brought more dimension to their characters during the second act, which is much darker than the one preceding it.The strengths of several vocalists were displayed to the world, impressing parents and peers alike.
The time, energy, sweat, blood, and tears that were put into this show was evident to those in the audience, all watching with bated breath, guessing how the story would twist unexpectedly, hoping their favorite character would be spared the foot of the giantess. The magical undertones of the piece were exposed one at a time, slowly confining us into the trap of believing in goblins and dragons and magic once more.
Bringing the audience into their world is the number one goal of any production, and with Into the Woods, the audience came out believing once more in the power of wishes.
Editor's Note: The Cappies program is the critics and awards program for high school theater. In this program, high school students are trained as critics, attend shows at other schools and write reviews for local news publications. At the end of the year, student critics vote for awards that are presented at a formal Cappies Gala.
Did you see Woodson's production of 'Into The Woods?' What did you think of it? Tell us in the comments.
By Alex Poirier of Loudoun Valley High School for The Cappies program
Everyone had their favorite fairy tale as a child. Princesses, giants, beanstalks and golden eggs bookmark the pages of our memory, intoxicatingly filled with possibilities of tomorrow and ever after.
Into the Woods (book by James Lapine and composed by Steven Sondheim), performed at W. T. Woodson High School, is a dream, feeding our imagination with tantalizing "what-ifs." After all, a compilation that weaves together all of our favorite tales is a totally mesmerizing experience that makes it worth your while to go "Into the Woods" with the Woodson cast and crew.
In this musical theater classic, the beloved stories of Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Jack and the Beanstalk weave together into a single entity, all influencing one another as they race through their important tasks in the wood.
Though the show has several stock fairy tale characters, the journey that Sondheim guides them through causes even the Witch (Lara Taylor) to become as real to us as the child paying rapt attention to the stage further down the road.
The Baker (Joshua Reiter) and his Wife (Emily Bubeck) compete with the clock while finding items in a malevolent treasure hunt so they may have a child; Cinderella (Lexie McEntire) desperately runs to and from the prince’s festival, dithering over a decision; Jack (Drew Bondy) explores the skies, finding giants and gold; and Little Red Riding Hood (Maddie Branley) is, of course, trying to get to her grandmother’s house. By the time the show winds to its end, the characters have grown less naïve, as they realize how damaging it can be to wish.
Overall, the show was unbelievably intense. The talented group of actors pulled together and wove their magic, casting us all back to our childhood for some brief special moments. Some of the highlights of the show were completely unexpected, while others are always crowd-pleasers. The Witch (Lara Taylor) and her daughter, Rapunzel (Anna Phillips-Brown), had great chemistry and comedic timing, playing off one another like seasoned professionals in their first song, “Our Little World.”
The Baker (Joshua Reiter) and his Wife (Emily Bubeck) also had one of the strongest relationships in the show, growing and changing as a unit, the married couple that they were said to be. The lighting on the backdrop did wonders for setting the time and the mood, with a softly glowing moon that was an omen of what needed to be accomplished before the time ran out.
Each of the main actors skillfully brought more dimension to their characters during the second act, which is much darker than the one preceding it.The strengths of several vocalists were displayed to the world, impressing parents and peers alike.
The time, energy, sweat, blood, and tears that were put into this show was evident to those in the audience, all watching with bated breath, guessing how the story would twist unexpectedly, hoping their favorite character would be spared the foot of the giantess. The magical undertones of the piece were exposed one at a time, slowly confining us into the trap of believing in goblins and dragons and magic once more.
Bringing the audience into their world is the number one goal of any production, and with Into the Woods, the audience came out believing once more in the power of wishes.
Editor's Note: The Cappies program is the critics and awards program for high school theater. In this program, high school students are trained as critics, attend shows at other schools and write reviews for local news publications. At the end of the year, student critics vote for awards that are presented at a formal Cappies Gala.
Did you see Woodson's production of 'Into The Woods?' What did you think of it? Tell us in the comments.
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