Fleetwood Community Theatre opens “Into The Woods Jr.” on Dec. 8.
Two performances will be presented on Friday, Dec. 8 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Dec. 9 at 2 p.m. at the Fleetwood Middle School Auditorium, 409 N. Richmond Street, Fleetwood.
“It is a pleasure to be able to produce “Into The Woods Jr.” in Fleetwood because it is such a unique musical,” says Tara Sands, FCT’s Artistic Director and Theatre Vice President. “This is a great story that takes many of the Grimm fairytales and intertwines them in a very unique way.”
The main characters come from the classic fairytales Cinderella, Rapunzel, Jack and the Beanstalk and Little Red Riding Hood, and are tied together by a more original story involving a baker and his wife and their quest to begin a family.
“Into The Woods” is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. It debuted on Broadway in 1987 and ran for 764 performance garnering many awards during it’s initial Broadway run including Best Actress in a Musical and Best Original Book and Score. The show has generated numerous national tours and revivals and remains one of the American Theatre’s best-loved musicals to produce. The Junior version follows Act 1 of the original musical, condensing the run time to just over 60 minutes, performed by students in grades K-12.
The production is under the direction of Ashley Frankhouser with musical direction by Jenna Masenheimer. Melissa Kopicz is the Stage Manager. It is costumed by Kari Uhler, set construction by Shane Gehringer, lighting design by Curtis Filchner, and sound design by Eko Productions/Albert Garcia.
The cast includes Baker Steven Gehringer, Baker’s Wife Cassidy Vees, The Witch Kat Ziolkowski, Cinderella Riley Dauber, Little Red Adeline Consentino, Narrators Hallie Barrell and Andrew Maxwell, Jack Ian Miller, Wolf David Hartshorne-Hesketh, Cinderella’s Prince John Erikson, Rapunzel Sara Ann Harbonic, Rapunzel’s Prince Autumn Chandler, Jack’s Mother Paige Rothermel, Cinderella’s Stepmother Nola Farley, Cinderella’s Father Brendan Gaines, Florinda Peyton Polanco, Lucinda Heidi Beck, Milky White Madelyn Suppa, Steward Emily Jones, Granny Kylie Schroder, Cinderella’s Mother Kylie Beck, Mysterious Man Evan Watkins, as well as ensemble Leah Zettlemoyer, Sianna Ream, Sydney Maher, Allison Keefe, Raelyn Campli, Ryan Stuber, Jackson Kessler, Payton Rothermel, Christian Gaines, Melora Kraemer, Grace Diehl, Zoe Bean, Haylie Noll, Marley Wolfe, Lydia Beck, Peyton Campli.
Ticket prices are $15 (paid in advance through Dec. 7), $18 at the door. Reservations recommended at 484-793-0918.