SCCC/ATS Drama Dept. To Present “Into The Woods”

Family entertainment may be hard to come by, but Seward County Community College/Area Technical School Theatre Department is making it easy with their production of “Into the Woods,” a Tony award-winning production with a score by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine.

The show will begin at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, April 10, Friday April 11 & Saturday, April 12 at the Showcase Theatre in the Shank Humanities Building.

The cast includes Julie Bunnel, Liberal, witch; Juan Carlos Contreras, Liberal, baker; Stephanie Drymalski, Darien, WI, baker’s wife; Jamie Mix, West Jordan, Utah, as Cinderella; Cedric Mitchell, Liberal, Jack; Heather Powell, Liberal, Little Red Riding Hood; Mikayla Knudsen, Liberal, Jack’s mother; Killian Doze, Liberal, Cinderella’s prince; David Linares, Liberal, Rapunzel’s Prince; Rebecca Irby, Liberal, narrator.

Completing the company are Lauren Buchanan, Liberal, Cinderella’s stepmother; Tony Claus, Liberal, mysterious man; Brie King, Liberal, Florinda; Amira Coleman, Liberal, Lucinda; Sharlene Salley, Liberal, Granny; Zach Carpenter, Liberal, wolf; Sarah Boles-Foreman, Liberal, Cinderella’s mother; Anysia Limon, Liberal, Rupunzel; Nolan Lobley, Liberal, the steward; Haven Holifield, Rolla; Sleeping Beauty; and Angelina Fosdick, Rolla, Snow White.

Audiences of all ages are sure to enjoy this witty and irreverent reimagining of classic fairytales. An ambivalent Cinderella? A blood-thirsty Little Red Riding Hood? A Prince Charming with a roving eye? A Witch. . . who raps? They’re all among the complex characters in this fractured fairy tale. When a Baker and his Wife learn they’ve been cursed with childlessness by the Witch next door, they embark on a mission to find special objects required to break the spell, swindling, lying to and stealing from Cinderella, Little Red, Rapunzel and Jack (the one who climbed the beanstalk). Everyone’s wish is granted at the end of Act One, but the consequences of their actions return to haunt them later, with disastrous results. What begins as a lively irreverent fantasy becomes a moving lesson about community responsibility and the stories we tell our children.

"We are taking the musical to a whole new place,” said Gloria Goodwin, communications and theater instructor. “I have seen Into the Woods so many times and have acted in it. They are currently filming a major motion picture of it starring Meryl Streep, Anna Kendrick and Johnny Depp. Sondheim has an incredible message in this show and it deserves to be told as he intended. We are giving the show a few little twists to style and sets that make the show a unique experience that mirrors the theme of fantasy unraveling and reality being revealed. I have chosen to use a child as the narrator to make the story more relatable to younger audiences. Though the true message of Into the Woods is loud and clear to every adult and parent in the audience it also offers a sincere message to children as well."

Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for 12 and under and SCCC/ATS students get in free with college I.D. Tickets are available in advance at the Humanities office or at the door.