Garrettsville – The James A. Garfield High School Musical Theatre department put on their rendition of Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods” this past weekend. There were four shows over the span of three days, each one more exciting than the last. The Iva Walker auditorium was the venue for the shows, and they lived up to the hype.
The story began in a far off kingdom and was narrated by junior Landen Gedeon. The baker and his wife (senior Jack Rado and sophomore Hallie Cebulla), Cinderella (sophomore Aby Seiler), Jack and his mom (junior Owen Bass and senior Emma Bass), and Little Red (8th grader Madi Seiler) all need to go into the woods for their own reasons. Whether it be to finally have a child, to go to the festival, to take Milky White (7th grader Lily Thompson) to market, or to visit grandmother (freshman Riley Carson), they all cross paths at some point in the woods. Multiple twists are thrown at the main crew, like the witch (junior Emma Scherick), the mysterious old man (Landen Gedeon), and evil stepmothers and sisters (seniors MaryBeth Kindlesparker, Lauren Whan and freshman Addison Truce). Two princes (junior Aaron Rodhe and sophomore Marshall Dahlen) also make agonizing appearances in the show. By the end of the first act, the characters have got what they wanted and successfully avoided being killed by a wolf (junior Jack Carmichael).
The second act was a whole different story. The beans the baker used to buy Milky White from Jack were actually magic beans that grew into the sky. A giant came down the beanstalk and terrorized the kingdom, creating mass havoc for all involved. After some more mischief in the woods later on in the show, the characters realizing what they truly value in life, and some death by giant, the main conflicts are resolved and everyone, for the most part, lives happily ever after. (This brief description certainly did not do the show justice, and there were more characters than mentioned).
Joel Logan, JAG Elementary School music teacher and JAG High School choir director, was in charge of the show once again. Practice for the show is a marathon. Auditions are done in December and the cast list is announced shortly after. The next three months involve hours upon hours of practice leading up to opening night. The cast and crew put their heart and soul into the show, and they did not disappoint. Congratulations to the JAG Musical Theatre Department on another successful show.
