By Caden Mustoe, with comments by Jennifer Mustoe and Joel Applegate
As those who regularly see shows would agree, there’s no way to describe a fantastic show. I only hope I can convince you enough to go see Spanish Fork High School’s production of Into the Woods.
Now before you dismiss this as just another high school play, I would like to inform you that SFHS has a reputation for going beyond expectations, and they have the awards to prove it. Over the past few years, they’re won several awards as a program. This isn’t counting eleven of the cast’s actors and actresses who’ve won individually and in pairs at both region and state levels.
If you haven’t seen Into the Woods, I highly recommend this production to introduce you. It’s no small task to take on such a demanding musical — everyone has to be able to sing, it’s long, and it calls for some… interesting things to happen onstage. But it was a risk that paid off greatly. The story is a giant (no pun intended) conglomeration of classic fairy-tales. Now I’ve always been slightly annoyed whenever a movie or TV show tries to do this, but Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine, the writers of the play, have created something magnificently their own while still sticking to the original stories.
Spanish Fork High School has a beautiful, recently refurbished theater and it is the perfect space to do Sondheim’s Into the Woods. The first thing you see when you walk in is an absolutely gorgeous, lush, layered and beautifully detailed set. And that’s before it’s lit up. Once it’s lit up, with the many twinkling lights all along the scrim, it is fabulous. Because of the way the main set is designed, there are many more entrances and exits than just stage left and stage right, which also helped them to use their entire space, which is rather considerable to begin with. Kudos to set designer Erin Crane. The set is truly remarkable.
One of the interesting things about Into the Woods is that it doesn’t really have leads like you’d expect. Most of the characters are equal in number of lines, time on stage, and vocal solos. That being said, I cannot emphasize enough how well everyone did in their parts. The singing talent ranged from acceptable to astounding, but what was such a pleasant surprise for me is that everyone’s, and I mean everyone’s, individual acting ability rivaled even semi-professional and professional productions I’ve seen. Joel said, “What was so great about this play is all the actors were committed.” Jennifer loved all the actors, but most especially Lizzy Phipps as Little Red Riding Hood and Emily Wilson as the Witch. Says Jennifer: “The physicality of all the actors and willingness to stretch their acting chops was really remarkable.”
The show was directed by Bonnie Beckstead, and along with the help of Shea Bradshaw, the Musical Director, and Choreographer Kamarie Fernandez, they made the show exactly the way it needed to be.
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As far as the way everyone looked, the costumes done by Jessica Peabody and the hair and makeup direction by Kayla Koyle and Dani Ferron was both well done and original. The costuming is a clever blend of typified fairy. tale garb and modern day clothing, such as several characters wearing Chuck Taylors for the duration of the show. Several costumes stuck out as being a good way of showing characters, such as for the Wolf and all outfits for the Witch.
The only thing that needs improvement is the sporadic functionality of the microphones. Fortunately, there are quite a few players whose projection can make up for it.
As is best, I went to see this play with friends and family. Jennifer said, “I have watched many of these kids grow up in the theater and was thrilled to see how well all of them did.” I also had a pleasantly lengthy conversation about it all with my friend Alex Mendoza as we traveled back to our homes.
In closing, I don’t know how they keep doing it, but the drama program at Spanish Fork High School consistently surprises me in the most wonderful of ways and this year’s Into the Woods is no exception.
Shows Fri and Sat 11-15, 16, and Monday 11-18. Curtain at 7 PM. Tickets $7.00
I cannot believe the talent at SFHS. I to think that Little Ride Riding hood were witch great the. The witches voice and actions portrayed the part perfectly. Congratulations to the whole cast and to the director for all their hard work. I can hardly wait for their next play.