As actors sang vocal warmups outside in the cold, they waited for the building to be cleared by the fire department. 15 minutes before opening night, members of the Huron Players’ production of “Into the Woods” and audience members were forced to evacuate the building. After the popcorn machine that student volunteers had been using set off the fire alarm, hundreds of people rushed into the cold winter weather, awaiting approval to head back inside. The opening night for “Into the Woods” kicked off at 7:24 pm on February 5th, after the building was cleared at 7:11 pm.
The show “Into the Woods” brings a new meaning to the phrase “Happily Ever After”. With whimsy and magical elements mixed in, it brings out the harsh realities of life and the imperfections that people face in everyday life. With a runtime of three hours, the show highlights themes of navigating childhood to adulthood, resilience and moving on. The phrase “Children will listen”, used in the finale of the show, represents the lasting impact that words and actions can have on people.
CHS sophomore Finn Carpenter, who saw the show over the weekend, believes that “Into the Woods” is all about connections and highlights the imperfections that other shows choose to ignore.
“I think Into the Woods does a really good job at showing the importance of relationships, and it feels really real,” Carpenter said. “I love Sondheim shows, and I feel like he does a good job at showcasing that mistakes happen and we shouldn’t pretend that they don’t. Usually musicals have happy endings, but this one isn’t exactly perfect for all of the characters.”
In addition to Carpenter, CHS junior Caitlin Dick-Ruiz, who played Grandmother in the cast, also feels that the portrayal of fairy tales shown in “Into the Woods” strikes a perfect balance between right and wrong.
“Something I love about Into the Woods is that it really does a good job of staying true to the fairy tales,” Dick-Ruiz said. “It keeps the happy and cheerful and uplifting moments, but it also keeps the scary, dark moments. These were cautionary tales, and they were made for children to warn them about how to stay safe in the world, and that is shown in the show, which is something I appreciate.”
Dick-Ruiz feels the roles in “Into the Woods” bring more personality than in traditional fairytales, and they react more realistically than in other tales.
“In the fairy tales, they never really say how Grandma feels,” Dick-Ruiz said. “She and her granddaughter were eaten by a wolf, and then they just got rescued,” Dick-Ruiz said. “In the story, they don’t really say what her thoughts on the matter are. But in this show, it really shows just how angry she is at the wolf for eating her.”
Huron Players’ Into the Woods brought magic to Huron High School with four separate shows. With a combination of intense technical elements, orchestra music and singing, high school students gave it their all on and off stage.
