Albion High School to perform Into the Woods
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – The drama program at Albion High School will perform Into the Woods this Friday and Saturday at the Middle School Auditorium.
The top photo shows Nate Grammatico, left, as Jack; Enoch Martin (holding the baby) as the Baker; and Kate Krieger as Cinderella.
Show times are 7 p.m. Friday, noon on Saturday and 7 p.m. on Saturday. Tickets are available at the door.
Brennan Moody, left, is Cinderella’s Prince and Chase Froman is Rapunzel’s Prince. The two princes are brothers. They are singing, “Agony.”
Into the Woods was written by Stephen Sondheim and intertwines the plots of several Brothers Grimm fairy tales. The main characters are taken from Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel, Cinderella and others.
The musical explores the consequences of the characters’ wishes. The storyline is connected by a childless baker and his wife, and their desire to begin a family. A witch places a curse on them after the baker’s father steals her vegetables, including magic beans.
The witch will lift the curse if she is brought four ingredients – a cow as white as milk, a cape as red as blood, hair as yellow as corn, and the slipper as pure as gold – in three days.
Zach Moore is the narrator, introducing the different characters in the show.
Myleigh Miller is Little Red Riding Hood, Emma Tower is the Baker’s Wife and Enoch Martin is the Baker.
There are 25 students in the cast, another 24 in the stage crew, and 17 in the pit orchestra.
Martin, a senior, has been performing in the Albion drama program since the middle school. He plans to work for two years after high school to save money and then head to California and Hollywood to be a professional actor.
He enjoys challenging himself to portray different characters. Into the Woods is “one of the more serious shows Albion has done,” he said.
Aubrey Boyer is the Witch, who raises Rapunzel in a tall tower accessible only by climbing Rapunzel’s long, golden hair.
Gary Simboli, the musical director, said the show features many soloists, including Boyer.
“It is a gargantuan show,” Simboli said. “It’s a huge storyline with many opportunities for soloists and individual storylines to develop.”
The set pieces are moving throughout the show, which Simboli said gives the feeling of an animated movie.
In Act 1, many of the characters see their wishes come true. Act 2 is darker and shows what happens to the characters after their wishes come true.
Kate Krieger is Cinderella who is surrounded by mythical creatures played by, from left: Olivia Morrison, April Henchen, Kaylyn Holman and Annalise Steier.
Krieger, a senior, said she has enjoyed being a part of the close-knit drama program at Albion.
“Everyone works really well together,” she said.
Cinderella shows many emotions during the show, which Krieger said she enjoys.
“It’s definitely an exciting show,” she said.
Nate Grammatico plays Jack who slays the Giant. He is shown with Laiken Ricker (Milky White), Hannah Van Epps (Jack’s mother), Emma Tower (Baker’s wife) and Jacob Ettinger (The Mysterious Man).
These characters include, from left: Sophia Zambito as Lucinda, Cinderella’s stepsister; Leah Kania as Florinda, Cinderella’s stepsister; and Hannah Brewer as Cinderella’s stepmother.
