News & Events 2003-2004

Blair Academy Players Venture “Into the Woods”

The Blair Academy Players headed “Into the Woods,” as they performed one of the more popular contemporary musicals on February 19, 20 and 21, 2004, in the Armstrong-Hipkins Center for the Arts. (View cast photos below.)

“Into the Woods” features some of the most memorable characters you thought you knew from your childhood. An ambivalent Cinderella? A blood-thirsty Little Red Ridinghood? A Prince Charming with a roving eye? A Witch... who raps? They’re all among the cockeyed characters in James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim’s fractured fairy tale. When a Baker (junior Jon Kruse) and his Wife (senior Kate Barone) learn they’ve been cursed with childlessness by the Witch (junior Molly McAdoo) next door, they embark on a quest for the special objects required to break the spell, swindling, lying to and stealing from Cinderella (junior Dahlia Sandes), Little Red (junior Lauren Ricciardi), Rapunzel (senior Kathryn Moriarty) and Jack (senior Mike King) of beanstalk fame. Cinderella’s prince (senior Mike Spadaccini) turns out to be quite a wolf, while Rapunzel’s prince (senior Justin Devris) learns the agony of thwarted love, all of which is told by an omniscient Narrator (junior Jonathan Slawson). 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 a lively irreverent fantasy in the style of “The Princess Bride” becomes a moving lesson about community responsibility and the stories we tell our children.

The show’s student director was senior Carly Pearson. The set construction was directed by faculty member Wayne Rasmussen, while the musical director was faculty member Christopher Eanes. The orchestra was under the direction of faculty member Dana Williams. The director was Performing Arts Chairman Craig Evans.

The show has been performed twice on Broadway, first starring Bernadette Peters and then Vanessa Williams in revival. The original raves included USA Today’s calling it “Broadway’s best show.” “Total enchantment. A spellbounding score, witty enough to make old stories fresh for adults, lovely enough to enchant youngsters” wrote The Daily News. The New York Post felt the show was “Bewitching... dazzling... triumphant,” while Time magazine opined that the show was a “non-stop pure pleasure. A ravishing explosion of color and melody and magic and laughter.”

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