For the next three days, the Moore Theatre stage will become a forest. As audiences fill the seats to watch "Into the Woods," DePauw Theatre's first production of the school year, they may be reminded of the magical wooded areas and dynamic characters from their favorite childhood fairytales.
With soaring vocal performances, laughter, tears and no lack of gore, this collaboration between the College of Liberal Arts and the School of Music manages to turn classic fairytales on their heads and prove that happily ever after isn't the end of the tale. The story, "Into the Woods," is based on "Children's and Household Tales," a German book of fairytales collected by brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm who became widely known for their compilation of the stories.
The musical initially follows the original plot lines of a handful of well-known fairy tales, including Rapunzel, Jack and the Beanstalk and Cinderella, before veering off into other adaptations and taking viewers along for the ride.
Senior Will Freske, the musical's production and stage manager, said people often associate fairy tales with being happy and upbeat. However, the Brothers Grimm versions, and thus the adaptations portrayed in this production, are far from happy. While the Disney renditions may be more widely recognized, Into the Woods stays true to the not-so-nice aspect of these fairytales, making it a somewhat gruesome comedy.
"The first act is like a typical fairy-tale, everybody gets what they want, good prevails," Freske said. "The second act is taking on what the consequences are for getting those wishes."
Communication and theatre professor Tim Good, the director of "Into the Woods," agreed with Freske's synopsis.
"All of act one ends up with everybody getting what they think they want, which of course goes to crap like it does in real life," Good said.
Perhaps because of its darker tendencies, Into the Woods offers audience members more insight into real life struggles than its "happily ever after" counter-parts do.
Senior Claire Wilkinson, who plays the baker's wife in the musical, reflected on the many lessons that can be learned.
"It's coming of age, it's dealing with death, it's realizing that your life isn't what you thought it was going to be [and] that sometimes the things you want aren't always going to make you happy," Wilkinson said.
Good hopes the musical gets a certain message across to audience members.
"At the very end, it all comes down to what we've got is each other," Good said.
Finding a way to bring both realism and thematic content to a staged performance has proved to be challenging. The actors carry the responsibility of making tragic scenes interspersed with laughter ring true. According to Good, the cast did a lot of character relationship building to learn how it is reflected through physicality.
The show, which lasts over two hours, requires the audience to have faith in the story unfolding before them. As a result, the actors must fully embody the characters they are portraying.
Junior Elleka Okerstrom, who plays Little Red Ridinghood, has been challenged by her role.
"The hard part for me was making it funny but realistic," Okerstrom said. "I'm 20 years old, and I'm playing a 12 year-old. I just wanted to make her seem like somebody's kid."
Getting into character beforehand is key to making a hard to believe scenes seem real.
While senior Erik Erlandson said he usually jumps right into his role as the baker,
Wilkinson admitted there's more to it for her.
"Sometimes if I'm a little stressed before I go on [stage]," Wilkinson said. "I take a moment, take a deep breath and relax."
For Okerstrom, getting the characterization just right for Little Red Riding Hood has been a process.
"Every time [we rehearse] I get more comfortable with it, it's not something that clicks over night," Okerstrom said.
As a joint venture between the School of Music and the College of Liberal Arts, Into the Woods is one of a relatively small number of musicals performed by DePauw Theatre. There have only been eight musical productions on campus prior to this one, including last year's Urinetown: The Musical.
A possible explanation for the small number is that musicals require a different set of actors than a regular theatrical production does. Good explained that some cast members have taken voice lessons for multiple years but may have only taken one acting class.
"I'm much more of a singer actress," Okerstrom said. "I mean most of us who are in the show are vocal majors so that's our primary discipline, and then by default we obviously know how to act because that's the nature of our degree."
She added that it's a big change moving from vocal to theatrical performance.
"It's definitely been a struggle," she said. "It's a different kind of acting."
Senior Elisabeth Sutherland, the assistant student director, also felt the musical nature of the production has been challenging for the student actors.
"It's a different kind of singing for them," Sutherland said. "They have to think of the songs as monologues instead of, 'I'm standing here singing.'"
Before casting the show, Good said he was aware that the different type of acting would be a challenge for the singers.
Regardless of the actors' performance backgrounds, "Into the Woods" aims to make the audience members question their pre-conceived notions of morality.
"You've got the lines at the end 'Witches can be right. Giants can be good,'" Good said. "We all want to do what's right, but what's right isn't really clear."
While getting this message across has been tough, some cast members have loved being tested - and have found their involvement with the musical to be worth the hours of rehearsal.
"It's been great," Okerstrom said. "It's been really eye-opening. You just realize how hard you need to push yourself to get a really strong end product."
For those who missed last night's performance, there are more to come this weekend. Opportunities to see Into the Woods include tonight and Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. and a matinee performance Sunday at 3 p.m. All performances will take place at Moore Theatre inside the Green Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets are $3 for students and $6 for the general public, and are available online and at the GCPA Box Office.
