Berkeleyplayhouse.org<\/a> or (510) 845-8542 ext. 351.<\/p>\n\u201cInto The Woods\u201d premiered in 1987 and won Tony Awards in 1988 for both its book, by James Lapine, and score, by Stephen Sondheim. It has captivated audiences for nearly four decades with its dark take on the fairy tales we think we know. The show asks, what happens after \u201chappily ever after\u201d? And it answers with wit, heartbreak and some of the most sophisticated songwriting in the American musical theater canon.<\/p>\n
The story begins with a baker and his wife, desperate to lift a witch\u2019s curse and start a family. Their quest takes them deep into the woods, where they cross paths, first, with Cinderella racing home from the ball. Then comes Jack heading to market with his cow, Little Red Riding Hood on her way to grandmother\u2019s house, and Rapunzel locked in her tower. Each character is chasing a wish. Not all of them will be glad when their wishes come true.<\/p>\n
For Berkeley Playhouse\u2019s YouthStage program, it\u2019s exactly the kind of material that makes young performers grow.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2018Into The Woods\u2019 is a classic fairy tale musical written by one of our greatest theater composers,\u201d said co-director Jesse Cortez. \u201cWhat I love about it is that three familiar stories are all unfolding at once, and the characters only find what they\u2019re looking for by venturing into the woods and learning from each other. It\u2019s a perfect show for our YouthStage students. Each young actor brings their own background and story to the stage, and together they\u2019ll take this journey to find, to think, to teach and to learn. I\u2019m so thrilled to bring this show out of the storybooks and to life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cortez co-directs alongside Megan McGrath, who also serves as choreographer. McGrath\u2019s work with YouthStage has helped define Berkeley Playhouse\u2019s identity as a training ground for young theater artists. She sees productions like this one as central to the organization\u2019s mission.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2018Into The Woods\u2019 is a challenging show,\u201d said McGrath. \u201cWe had to create rhythms, gestures and formation that would differentiate each of the stories that collide in the woods, all while the actors must recite quick and tricky melodies and lyrics.\u201d<\/p>\n
Music Director Daniel Alley leads a cast of rising 8th through 12th graders through one of the most vocally demanding scores in musical theater. The feat is made more impressive by the production\u2019s double-cast structure. Two full casts (The Wish Cast and the Moment Cast) perform the show bringing their own interpretation to every role.<\/p>\n
The production is designed by a full creative team: scenic design by Jenna Forder, costumes by Julia Husch, lighting design by Cameron Pence, sound design by Joshua Price, and props by Emily Summers. Stage management is by Sarah O\u2019Brien.<\/p>\n
The Wish Cast includes: Azalea Campbell, Mia Wong, Ernst Wang, Kimiko Bearde-Xisin, Sofie Donati, Brenda Gonzalez, Chase Wilcox, Lourdes Verde Lombardo, Taylor Petri, Nevo Naftalin-Kelman, Sawyer Ciruli, Harper Taylor, Piper Lilquist, Elise Talbot, Keila Reeves, Ella Smithers, Jayden McAdams and Maeve Dey-Toth.<\/p>\n
The Moment Cast includes: Tade O\u2019Keeffe, Cameron Turner, Jonathan Paul Smith III, Ruby Barme, Grace Cedars, June Russell, Sam Canny, Abbie (Gabrielle) Gaudet, Kate Cheng, Aiden Waltzer, Vince Armstrong, Eva Pudiyapura, Junia Martens, Kate Lynch, Charlotte Donaldson, Harper Rothe, Avery McNamara and Micah Cedars.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat makes this show so right for this age group,\u201d McGrath said, \u201cis that it explores the transition from childhood to adulthood with honesty and humor. The musical asks what happens after wishes come true and encourages young people to think about accountability and compassion for others.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Berkeley Playhouse\u2019s \u201cInto The Woods\u201d<\/a> runs July 11-19 at the Julia Morgan Theater.<\/p>\n“*” indicates required fields<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A cast of talented Berkeley-area teenagers takes the stage this July at Berkeley Playhouse for \u201cInto The Woods,\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":363800,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[27076,143,145,144,1058],"class_list":["post-363799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-arts-resource-guide","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-theater"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=363799"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363799\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/363800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=363799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=363799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=363799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}