School musical combines three fairy tales with a twist.
By: Josh Appelbaum
Cranbury School was the scene of controlled chaos Monday afternoon as the cast and crew of "Into the Woods Jr." prepared for the musical’s April 7 opening.
Long stretches of the school’s hallways were lined with folding tables littered with props, costumes and even a few snacks for the more than 70 actors and technical crew involved in the production.
The play is based on the Stephen Sondheim musical, "Into the Woods." The play incorporates a chorus in addition to a large cast of lead characters, which number 21, and according to Director Gary Charwin is ideal for Cranbury School.
A retelling of "Rapunzel," "Little Red Riding Hood" and "Jack and the Beanstalk," the musical incorporates bits of libretto, or dialogue that is sung, into nearly every scene and transition. The story follows various fairy tale characters, mainly a baker and his wife that have been cursed by an evil witch. In order to lift the curse, the baker must collect an item from each of the characters.
Like all fairy tales, "Into the Woods Jr." is a costume drama, with a good measure of parental death. The characters in the play go into the woods to attain their dreams, and the fairy tales bleed into each other, with characters crossing paths helping or hurting each other.
Young thespians from Cranbury School inhabit the roles of classic fairy tales characters. Alex Charwin plays Jack, and Sharon Lurye plays his mother, who punishes him for buying "magical" beans from a mysterious baker, played by Alex Pelle, in exchange for his cow, Milky White, played by Annie Bonazzi.
Kelley Orcutt plays the baker’s wife and Rachel Hyman plays the evil witch who cursed her and her husband. Elizabeth O’Grady plays Little Red Riding Hood, who is bringing a basket of bread and sweets she’s gotten from the baker to her grandmother, played by Ginny Rogers. On the way, she encounters the Big Bad Wolf, played by Dylan DiCuio.
Elizabeth Kelly plays Rapunzel, complete with a long, golden wig. She awaits her prince, played by Derek DelCore. Cinderella, played by Veronica Spann, is another famous soon-to-be princess who is stranded in the woods. Her prince, played by her brother, Alex Spann, rescues her.
On Monday, a swarm of students got into costume for a dress rehearsal. Those in burlap tunics belted with ropes or black capes and masks represented black crows while those playing royalty were decked out in velvet, and adorned with large hats, wigs and other colorful separates.
About a dozen parents were on hand to ensure the cast had their props in place, their costumes were looking good and actors were in place before the curtain went up.
Music teacher Tommy Nichols manned the soundboard, adjusting levels on the 10 remote lapel mics the 21 lead actors share. Videographer Keith Pelcher was setting up his digital video camera to capture the rehearsal. The video feed also links to televisions in the boys’ and girls’ dressing rooms so actors can keep up with their cues.
An hour of preparation time not counting the two and a half months of rehearsal time goes into one dress rehearsal and it is very loud and everyone walks very quickly.
"You won’t believe me now, but this is actually all very organized," Mr. Charwin said.
A few minutes later, Mr. Charwin called everyone together for a pep talk, blowing hard on his whistle to assemble the massive cast and crew.
"Here’s your goal," Mr. Charwin said. "I want you to give me volume, I want you to be enthusiastic and, mostly importantly, have fun. We’re trying a full run-though without any stops. Have a good time and a good show."
Waiting for the cast to get into place and for the crew to set lights and sound, Mr. Charwin said the cast has worked against adversity to stage the musical.
"We’ve had to contend with losing about six days of rehearsal to snow," Mr. Charwin said. "But everyone really stepped up in order to make it happen. I mean, we have middle-schoolers singing Soundheim."
Not to mention the fact that Mr. Charwin has rewritten the play for a middle school audience, expunging some of its darker elements while trying to incorporate scenes and songs from the more violent second act.
He said the young actors embraced the material, which he described as difficult to sing, and he was surprised at how far everyone came.
"I’ve seen a lot of growth and enthusiasm," Mr. Charwin said. "Everyone is taking their parts very seriously. They are asking a lot of questions and really thinking about (their roles)."
Mr. Charwin said "Into the Woods Jr." is a departure from past school musicals, like last year’s play, "Annie." The play, however, is specifically important to the cast, and Mr. Charwin said the cast and crew learned valuable lessons about commitment and hard work during rehearsal. He said he hopes they will take something away from the experience.
"I think that the actors will find it’s worth it in the end," Mr. Charwin said. "The most important thing is the memory they will take away from the experience."
"Into the Woods Jr." will be performed in the auditorium at Cranbury School on Saturday, April 9, at 7 p.m. Admission is $6 for adults and $4 for students. Tickets are available at the door.

