What would make you go into the woods? Desperation to sell your family’s cow? A desire to bring your grandmother bread? To find a way to break your family curse? All these wishes and more weave multiple fairy tales together in this year’s Junior Musical production of Into the Woods Jr.
This junior version of the Tony award winning Broadway musical comes to Greenwood’s theatre for three shows on November 21 and 22. Since September, the cast has been rehearsing their lines, musical numbers, dance choreography and stage movements all in preparation for opening night. Behind the scenes, members of the Production Club prepared set decorations, costumes and props.
Every theatre production is a massive undertaking involving a large number of students and staff and Into the Woods Jr. is no different! While the cast is made up of students from Grades 7 to 9, the crew has students from every grade. The Grade 12 Musical Theatre class is also heavily involved with the Junior Musical production as an experiential aspect of their curriculum.
“In Musical Theatre class, we learned about the history and theory of musical productions, but being part of a production really gives me insight into the practical elements,” says Molly Marshall ‘26, one of the Grade 12 Musical Theatre students. “You can only learn so much from a classroom and this experience has given me a sense of what I want to pursue for my career.”
“We’ve both been a part of many Greenwood theatre productions as cast members so we’ve been able to use that experience to help guide younger students,” adds Charlotte Polley ‘26, another Grade 12 Musical Theatre student. “Being on the production side also gives us a new perspective.”
Meanwhile, Carter Goldblatt ‘26 has been involved in many productions as part of the backstage crew and is now one of the Stage Managers for this show. “For this production, I’ve definitely taken on a teaching role for the younger crew members which is different from when I was part of the stage crew for previous productions,” he says.
Before the Greenwood community gets to see this production on Friday, the cast and crew performed a special rehearsal for Grades 3 to 6 students from Sunnybrook School on Wednesday, November 19. For those lucky enough to have reserved tickets for one of the three shows this weekend - enjoy this musical adventure!
Now into the woods without delay!
Production Team:
Directors & Choreographers: Sam King & Adelaide Leo
Music Director: Lindsay Newman
Costume Design: Alishah Virji
Head of Props: Zoe Sedlak
Hair & Makeup: Anna Spota
Production Assistant: Kristi Wong
Photography: Marcio Sargento
Backstage Manager: Allie Gottlieb
AV Technician: Nick Contini
Grade 12 Musical Theatre Class:
Directors & Choreographers: Molly Marshall ‘26, Carter Murphy ‘26 and Charlotte Polley ‘26
Vocal Coach: Abby Weston ‘26
Costumes, Set & Props: Sloane Basch ‘26 and Claire Sparling ‘26
Hair & Makeup: Molly Marshall ‘26 and Charlotte Polley ‘26
Stage Manager: Carter Goldblatt ‘26
Backstage Assistance: Sloane Basch ‘26, Carter Murphy ‘26 and Abby Weston ‘26
Crew:
Props, Costumes & Set: Irmak Aydeniz ‘28, Sophia Ceretti ‘31, Sadie Chapman ‘26, Astrid Kim ‘26, Emily Kuzyk ‘31, Addie Liu ‘30, Charlotte Lowes ‘31, Mary Jane Moral ‘31, Bianca Pereira ‘29, Michelle Zhang ‘30, Sunny Zhou ‘28
Hair & Makeup: Sophia Ceretti ‘31, Chloe Di Girolamo ‘26, Jess Jansen ‘29, Sam Lapowich ‘31, Leah MacDonald ‘29, Nisha Malhotra ‘27, Cate Pooley ‘29, Grace Rivard ‘29, Ella Roland ‘27, Sofija Sabour-Danells ‘29 and Maddy Shaw ‘27
Stage Manager: Sam Jaskolka ‘26
Backstage & Booth Crew: Irmak Aydeniz ‘28, Delphine Bryce ‘29, Paige Carter ‘28, Sam Claydon ‘27, Charlotte Fisher-Holy ‘28, Angelia Huang ‘30, Violet Kostoff ‘28, Nicholas Lombardo ‘31, Liam McKenna ‘29, Izzy Parisien ‘30, Ayla Shultz ‘29, Téa Stoute ‘27 and Sunny Zhou ‘28
Booth Operators: Jasmine Chen ‘28, Gabby Hawkings ‘28 and Lotus Lampert ‘28
Graphic Design: Liv Hervey ‘28 and Lotus Lampert ‘28
Cast:
Narrator - Simona Sera ‘29
Narrator - Chris Hildyard ‘29
Baker - Leo Duviner ‘30
Baker’s Wife - Kate Claydon ‘29
Witch - Lea Fuerstenberg ‘30
Cinderella - Lily Jakubowski ‘29
Jack - Tristan Bouchard ‘29
Little Red Ridinghood - Hannah Gosevitz-Foulds ‘31
Jack Mother - Maya Dunn ‘29
Cinderella’s Prince - Ish El-Buckley ‘29
Wolf - Elliot Veneziano ‘29
Rapunzel’s Prince - Charles Martin ‘29
Rapunzel - Hailey Yoo ‘30
Cinderella’s Mother - Coco Stollery ‘30
Cinderella’s Stepmother - Harlowe Sadeh ‘29
Mysterious Man - Mahpary Ghorbany ‘29
Granny - Hunter Thompson ‘31
Milky White - Fiona Veneziano ‘31
Florinda - Arabel Rideout ‘31
Florinda - Sloane Ingram ‘31
Lucinda - Emma Cooper ‘31
Lucinda - Ivy Clarke ‘31
Steward and Cinderella’s Father - Henry Mee ‘30
Steward - Matthew Reynolds ‘30