Into the Woods is a musical about multiple characters from your favorite classic fairy tale stories in one storyline. The musical consistently uses the themes of life, love, and loss within the woods as a metaphor for life itself. With music and lyrics written by the late Stephen Sondheim, the music is notorious for being extremely difficult to play and sing. The main roles you likely know include Jack (Jack and the Beanstalk), Little Red Riding Hood (Little Red Riding Hood), and Cinderella (Cinderella) but also include the Baker, Baker’s Wife, and the Witch to add a more relatable sense to the story.

NDP’s cast of Into the Woods has been working hard since mid-September and will be continuing to work hard until the very end of the last performance. With directing from Ms. Ward and choreography by Mrs. Poxon, Into the Woods is a fine example of visual genius and creativity. Musically, instruction from Mrs. Bilenki is essential in order for the cast to learn and perform music by Sondheim and adds a whole other layer to the production of this show. They all have been doing a spectacular job in adding the magic that will shine brightly on opening night and beyond.

Along with the adults running the show, the stage crew that works behind the scenes amplifies the actors’ performance immensely. With the new stage manager, Aleena Correal (’24) heading the front, the crew is responsible for creating all props, moving sets, setting lights, and mixing sound to put on the best production possible. Without them, it would be very difficult to visualize the imagery the cast has worked so hard to create and therefore deserve more credit than they receive.

Lastly, the cast applies ingenious, wonderful twists to the characters and continues to earn the roles that they have been given. The show’s music consists of a mix between solos, duets, group pieces, and even some songs just spoken in rhythm which makes the show to be exceedingly difficult. For the production of Into the Woods, the cast is co-ed, and the schools range from different places around Maryland. Everyone who has joined the Into the Woods cast and crew has been supportive of each other and pushed one another to do their best work.

Senior Shoutouts

Jalyn Edrington as the Witch has done a fantastic job of playing a large character arch with a deep emotional range and applies the vocal range and tone to coincide with the Witch’s personality and does it all really well!

Chloe LaCanfora as the Baker’s Wife is a tremendous role to ask since the number of lines and blocking are unforgiving, yet she manages it with a smile! She adds a refreshing emotion to the Baker’s Wife that is not often applied to the character and does a wonderful job applying said emotion to her gorgeous vocal ability.

Sarah Gnacek as the Narrator is often underappreciated, however, the number of lines given to her would make one constantly stressed. Since the Narrator usually speaks in between parts of music, it is very difficult to keep track of the amount of time you have until you must finish your line and Sarah has done so EVERY SINGLE TIME. It is unbelievable that she had her lines down for a while and adds a wonderful, bright tone to the finale of Act 1.

Zhyan Noble as Jack’s Mother is not an easy role whatsoever and Zhyan does an exemplary job at maintaining the “running out of patience” character while also including a whole new layer of comedic timing and phrasing. Her vocal parts are constantly improving and demonstrate all the hard work put into the different lines and songs.

Rose Glennon as the Stepmother is both a comedic relief and a slap of reality in the show. Rose performs a striking character that represents some peoples’ reactions to life-changing events and does it amazingly! While she is also known as a dancer, she knows everything about the group dances and is always assisting the cast with perfecting the steps for which they are grateful.

Ally Rossbach as Cinderella’s Mother is an interesting part to play since the character is technically dead. Since Cinderella’s Mother is the reason Cinderella goes to the festival, the character has an air of mystery around her, and the vocal line reflects that. Ally does a beautiful job at hitting higher notes without pummeling them to keep the character continuous.

And lastly, we have Brooke Mackley, Riley Ward, Noelle Barczak, Katie Wehberg, and Julia Kline who are wonderful editions to our ensemble. They grace us with their beautiful vocal skills and add a ton of energy to the dance numbers. It would not be the same without them onstage and offstage, they are some of the most hilarious and entertaining people I have ever met and continuously work hard to make Into the Woods the best it can be.

NDP’s preview of Into the Woods is November 9^th and the dates of the performance on November 11^th and 12^th at 7:00 and the 13^th at 3:00.

Tickets can be purchased here: Online Box Office (booktix.com)