The Perry County Middle School is about to put a different twist to some of the more well-known fairytales. The PCMS Pegleg Players will present “Into The Woods, JR.” beginning on Feb. 11-12 at 7 p.m. and Feb. 13 at 2 p.m. at the Old Senior High Performing Arts Auditorium.
The play was supposed to take place Feb. 4-6 but because of the snowstorm in the area last week, the program was forced to be rescheduled.
“The roads were too treacherous for the crew and patrons to make the trip to the school,” Play director Robbie Riehn said. “We even had trouble getting the door to the Old Senior High open on Monday because their was so much snow and ice in front of it.”
A total of 23 students from The PCMS Pegleg Players, along Riehn and Taylor Davis serving as the musical director, will offer an amusingly different way to think about everyone’s favorite fairy tale characters through their production of “Into The Woods JR.”
With a book by James Lapine and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, the play is based on the Broadway production which won several Tony Awards, including Best Score, Best Book, and Best Actress in a Musical.
The musical follows a Baker and his wife who learn they’ve been cursed with childlessness by the Witch next door. In order to have the spell broken they must set off into the woods and bring back four items: the cow as white as milk, the cape as red as blood, the hair as yellow as corn, and the slipper as pure as gold. The Baker and his wife must get the items from Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and Jack (fresh off the beanstalk!) As the story unfolds, storylines and characters intertwine and you get one hour full of music and comedy. Running time is approximately 60 minutes.
“This play has a lot of main characters, and we can highlight the students’ abilities,” Riehn said. “It’s all the fairytales woven together. The original production is more than two hours so this is edited neatly to one hour so it’s good for children. There’s a whole second half to the original show and we are presenting the first act, which has happy themes and makes it Disney-like.”
Riehn noted that this hopefully will be the first of two plays put on by the middle school students this year. Riehn has liked what he has seen from his students so far in rehearsals.
“Stephen Sondheim is really difficult to learn and the kids knew that going in,” he said. “We have made really quick progress and learned everything faster than even I anticipated. These plays are all about the kids having a character and learning the basics of acting and exposing them to the arts at an early age. But everyone that has a part is vital to the plot of the story, which I feel is a big thing for them. There are no ‘extras’ in this production.”
Another big thing for Riehn is having the young students in up on stage in front of an audience, a task that many of the kids have not been exposed to before.
“Just talking and acting in front of people can be scary for some children, especially if they have never done it before,” he said. “Hopefully as we practice our lines and things like that it will be easier once we go live this weekend. These kids have worked on to make this show a success.”
However it goes, Riehn is excited for these students to perform. These plays are so much fun, and I’m ready to see the work pay off,” he said.
Tickets are $6 and are available at http://pcmsd.booktix.com with a credit card for reserved seating or cash only at the door as general admission. Anyone sitting in a seat must have a ticket.
