2008 Woodie Awards
Conservatory ventures 'Into the Woods'
By: Maggie Carlson
Issue date: 4/28/05 Section: Culture
Audiences got an idea of what happens after "happily ever after" at the Conservatory's production of "Into the Woods" April 22 through 26.
Featuring music by Steven Sondheim, "Into the Woods" unites the tales of Cinderella, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Bean Stalk and an original tale of a baker and his wife when all of the characters cross paths in the woods.
Senior Michael Morrow Hammack played the Baker, whose family had been cursed by a witch so that he and his wife could not have children.
He said the show transitions from the familiar fairy tales to realism.
"It touches on the aspect of fairy tales you never hear about; what happens after the happily ever after," Hammack, a musical theater major, said. "It puts a much more real spin on everything."
Director Christopher Gurr described the musical as a grown-up fairy tale.
"I think it is a grown-up version of children's theatre," said Gurr, who graduated from Webster University's Conservatory in 1989. "It shows the complications of getting what you wish for."
Gurr is a freelance director, actor and teacher and is also an artistic associate at Geva Theatre in Rochester, N.Y.
Senior Tim Seib, who played the narrator and the mysterious man, said he wanted to play this character because he watched the tape of the Broadway production when he was a child. Because he does not study musical theater, he wanted to play a character that did not sing.
"I've never seen myself singing, but I always wanted to be part of the show," Seib, a regional theater major, said. "This was the one part I knew I could have."
Hammack said it was great to perform in front of an audience, especially because he had wanted to be in the show since he saw it for the first time when he was 8 years old.
"It was absolutely wonderful because I had wanted to perform the show for so long and having the chance to do it in front of the audience made it that much better," Hammack said.
Seib agrees.
"There were so many great jokes and things we thought were funny, but after four weeks of rehearsal we got used to them," Seib said. "It was great to have an audience to react."
The 19-person cast rehearsed for four weeks to perfect the production, and senior Jenni Bowman, the play's stage manager, said the cast made the show so successful.
"The students in the cast are crazy talented and that's what makes the show really good," Bowman said. "It's a really fun, exciting show."
Featuring music by Steven Sondheim, "Into the Woods" unites the tales of Cinderella, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Bean Stalk and an original tale of a baker and his wife when all of the characters cross paths in the woods.
Senior Michael Morrow Hammack played the Baker, whose family had been cursed by a witch so that he and his wife could not have children.
He said the show transitions from the familiar fairy tales to realism.
"It touches on the aspect of fairy tales you never hear about; what happens after the happily ever after," Hammack, a musical theater major, said. "It puts a much more real spin on everything."
Director Christopher Gurr described the musical as a grown-up fairy tale.
"I think it is a grown-up version of children's theatre," said Gurr, who graduated from Webster University's Conservatory in 1989. "It shows the complications of getting what you wish for."
Gurr is a freelance director, actor and teacher and is also an artistic associate at Geva Theatre in Rochester, N.Y.
Senior Tim Seib, who played the narrator and the mysterious man, said he wanted to play this character because he watched the tape of the Broadway production when he was a child. Because he does not study musical theater, he wanted to play a character that did not sing.
"I've never seen myself singing, but I always wanted to be part of the show," Seib, a regional theater major, said. "This was the one part I knew I could have."
Hammack said it was great to perform in front of an audience, especially because he had wanted to be in the show since he saw it for the first time when he was 8 years old.
"It was absolutely wonderful because I had wanted to perform the show for so long and having the chance to do it in front of the audience made it that much better," Hammack said.
Seib agrees.
"There were so many great jokes and things we thought were funny, but after four weeks of rehearsal we got used to them," Seib said. "It was great to have an audience to react."
The 19-person cast rehearsed for four weeks to perfect the production, and senior Jenni Bowman, the play's stage manager, said the cast made the show so successful.
"The students in the cast are crazy talented and that's what makes the show really good," Bowman said. "It's a really fun, exciting show."