Into the Woods jr

Into the Woods is a musical by Stephen Sondheim which interweaves the plots of several well-known fairy tales.  All of these stories are tied together by the main plot of a childless baker and his wife who long to start a family but have been cursed by a witch.  The junior version of this musical has been adapted into a child-friendly version.

It was lovely to see the young cast of Teesside Musical Theatre Youth Company work very well together to present this delightful musical under the direction of Alison Dale.  The youngest members of the cast were just 4 years old.  However they delivered their lines and songs with confidence and executed the choreography very well throughout.

Every member of the cast was given their own character(s) to portray.  The Narrator (Ava Simpson) did an excellent job in guiding the audience through the story, with good vocals and use of facial expression.  The baker (Matthew Beck) and his wife (Holly Scarlett-Carr) were very well played, with beautiful singing from Holly in particular. Emily Kay gave a beautiful performance as Cinderella.  Jack (Simon Reeve) was well played along with his cow, Milky-White (Patrick Cook-Smith).  The cow costume was well planned to allow Patrick to move around the stage with ease.  Jack’s mother was played by Lauren Wilson, who also played the wolf with excellent characterisation in both roles.  Katie Shepherd excelled in her role as the witch.  She sang with lovely emotion, especially in “stay with me”.  Emily Heward was outstanding in the role of Little Red Riding Hood, delivering all of her songs and lines with expertise beyond her 8 years of age.  Cinderella’s Prince (Jake Mason) and Rapunzel’s Prince (Bailey Thomas) were played with very good comedy, with Bailey’s frequent hair flicking met with much laughter throughout.

The main cast were supported by a number of smaller roles: Cinderella’s Mother/Rapunzel/Pinocchio (Abbie Whitehead), Stepmother/Snow White (Millie Stallard), Cinderella’s Father/Steward/Peter Pan (Megan Weaver), Florinda/Alice (Elise Taylor), Lucinda/Granny (Grace Dean), Mysterious Man (Edward Cook-Smith), Hansel  and Gretel (Isaac and Poppy Short), Snow White’s Prince (Nathan Simpson) and Tinker Bell (Ellie-Mae Sayers). 

The costumes, set and lighting were excellent.  Well done Teesside Musical Theatre Youth Company – a fabulous production and a very enjoyable evening.

Councillors notes:
As an addendum to Jo-Anne's report I saw the afternoon performance on the 21st Oct where the roles were in some cases played by other actors. Holly Scarlett-Carr gave a solid trustworthy performance as Jack's mother with great characterisation and acting skills; In this performance the role of the Bakers wife was played with great empathy and superb vocals by Emily Boardman in a portrayal that belied her youthful years; the small but pivitol role of Red Hiding Hood  was totally 'owned' by Ellie-May Sayers as she skipped around the stage in a precocious and wholly confident fashion.

It's the first time I have seen the junior version of Into The Woods and I have to say I liked the fact it ends at a point before getting too 'dark' as it tends to do in the full version - ideal for children. I was massively impressed, also, that this youth section had mastered the complex lyrics, music and harmonies of the Stephen Sondheim score - all in a ridiculously short period of six weeks! Well done to Mike and Alison and all involved.

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