THE JUNGLE BOOK KIDS & INTO THE WOODS JR.

Ilkley AOS “Juniors” presentation of two shows in one night gave us a delightful insight into the “imaginary” world of the jungle and the woods.

Act 1 brought us the story of ’Jungle Book’, which has been loved by all ages since it was first released as a film in 1967

The story of Man Cub, Mowgli and his adventures with all the jungle animals has captivated children and adults for many years and the kids stage version was a perfect choice for the young Jungle Book cast to perform.

The show opened to a stage full of some very well designed costumes that were so colourful and definitely had the “wow” factor.  These interesting outfits coupled with good characterisations, made it easy for the audience to tell which animal each cast member represented.  

There was some excellent singing from the full chorus – all the jungle folk and animals on stage, with the choir positioned each side of the stage at the front.  The singing was brilliant and it was obvious that everyone had put a lot of effort into learning the words and how to act them out while singing.  Everyone did a great job of keeping in time to the backing tracks – which is no mean feat for the cast of such a young age.  The singing throughout was easily heard and very clearly told the story.

In addition to the singing there was some very confident and enthusiastic acting.  The show flowed at a very quick pace which is exactly what was required and the narrative could be completely understood.  Everyone was so well rehearsed and they all looked like they were enjoying their time on stage.

The audience reaction at the end of the story was a real tribute to the hard work that had gone on both on stage and back stage – it was clear that a massive amount of teamwork and effort had taken place.

Act 2 brought us the tale of “Into The Woods” – this is a musical with a modern twist on a combination of fairy tales including: Jack and The Beanstalk, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood and many more.  The Baker and his wife need to go “Into the Woods” to collect ingredients so as to break the spell that has left them childless.  The show opened with an introduction which was performed with gusto from the full company and this set the tone for the rest of the production. 

The various scenes (Woods, cottages etc) were realistically created and multi-purpose and quickly and efficiently adapted.  Once again, the costumes were well thought out and looked brilliant, giving the audience a clear picture of whom each of the characters was.  The props were excellent and well used by the cast.  The sound and lighting was effective throughout and well controlled.

Every member of the young cast gave an impressive performance with many “stars in the making” including Mary Warren as The Witch, Joey Wilby as The Baker, Siena Anderson as The Baker’s wife and Elodie Parsons as Red Riding Hood to name a few.

“Into The Woods” is a beautiful and complex Sondheim musical.  Mark Allan’s direction and choreography through both of these pieces created some magic and gave the audience an evening of fun” in the jungle”, and love and promise “in the woods”.

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