Into the Woods: Behind the Magic
On stage, you will see trees of many sizes, rocks, grass, flowers, and Houses! But how are they made? During drama rehearsals, crewmembers can be found hard at work building massive trees and houses that roll on wheels. The secret to these giant set pieces is foam boards. These are lightweight, and easy to cut and paste. To make them look more like trees, large pieces of brown paper cover it to have that effect.
One day for any show, the Drama Club will have a “Set Build Saturday” where parent volunteers with toolbelts come in to help with the more advanced set pieces. For the show Into the Woods, our volunteers made the base to Rapunzel’s tower and big ramps that cast members can walk on.
It is no secret that music by Steven Sondheim can be a challenge to learn, no matter how much experience you have. His music consists of complex harmonies, sophisticated lyrics, and incredibly deep meanings. Just listen to “No One is Alone” or “Last Midnight” from Into the Woods!
Choir and A cappella teacher Mr. Hutcherson is the assistant director with emphasis on helping teach vocal music for the junior and high school musicals. What he does is read music, plays it on the piano to teach the cast, and helps with timing, harmonies, and anything that may be challenging in this complex music! When asked what he enjoys about what he does, he responds with “seeing the growth of our students from the very first rehearsal to the culminating performance showcasing all of their hard work and effort. Seeing relationships forged, confidence grow and seeing these students become better people through it all, means the world to me.”
Props are also very important to a show. They not only draw the audience into the scene, but they also function as a symbol for certain characters. For example, the beans represent Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk, and the basket of bread and sweets represents Little Red Riding Hood.
Sophomore Gabby Gatherwright is the prop master, and she makes, organizes, and sets up the props for this show. According to Gatherwright, around 30-35 props are used in the show! When asked what she enjoys about being the prop master, she claimed that she likes having a more difficult role towards her skills and being able to put up these challenges! Some of these challenges include having to make and buy some of the props. The hardest to make being the harp and bread, the hardest to buy being the fake toe and heel.
Challenge!!! Can you spot these props in our show? Easy: Basket of bread and sweets, hen with a golden egg, and blind stick canes. Harder: Corn, cheese cloth, and an umbrella.
Close up is where final touches are made, but the planning actually starts way sooner than you’d think! While the costumes team is making their plans, they would collaborate with our hair and makeup team, Miley Gumbert, to really put the looks together. When Gumbert was asked about inspiration, she claims “I just came up with them (the looks), some inspiration came from the internet. We wanted to make Rapunzel’s braid really long and pretty and the witch really ugly.”
Look closely, and you’ll find something unique about everyone’s hair and makeup! The witch will have amazing face prosthetics, and the wolf will have interesting wolf features!
