It’s rare to sit through a three-hour school musical without checking your watch, but East Hampton High’s journey “Into the Woods” was a delightful one that made time fly by. Thoughtfully cast by Katie Schreck, the high school’s musical director, the production took on the ambitious task of performing Sondheim and succeeded.
“I am immensely proud of the entire cast, crew, and pit orchestra for working together to create such a beautiful performance,” Ms. Schreck said. “The show requires such precision and focus and teamwork; it was flawlessly executed. Students worked hard to get the nuances, the comedy, and the poignant ‘moments in the woods.’ ”
The show’s three performances were delayed because of snow, enabling the actors and musicians to have a full week of technical rehearsals. Peyton Castro, their stage manager, was especially grateful for the extra time to practice. “I had a lot of challenges. One show, a crown was left on stage. I don’t think people noticed. Faith’s wig fell off on Saturday and you didn’t notice,” Peyton said. “This show is so complex. For the cast, it was so hard to get the lyrics down. The lyrics just keep spitting out and it’s hard to choreograph. Over all I think we did a really good job.”
Skylar Hand, a junior, shared some of the tricks that helped her master her performance as the Baker’s Wife. “Sondheim was definitely a challenge. What really helped was just drilling the songs. I spent a lot of time just re-listening to the soundtrack, almost to the point where I couldn’t deal with the songs anymore,” she explained. “The scenes with dialogue in them also took a while of practice. I made a Quizlet with all of my cues and lines and then used that to study them daily. The only way to become good at Sondheim’s show, or any show, is just to drill and practice as much as you can.”
Skylar was cast alongside her good friend Patrick Conlon, who did an excellent job playing the Baker. “It was really nice getting to work with Patrick, and I feel like being able to do so many scenes with friends like that makes things a lot more comfortable and makes the scenes flow better too. Before the shows, Patrick was a good person to help hype me up, and he was really kind to everyone in the cast.”
“Into the Woods” is a musical that incorporates elements of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales “Cinderella,” “Jack and the Beanstalk,” “Little Red Riding Hood,” and “Rapunzel.” Emily Jimenez, a senior, played Rapunzel, spending the majority of the three-hour show onstage in the window of a tower. “It’s hard work being up there the whole time because you have to act the entire time. You can’t just doze off. You have to be in character even when you’re not doing anything onstage,” Emily said. She plans to major in musical theater in college, but was sad to see her last high school musical come to an end. “I’m really happy that I got to be friends with all of the people, especially the freshmen. Faith [Mullaly] was one of my close friends during the show, so I’m really happy to have met her and experienced the show with her.”
Faith, a freshman who played the Witch, had one of the most challenging roles in the play and performed it to perfection. She’s such a skilled singer and actress, it’s no wonder no one noticed when her wig fell off during a performance; she found a way to work it into the scene. Thrilled to have been cast in a leading role, Faith was so overcome with emotion when the shows were over that she needed help finding her parents after her final performance.
“Patrick had to walk me down to my parents because I was crying so hard,” she said. “It has been an honor and a privilege to meet such amazing people in this cast. The show was cast perfectly and the people in general are amazing.”
Zach Nagel, a senior who played Rapunzel’s Prince, shared those emotions. “I’m really happy with how it went and I’m just really sad it’s over,” Zach said. “I’m going to be majoring in political science, but if I have opportunities to do theater in college, I will absolutely take them because I love it so much.”
Another senior who is also an athlete, Sophia Figueroa, hasn’t had a moment to think about the show ending. She competed on Bonac’s indoor track team while playing the Giant in the musical, running most days after school from 3 to 5, before heading to rehearsal until 7:30. She’s also a member of the spring track and field team, which started practicing the day after “Into the Woods” wrapped. Not one to be deterred by a busy schedule, Sophia plans to keep up with acting and athletics in college; she’s been accepted to Syracuse University. “I know that wherever I go, I’m going to keep doing what I love, whether it’s theater or art,” she said. “I think I’m going to run track in college. I think it would be really fun.”
While the students were the stars of the show, they were quick to thank the faculty who made the magic happen, aware of how much they sacrificed to bring the musical to life. “Ms. Schreck is an incredible human being and she puts all her heart and soul in all the shows, as well as Ms. Jayne [Freedman, the assistant director] and Ms. [Alex] Bates, our choreographer,” Ms. Mullaly said. “I’m very thankful to be a part of the show that they directed.”