Washougal High Takes on Challenge With Musical

By Mary Ann Albright, The Columbian, Vancouver, Wash.

Mar. 8–In their most ambitious musical production to date, Washougal High School students are tackling Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s “Into the Woods,” an amalgamation of fairy tales that’s equal parts happily ever after and harsh reality check.

Washougal High School has performed other musicals, but “Into the Woods” has a high ratio of singing to speaking that’s more akin to operetta, said drama teacher and director Kelly Gregersen.

“A lot of the information and a lot of the plot points happen through music. A lot of the conversations are sung, not spoken,” he said.

The volume and complexity of songs requires a strong cast, and the production’s 30 actors have been rehearsing since November to nail Sondheim’s big vocals and fast, twisting lyrics. Washougal High School choir teacher Jennifer Mahorney is providing musical direction for the show, and band teacher Kelly Ritter is leading a reduced pit orchestra of nine students and a guest Clark College keyboardist. A crew of nine students, along with parent volunteers who created sets, costumes and props, rounds out the roster.

In the first act, “Into the Woods” offers light, escapist fun. Figures from classic fairy tales, along with the original characters of the baker and his wife, come together, and all their dreams are realized. Cinderella gets her prince, Jack comes down the beanstalk and reunites with his beloved cow and the baker and his wife lift the witch’s curse preventing them from having a child.

It seems all is well, but the second act takes a darker turn, as issues of death, infidelity and revenge disillusion the characters.

“When you get what you wish for, it brings its own set of problems,” said Gregersen, 40.

It’s a message his young actors have taken to heart.

“The idea that the choices we make, the wishes that we have and what the consequences are really have had an impact on the students,” he said. “For an age that’s so driven by impulse, by emotion, by the moment, the idea that what we do really comes back to influence where we go and who we are resonates.”

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Copyright (c) 2008, The Columbian, Vancouver, Wash.

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