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"Sometimes the things you most wish for are not to be touched!"

With all honesty, directing Into the Woods wasn't on my wishlist this year.  However, when issues arose with our contract for The Music Man, we had to go back to the drawing board.  However, I can tell you that even then, Into the Woods wasn't even a thought.  For years, I have always said that I wouldn't propose it to the Shoestring Players Board unless we could adequately cast it and do it well.  It's a musical that takes exceptional vocal chops and features numerous solos and duets with minimal ensemble (large group) numbers.  Sure, musical theatre actors LOVE the meaty roles, but to whom much is given -- much is required.  To perform Into the Woods, they must pay the "Stephen Sondheim" tax - it's going to be brilliant - but far from easy. 

However, just like some of our characters meet their demise one after the other in Act II (uh oh - spoiler alert), so too did our top three options for alternate musicals meet their demise on the licensing rejection floor.  It all came down to option four: Into the Woods.  As if by magic, within minutes of applying, we were granted performance rights and the midnights started ticking by as we switched gears and headed into a vividly different world than the one we might find in River City, Iowa. We held auditions in Septemeber, hoping our amazing Shoestringers would rise to the challenge, and they absolutely did!  Whatever magic lives in this show provided us with a delightful overabundance of talent during those audition nights, and I was confident we had the team needed to bring my directoral vision of Into the Woods to life!

During the first music rehearsal back in October, I quickly realized that learning this music would be no walk in the park for our actors.  Curious about the complexity, I sat down with the vocal score and counted the number of key signature changes during the Opening song of Act 1 -- in case you're interested, there are 36 - just in the first song! This show has been a challenge - with its large cast, incredibly demanding vocal score (it's Sondheim, after all - IYKYK), and myriad of moving pieces, Into the Woods is probably the most difficult musical Shoestring has produced during our past 16 years.  However, I can also say with absolute certainty that this cast has worked on this show like their hair is on fire!  Not only have they attended rehearsals until all hours of the night, but they have worked countless hours outside of scheduled rehearsals to learn the vocals and perfect the timing of their line delivery over the everpresent underscoring (the music you hear while people are talking).  The instrumental tracks are unforgiving but the lyrics are masterful . . . the growing process has been worth it, and you get to reap the benefits of our unexpected stretch into new theatrical territory! 

We are so proud of this entire cast, crew, and production team. We guarantee time will fly by as you join our wonderous romp through the woods.  Enjoy the show!

-Marcy Miller