Every year, Earl Haig Secondary School puts on a theatrical production, typically a play or musical, which finds its way into students' hearts — encouraging passion and creativity. When Into the Woods was announced to be this year's production, the theatre community of Earl Haig was elated with a chance to be involved in yet another musical.
Back-to-back musicals in Earl Haig aren’t very common, but they are always a joy for the audience and those involved. Musical productions bring more opportunities for students compared to plays- whether it be working on set, cast, crew, orchestra, makeup, costumes, etc., there’s something for everyone. Baran Ghaforian, one of the show’s Assistant Stage Managers, shared, “It just leads to a more collaborative environment rather than if we did a play, […] I think this is nice to get more people to branch out and have different departments collaborating on one thing.”
Into the Woods highlighted the talents of many graduating students who were able to be a part of the annual school show one last time. Selin Altay, a Grade 12 drama student, played the character Wednesday in last year’s school show, The Addams Family, and played the Baker’s Wife this year. She stated, “I'm so grateful that in my senior year, I get to be in the school show and make even more memories with new friends and friends I made last year. I’ve learned a lot playing a character like the Baker's Wife and being in Into the Woods; I’m just honoured to be a part of it.” Another student,Tyler Yeung, in Grade 11 who played the Wolf, expressed, “We’re really lucky to be here at a time where the school did two musicals back to back.” Not only did this year’s school show draw in previous actors, crew, and enthusiasts, but also new students who were excited to take part in a remarkable production.
In addition to the personal challenges faced by students during the rehearsal and production process, different departments were collectively affected by their own sets of challenges. This year’s head stage manager, Paige Bailey, shared, “During a show, a stage manager calls all the cues. Every time a lighting change happens, or a microphone turns on or off, or you hear something over the speakers, that’s because the stage manager called it. [..] It’s hard because you’re trying to do your job, but you’re also trying to lead others as well, but you’re also trying to learn at the same time. [...] There’s a lot of pressure, but it’s so incredible to know that you’re a part of something so important.” Cast members, Manuella Andrade and Nailah Padilla (Cinderella’s Stepmother and the Narrator) also faced challenges in navigating the theatre space without being in the Claude Watson drama program. Manuella shared, “As someone who moved here recently and never really had a lot of contact with theatre or musical theatre, there were a lot of challenges with being a beginner and dealing with this world that everyone sort of already knew. I guess because I was already into arts and the world of theatre, that helped me overcome the challenges of being in this position.” Naillah, a dance major, said that “With dance, our expression comes from what we feel and how the movement flows through us. With drama, similarly and physically, you do that. But your words have to have intention with them.”
Apart from individual experiences of the cast and crew, the advanced Steven Sondheim material created a shared hardship with many of the cast and crew. One of the directors, Ms. W. Krekeler, expressed her experience with bringing the script and show to life, “Sondheim, of all the musical composers, is recognized as one of the most challenging in all of Broadway’s canon. He challenges his audience with a story with really complex themes [..] It’s difficult because you have to have the trust of the audience. On top of that, Sondheim is a musical genius, so his melodies are difficult — there are a lot of juxtaposed sounds and songs, and it’s challenging for both the singers and the orchestra.” However, theatre productions, like this show, bring a community of people together, feeding their creativity and allowing them to take risks. Krekeler also shared that“With the performances we’re getting, we expected them to be strong; we didn’t expect them to be this strong.” Despite the complexity of Sondheim’s work, it was more of an exciting challenge than a nuisance. Selin Altay shared, “It’s so specific and particular, [...] When we look at the music even more and study it, it’s like, ‘Oh, I see the joke here; Oh, I see the link back.’”
As challenging as the musical is, it was refreshing to bring the story of Into the Woods to our very own Cringan Hall stage. The Into the Woods production of December 2023 couldn’t have been more successful thanks to the amazing cast, crew, orchestra, stage management, directors, and everyone who put their time, love, and effort into making it a reality.
A final note from Tyler Yeung: “No matter how experienced or nervous you are, I think it’s always good to take the chance and put your name on the sign-up sheet; you never know what’s going to happen. There have been times when people didn’t get called back and gotten roles, and there have been times when people weren’t initially cast, and a door opened. It’s important to make sure that you’re always taking every opportunity you can to support or get involved in these magical opportunities.”