Bonney Lake Tackles Twisted Fairytale 'Into The Woods'

Starting this weekend, Bonney Lake High School will bring Stephen Sondheim’s Tony Award-winning musical Into the Woods to life at the Sumner Performing Arts Center.

The school's family-friendly production will run Friday, April 15 through Sunday, April 17 with a total of four performances. Tickets start at $6 for students.

The musical features a variety of fairy tale characters and childhood stories, including Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstock, Little Red Riding Hood and the Baker and his Wife. The storyline intertwines and intersects the tales, toying with the idea of “what if” their paths ever crossed.

Brenda Williams, director of the Bonney Lake Drama Club, is excited to perform the lesser-known production and push her students with the challenging musical.  

“The singing parts are really difficult,” said Williams.

Although the original is over three hours in length, Williams chose to only have her group perform the first act, which is still long – about two hours. The second act of Sondheim’s musical has a much darker tone, another reason Williams decided to only do act one.  “[This way] it ends happy.”

Williams and BLHS choir director Amy Fuller have been working around the clock with the kids to rehearse the performance. The long hours and dedication to Into The Woods has brought the students together. 

“My favorite thing is the family we’ve created as well as all the magical elements brought into it,” said 17-year-old junior Cass Neumann who is cast as The Witch. “Every person in this cast has an important role in this production.”

“[I want to] act for the rest of my life,” added Neumann, who’s been acting since she was in elementary school. In addition to drama, she also plays clarinet and is a drum major for the marching band. 

If Neumann’s rehearsal performance is any indicator of a future acting career, she’s well on her way. She owns her role and embodies The Witch in both body language and vocal inflections.

Third-year drama student Jacob Frebe is excited and anxious about his first singing role, playing the Mysterious Man. He also starred in the fall production of Dark and Stormy Night but admits, “I’m nervous.  But I’ve been taking vocal lessons.”

Frebe also enjoys the camaraderie of the cast and getting close to his classmates.

“It’s an awesome group of people,” said Frebe. “Knowing them on a personal level allows me to act a certain way to get a reaction.”

As part of her senior project, Christine Foster developed the set design. She created a super-sized storybook set, with the three fairy tale titles standing over eight feet tall.

Eighteen-year-old Foster found herself in set design after a suggestion from her art teacher. The senior basketball player started the project in March after her sport season ended. While the minimum guidelines for the project are 15 hours, Foster admitted, “they’ve taken a lot more than 15 hours.” 

“I’ve always liked art and always wanted to do interior design,” said Foster. Her passion led her to construct the set out of masonite and painted in acrylics. Foster plans to continue her education at the community college level before perhaps enrolling into an art school.  “I’m thinking about Cornish Art College to work on sets maybe,” said Foster. “I really like it.”

Adults and children alike will take joy in seeing the familiar characters of Into The Woods in an untraditional twist and will be delighted by the detailed set and vibrant costumes. The clever dialogue and songs play well in the intimate Performing Arts Center and the high school students all offer impressive acting and singing performances.