An annual favorite of many South students is the musical, but with the recent pandemic, one hasn’t been in production for three years. The theatre department certainly made a delightful musical comeback with Into the Woods, known to many for its wide range of well-loved characters all interacting and facing classic fairytale dangers. All of the student actors did a wonderful job of encapsulating the audience and bringing them into their fantastical world of magicality.

For example, Grace Euper’s ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ felt immensely appropriate to the character, and she did a marvelous job bringing a sense of stubbornness mixed with naivety to the character. Lily Hunwick and Ethan Vernon also did a fantastic job portraying the complicated relationship between The Baker and the Baker’s Wife, one filled with ups, downs, spells that make one infertile, and everything in between. Gabrielle Duso’s enrapturing voice not only enchanted the audience auditorily, but the sense of honest goodness and kindness seemingly came effortlessly from the young actress. Alice Walsh made the infamous Witch have a sense of evil craziness that had many in the audience staring at her wide-eyed, sitting at the edge of their seats in anticipation.

The costumes were also phenomenal, each feeling remarkably accurate to the character. The costume of The Wolf had a remarkably clever fedora with ears on it that I would not have expected, but brought a certain amount of mysteriousness to him that felt appropriate. Cinderella’s dress had a certain sparkle that you couldn’t take your eyes off of, and seeing it glimmer in the lights was incredibly encapsulating. Even the animals looked exquisite, the cow having a wonderfully iconic headpiece to truly bring him to life, and an enchanted hen having so many feathers, it’s a wonder she didn’t leave a trail of them behind her.

The set design was also marvelous, the levels making it feel not too bland to look at. They also offered the actors a lot of movement around the stage, which was nice and unpredictable, especially for such a long show. The trees looked immaculate and did a great job of truly taking the audience into the woods.

Overall, the whole production of Into the Woods was a great production that showcased talent at South in a wonderfully theatrical way, and felt like a good comeback from such a long period without musicals.