Into The Woods sounds like the most common destination in the average Prince George workday. That must surely make the upcoming play by UNBC Musical Productions the most locally appropriate show in this city's history.
Into The Woods has been a clear cut blockbuster on movie screens and won a windfall of Tony Awards for the stage version. It's a singalong hit by superstar composer Stephen Sondheim (he was one of the creators behind mega-shows like Sweeney Todd, Gypsy and West Side Story among many others) and writer/director James Lepine who cleverly took a handful of popular fairy tales and wove them into an original new fable for the modern age.
Now it comes to the local stage thanks to director Veronica Church and her cast of mostly students sprinkled with some community performers as well. Church said this production played well to a university cast's strengths: singing and acting with less choreographed dancing.
Musical director and supporting actor Rylee Spencer agreed.
"It really plays to our strengths, and it is a good fit for the performance space we have," Spencer said.
The show is being done at the Canfor Theatre at UNBC which has great sight lines for the audience but limited space for movement down at the performance end of the intimate auditorium.
"It would be great if there were more theatre spaces in Prince George, that's really needed, but Canfor is definitely the best fit for our purposes. We just have to pick plays that work for that design," said Church.
She's just learning the ropes as a theatre director. Church was a performer in past UNBC musicals under the directorship of Arielle Bernier, but since Bernier's departure the operations have been delegated to Church. She has looked to local show producer Judy Russell for mentorship and wants to continue with that, as well as guiding a few more of her own shows. A career on the production side of theatre is a consideration for Church, but as a student, she has a lot of options to consider.
Rylee Spencer, the musical director for Into The Woods (she also has an on-stage part to play), grew up in Terrace and on the stage.
"My mom is an actor, my sister is an actor. Treasure Island, that's what did it for me. I got to be on stage in that production when I was five years old," Spencer said. "Theatre has always been a passion for me. I don't know if I want it to become work. I see it being part of my life basically forever, though - that and music."
One of the lead actors in Into The Woods knows theatre isn't going to be her career. Jenny Lind is is a master's student in international studies, so doing music and drama is a way for her to release academic stress by imposing positive stage stress on herself, grow as a person through the lessons of performance, and have a built-in social life. Theatre casts become almost as close as a family.
"This has been fun, and it's supposed to be fun," she said. "Theatre is very new for me. I did a little bit in high school and then (UNBC productions) A Very Potter Musical and Addams Family. I never thought I'd be in a lead role like I am now."
It helps that as a Master's student Lind doesn't have the lineup of classes that an undergraduate university student has. She could focus more on learning lines and lyrics than perhaps someone with a full course load could muster.
Church said there was a clear understanding at the audition phase that anyone who gets a part would have to carve out the necessary rehearsal and performance time from their academic schedule.
"It's the student conundrum," Church said. "You get big big chunks of time but it's all on Sunday, so we have to pile on the work in Sunday gobs spread out over six months. Not everybody has to be involved in every hour of those rehearsals, but you have to plan it all out over that kind of time. This term we are focusing on the songs because it's Sondheim so there's a lot packed in there."
One of the most exciting aspects of Into The Woods for both Church and Spencer was the depth of the audition pool. They had a long lineup of applicants, and not all of them were from the university. They want to always ensure most in the cast are UNBC students, as per the mandate of the club, but the health of the organization is also reflected in their ties to the broader community, and those signs are good, they agreed.
UNBC Musical Productions' version of Into The Woods runs Friday-Sunday from March 16-25 at the Canfor Lecture Theatre at the university. Each performance happens at 7 p.m. with additional 1 p.m. matinees each Saturday.
Tickets can be purchased in the UNBC Winter Garden, at Books & Company, and online at www.centralinteriortickets.com.
