Last night was opening night for Into the Woods, put on by the William and Mary theater department. The lengthy (two and a half hour long) show follows a motley crew of fairytale characters, from Cinderella (played by Emily Flack ’20) to Little Red Riding Hood (Zoe Smith ’21). The set was beautiful and creative, using very little change to evoke entirely different scenery. The actors were incredibly impressive, with every single character holding their own across the entire show. I particularly enjoyed the portrayal of the Baker’s Wife, by Mary Turgeon ’18. The Baker’s Wife has some wild character shifts, and she managed to make everything that her character did, no matter how wild, completely believable. The actors were all so impressive, managing to keep the audience engaged in the story while singing technically difficult songs incredibly well.
There were some issues with tech, particularly with microphones either not being turned on or being left on backstage, as well as some off timing with the lighting. However, given that this was the opening night, the tech mistakes were very understandable and will hopefully be worked out for the next performances.
Originally, the theater department had planned on doing Chicago as our spring performance, and while that would have certainly been a lovely show, I think we had just the right talent to put on Into The Woods this season. Sometimes, when one sees a show, a couple of actors can take center stage and overwhelm the audience. However, Into the Woods was an incredibly balanced show, where every actor had an opportunity to shine themselves and help other actors shine. In my opinion, this points to both incredibly talented actors across the board, and a talented director.
To everyone who’s near Williamsburg, I would highly encourage you to come see this show, as it will be playing until this Sunday, and is an incredibly amazing, worthwhile experience!