Woods Cross High School’s fall theater show opens next week, and it’s not going to be your typical production. This year, the theater department there has created something entirely new. I had the chance to drop in on a rehearsal on Tuesday and talk with the cast and crew as they prepared to bring their original creation to life.
Titled Into The Woods Cross, the show is a parody of the Broadway musical Into the Woods — but that’s about where the similarities stop and the fun begins. “We took the title and idea of a bunch of characters getting mixed up,” said Woods Cross theater teacher and show creator Liz Christensen. “But we switched the characters and the why.”
Instead of the typical fairy-tale characters from the original show, audiences will meet Captain Hook, Lancelot, Wednesday Addams, the Little Mermaid, Potiphar’s wife, the Phantom of the Opera, Fiona from Shrek, Spider-Man, Elphaba, and dozens more. According to Max Mercer, a student at Woods Cross who plays Nathan, one of the leads of the play, the story places a group of students inside Woods Cross High itself, locked in overnight and forced to navigate the ghosts of plays past. Appiah Odei, who plays Jeremy, another lead, added that in the midst of that whirlwind adventure, those characters will be working through their own personal challenges.
One of the most special parts of the show is that of the around 70 students that will be on stage, Christensen intentionally wrote the script so that every single one of them has a distinct part to play. “The objective for this show was that everyone involved gets a unique part, even if it is just for a moment,” Christensen said. Some are major characters with microphones, others pop in for quick comedic moments, but everyone gets at least one spoken line and one identifiable role. “I wanted a musical that featured more people in specific ways instead of just a massive ensemble,” Christensen explained.
Building a production with that many characters hasn’t been easy. The tech crew has had to juggle lighting cues, scene changes, and sound to keep all the moving pieces under control. Van Bromley, the stage manager for the show, showed me the technical setup and told me about some of the challenges of the show. There are only about 20-25 mics available at any time, so part of the tech crew’s job has been figuring out how and when everyone needs to be heard.
The visual aspect of the show has been a big effort too. Many of the sets were designed and constructed by the school’s stagecraft class, while the costume team has pulled garments from other schools, previous shows, and anywhere they could find the right look. Costume crew member Olivia Brown has been busy altering and fixing dozens of costumes. “It’s a lot of work,” she said, but she is still having fun.
Despite the size of the cast, the rehearsal schedule has been pretty lean. For most of the fall, students only practiced during class time. Full after-school rehearsals didn’t begin until this month, and even now they only meet on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for two hours. That forced the students into a professional level of accountability — something assistant director Anthony Buck said Christensen has been intentional about. “She really tries to give these kids real theater experience,” he said. “They’re responsible for getting their jobs done and helping the show run the way a professional theater would.”
So why should people come see Into The Woods Cross? For starters, it’s truly one of a kind. This show has never existed anywhere before, and after this run, it might not happen again. Mercer and Odei say it’s the most fun they’ve had on stage, not only because of the wild mix of characters but because the show makes theater accessible to so many students at once. “There are so many parts,” Max said. “It’s cool how many people get to shine.” Odei added that watching everyone come together has been the highlight of the whole process. It’s been cool to see, he said, “All the kids having a fun time doing it together.”
In the end, the cast and crew are proud of what they’ve built: a funny, chaotic, heartfelt production born entirely from creativity and teamwork. As Christensen put it, “This is true creation. Not interpretation or replication.” And when the lights go up next week, Woods Cross audiences will get to see something no other high school — or theater anywhere — has ever done.
Where can I get tickets to Into The Woods Cross?
Performances are at Woods Cross High school, and shows will be on Thursday Nov. 20th, Friday the 21st, and Saturday the 22nd at 7pm, with a matinee on Saturday at 2 pm.
Ticket prices start as $6 and are available at https://gofan.co/event/4909379?schoolId=UT72474
