The Woods Are Lovely, Dark and Deep….

…or – are they?  Join members of Clear Space Theatre Company’s Spotlight on Young Performers troupe the weekend of April 15 as they explore that claim in INTO THE WOODS, JR.  During evening performances on Friday and Saturday (April 15 and 16) at 7:00 pm, and matinees on Saturday and Sunday (April 16 and 17) at 3:00 pm, a Baker (Devon Lynch) and his wife (Lauren McLane) set off on a journey to break the Witch’s curse that prevents them from having a child. Along the way, they meet Cinderella (Rose Slavin), Little Red Riding Hood (Grace Morris), Rapunzel (Jamie Ditzel), and Jack (of beanstalk fame; Kyle Atkinson-Steele), all on quests of their own.

INTO THE WOODS, JR., adapted from Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Tony Award-winning musical, intermingles familiar fairy tales and their characters. The Baker’s tale serves to tie these unlikely collaborators together, as the baker and his wife seek to supply the Witch with the ingredients she needs to concoct a potion: A slipper as pure as gold, a cape as red as blood, hair as yellow as corn and a cow as white as milk. As in any good fairy tale, the characters’ wishes are granted – but INTO THE WOODS, JR. does not end there, instead looking beyond the “happily ever after.”

INTO THE WOODS, JR. is directed by Clear Space Artistic Director David Button and choreographed by Shondelle Graulich; Melanie Bradley is musical director. Says Button, “INTO THE WOODS, JR. allows us to journey – in unexpected directions – with the fairy tale characters we’ve known since childhood. It’s great fun – and a perfect fit for our Spotlight on Young Performers program: The characters of INTO THE WOODS, JR. learn valuable lessons from their escapades. And our young performers learn voice, music and dance as they bring those characters to the stage. It’s definitely a win-win!”

Rose Slavin (Cinderella) clearly enjoyed those lessons, reporting that “Playing this role has been so much fun because there are so many variations of Cinderella to be played. I like to think of the character that I’ve created as the exact girl who deserves as happy an ending as she receives.”

Additional cast members for this production of INTO THE WOODS, JR. include Hannah Weilminster, Sambina Anthony, Lauren McLane, Grace Morris, Danny Keenan, Dominic Anthony, Kerinne Walls, Evan Hartnett, Liza Moore, Ally Ibach, Julia Starla, Abbey Ruark, Claire Marshall, Chris Jones, Morgan Whittam, Gavin Connor and Wade Stout.

Tickets for all shows are $15, and may be purchased on-line at www.clearspacetheatre.org, or by calling the box office at 302-227-2270.