The Belton High School Theatre Department and company put on its annual show over the weekend, and this year’s production was James Lapine’s classic musical, “Into the Woods.”
The nearly three-hour production follows the wishes and adventures of several characters taken from a variety of infamous fairy tales, including “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Jack and the Beanstalk,” “Cinderella” and “Rapunzel,” all incorporated into a single storyline involving a childless baker, his wife and their quest to start a family.
The musical featured a cast of 20, a smaller group than previous shows put on by BHS, but the number of backstage contributors were essential in piecing together the production.
“What I noticed this year was that because we had such a smaller cast, we all got closer with one another,” Megan Sloane, who played Little Red, said.
Additional main characters included Scott Hinckley as Narrator, Kaity Kempf as Cinderella, Luke Thomas as Jack and Gracie Krieg as Rapunzel.
Sloane, a sophomore, described the work that went into putting on such an extravagant performance. She noted that preparation began in November when participants were introduced to 72 different songs.
In January, once the choral portion of the play had been mastered, students began to block the show and learn choreography. The week before the performance, there were full dress rehearsals and nightly run-throughs with everything set up as it would be for showtime.
Finally, the musical was presented Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday afternoon to ensure no one missed out on the opportunity to enjoy it.
“We students got the chance to tell a story to a community that may have never known it needed it,” added Sloane.
