Volume XWIII, Issue 23
Educating Women To Excel
April 19, 2006
ON THE
INSIDE:
World News
Page 2
Special Section:
Diversity
Page 3-6
VCU French
Film Festival
Page 7
Announcements
Page 8
Spring 2006
Music
Performances
Page 8
Into the Woods
WEDNESDAY
MostI’
High 79/ Low
Mos^tlj' Sunn^
THURSDAY
Mostly Sunny
High 85/ Low 61
FRIDAY
Scattered T-storms
High 82/ Low 63
SATURDAY
Scattered T-storms
High 81/Low 61
SUNDAY
Partly Cloudy
High 85/ Low 59
MONDAY
Isolated T-storms
High 58/ Low 43
TUESDAY
Mostly Cloudy
High 80/ Low 54
CHRISTY NASH
Staff Writer
For those of us that grew
up reading Fairy Tales, we
were taken back to our child
hoods in a way when Mer
edith Performs presented
Into the Woods, a musical by
Stephen Sondheim. Into the
Woods centers on a baker
and his wife and their desire
to have a child. They are,
however, unable to, because
they were cursed never to
have children by the witch
next door. The only way to
break this curse is to gather
objects together which hap
pen to belong to several fa
miliar characters: a cape as
red as blood from Little Red
Riding Hood, a cow as white
as milk from Jack (as in “and
the beanstock”), hair as yel
low as com from Rapunzel,
and a slipper as pure as gold
from Cinderella.
It was amazing how these
characters were woven to
gether with such ease. We
can almost forget that they
weren’t meant to be in the
first place. They interact on
many levels and in many sit
uations as the baker and his
wife chase down these ob
jects from the owners, who
are all less than willing to
part with their prized posses
sions. Finally though, all four
objects are found, and every
character’s wish is granted.
This should lead to “happily
ever after,” but since that
was only the end of Act One,
there was plenty of time for
things to go awry.
Into the Woods is based on
the premise of what happens
after “happily ever after,”
because as children reading
these fairy tales, we are al
ways under the misconcep
tion that the perfect happy
ending does exist. This mu
sical takes on the traditional
fairy tales with an adult twist.
It explores issues of decep
tion, sexual immorality, and
violence, and when charac
ters go into the woods, they
discover new things about
themselves and the world
around them. They grow up
in a sense and realize along
with the audience that there
are consequences to every
wish we make. Those wishes
granted came with a very
steep price, and cost the lives
of many of the characters.
The Cast of Into the Woods
gave a superb performance,
drawing us all into the world
of fantasy. Lormarev Jones
was amazing as the witch.
She was very believable,
though she did not play a
wicked witch at all, but rath
er the voice of reason. She
played the part humorously
and highlighted her perfor
mance with a rap. Kather
ine Anderson was the ideal
Cinderella. She looked and
soimded the part. Will Sand
ers captured the character of
Jack marvelously, with the
perfect amount of naivety
and dimness. He came across
very sympathetically and
made it easy for the audience
to be on his side. Robert Ter
rell Milner and Rosa Wal
lace were wonderful as the
baker and his wife, and their
willingness to do whatever
it takes to have their wish
granted was felt by the audi
ence. It was easy to identify
with that desire. Karen Ains-
ley did really well at captur
ing the innocence and energy
of a little girl and seemed to
grow a great deal during the
musical. Perhaps a highlight
was Matthew-Jason Wil
lis with his performances
as both the wolf and Prince
Charming. He captured the
roles perfectly, portraying
the wolf as a hungry beast
that was turned on by the
sight of a young innocent girl
like Little Red Riding Hood.
As Prince Charming, he had
the dashing hero part down
pat, but at the same time,
the prince had an enormous
ego. Byron Jennings II also
played a prince, although it
was Rapunzel’s prince. He
too was perfect in the role,
and when the two princes
sang the song “Agony,” it
was anything but agony. In
fact it wa'S a highlight of the
show. Finally, while not a
main part, Shayna Peters as
Milky White stole the show
with her performance as
Jack’s cow. Every time she
appeared onstage, the audi
ence roared with laughter.
Besides the performances,
the scenery was amazing.
It truly gave the illusion of
a path traveling deep into
a forest. William C. Rodg
ers did a wonderful job of
creating the environment.
LeGrande Smith also cre
ated beautiful costumes that
added tremendously to the
musical. Overall, Into the
Woods was wonderfully
done all around. It drew the
audience into the world of
Fairy Tales and made them
real to us all.
Coffeehouse
This Saturday, April 22, 8pm 2nd
Cate!
Featuring the band of professors,
Shards of Fargo!
Members include Michael Novak, History, MC;
Bill Schmidt, Physics, MC; Georgia Schmidt,
Music, MC; Steven Vincent, History, NCSU;
Keith Uyeno, itinerant double bass player.
Come out and enjoy a night of eclectic acousdc
courtesy of your professors and CAB!
Plioto Courtesy of Dr. Michael Novak
In this photo: Steven Vincent, Georgia Schmidt, and Michael
Novak,