Sheila Willey, a lecturer in voice and opera in the Music department, is bringing Broadway to Santa Cruz. Into the Woods is a three-time, Tony Award-winning Stephen Sondheim musical, and it’s coming to campus. This 75-minute production will feature lead staff accompanist Luke Shepherd along with a cast of students.
“The students have been working really hard on this complicated show,” says Willey. “Because Sondheim’s music is famously complex and we are putting the first act of this show together in only a few weeks, the actors have a lot of ownership of the project.”
While the original Broadway production is two acts, this workshop performance will include only the first act, which is more family-friendly and includes a satisfying arc for all of the main characters – with a false happy ending at the end of Act I. Into the Woods follows favorite fairytale characters including Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel and more as their lives entwine while adventuring through the woods. Act I ends with each character getting their “happily ever after” and makes for a wholesome ending to the show.
The Music Department does not typically put on musicals, leaving those in the domain of the Department of Performance, Play, and Design. However, Into the Woods, though technically not an opera, operates like one. The musical features almost no dialogue and the vast majority of storytelling is done through song. “We have a lot of students interested in Musical Theater,” says Willey. “This show is widely loved. It is complex enough for students to really need to stretch and flex their musical skills and acting chops but also has broad appeal.”
“Now that we are running the show, it’s fun to watch the cast react to one another,” says Willey. “They get to explore expressing the range of emotions in this show – from the mournful, to the obscene, to the ridiculous.”
There will be back-to-back performances the day of the show, November 23, with a small break for the performers in between. This event is free and open to the public, seating is first come first serve.
“I personally have loved this musical since I first saw it as a young student and I have thought several times over the years about directing it with the right group of UCSC students,” says Willey. “I love watching the students be brave, take risks, and make choices; and I love even more how much they manage to both challenge and support one another other as a community.”
Saturday November 23, 2024
1:00 PM & 3:00PM
Free and open to the public.
Doors are scheduled to open 30 minutes prior to event start time.
Performances are 50-minutes with no intermission.
Music Center Recital Hall
UC Santa Cruz
400 McHenry Road
Santa Cruz, California 95064
Parking by permit, ParkMobile, or $5 cash/credit via the on-site parking attendant.
Arts Lot #126 is the closest parking lot to the event.
Visitors with DMV placards or plates may park for free in DMV spaces, Medical spaces, or ParkMobile spaces without additional payment, or in timed zones for longer than the posted time. More information provided by UCSC Transportation & Parking Services (TAPS).
