Into the Woods From Three Points of View

After two years of not being able to put on a musical production, South Hadley High School is putting forth their version of Into the Woods this year with director Mr. Garrity. Into the Woods is a musical made up of many folktales ranging from Cinderella to Little Red Riding Hood. With the show being about two and a half hours there is a lot of work that needs to be put in for a good final product. Mr.Garrity, Moira Doolittle and Mr.Langevin were interviewed and asked about the show and they all had many interesting things to say.

Mr. Garrity, as previously mentioned, is the director of South Hadley’s Into the Woods and although Mr.Garrity has never fully directed a musical before he had this to say: “There’s a lot that excites me about it because while it’s a lot of work, I’m excited to do the work and have a final product. I think there’s a lot of intricate parts of it that are going to be hard to put together but I think when they do come together they’re going to be amazing. Even though it’s my first time directing, I will not let it be bad.”

He not only commented on the difficulties of directing, he also had this to say about the workload: “Most of my preparation periods during the day are spent working on the show. Watching other productions to get any ideas, jotting down notes in my script, and just learning every part. It’s a mountain of things to think about and work to put in and if I really start to unpack all of it then I will go insane.” he said jokingly.

There are many elements to a musical outside of directing and one of which is performing. Moira Doolittle, who plays the witch, when asked about her character she had this to say: “She is the mean, old sorceress in the show. She helps drive the plot forward because she’s the one who sets the plot in motion by requiring the Bakers to go collect ingredients from other characters in the show. For a while it’s very much a comedic speaking role, but later on it gets very, very difficult. So I’m excited to work on it.”

She also goes on to state that: “The show is brilliant. It has one of the best musical scores of any Broadway show ever, in my opinion. So I’m very glad we’re doing it and I absolutely love the show. I think it’s hilarious and great.”

Lastly, Mr. Langevin, who is the Latin teacher at South Hadley High School, is not actually in Into the Woods but he is looking forward to seeing it. When asked what he likes most about the arts he had this to say: “I like that it’s a free wielding  mayhem driven expansion of the mind rather than a rigorous guided practice of your goals and your work ethic for a purpose. With math you are learning that particular thing for a reason, it guides you towards that. With language as well I think it’s both art and science at the same time and I try to lean on both for that, the art part being a free thinking puzzle of language. But in the arts, both the physical arts, in paintings and sculptures, and then the more musical arts I think it allows for expression and creativity and it’s a great representation of the human goals and the mind. I think it’s a wonderful world of imagination that allows spirits to grow as well as the mind and structural integrity of the product.”

All of the three interviewees shared the same thoughts on what they look forward to the most about Into the Woods. “I’m looking forward to having it done. I’m looking forward to having a final product that we can watch and look back on, and know that we made something incredible and all of this work we’re putting into it is fun as well but I think that the most rewarding part for me personally, is the end. When everything finally comes together and you get to see your hard work.” Doolittle said. 

Finally, after two years of waiting it’s almost time for Harlequins, the South Hadley theater troupe, to put a show on and let the world see what they can do. May 13, 2022 is the date of opening night and everyone involved will look forward to seeing you there.