Music Drama Workshop Performs “Into the Woods”
“Careful the wish you make,” cautioned the witch, her voice rising and falling to the music of Stephen Sondheim’s poignant and bewitching comedy, Into the Woods. In this conglomeration of retold fairy-tales, The Music Drama Workshop class showcased their talent, whimsy, and humor, inviting the audience into the story with a vibrant and charismatic cast of characters.
“I think that [theatre] is a way in which we see the creativity of God manifested through His creation and through people,” said Prof Mack, who co-directed Into the Woods with Dr. Jori Jennings, Program Head of Music. Prof Mack also voiced the giant and shared this about her heart for musical theatre and the people involved in it: “There’s something special to me about musical theatre and the combination of many art forms. There’s acting, dancing, and singing. It requires costuming and stage direction…so many different art forms coming together in one thing. It reminds me of how we serve a creative God. He’s so creative in many different ways, but it is manifested in one Person. We get the opportunity as people made in His image to reflect that.”
Into the Woods tells the story of a cast of villagers who all wish for different things. The first half of the show plays out as a usual fairy tale, with foolish choices, lucky escapes, and apparent happily-ever-afters. But after the intermission, the musical takes an unexpected turn down a twisted path, showing the cautionary nature of the musical, whose storyline is unforgiving to those who make choices at the expense of others.
MBI’s Music Drama Workshop held four performances, drawing in crowds from campus, Chicago, and beyond. MBI partnered with Chicago Hope Academy, bringing in several of their high school drama students for supporting roles in Into the Woods. “I love the cast community that we build,” said Esther Jackson, who played the baker’s wife. “It's a unique opportunity to build a tight community with different people.”
When the audience emerged from the wooded stage of Dryer Auditorium, they left behind echoes of laughter, strains of song, and the flickering magic of a story come to life.
