By By KEVIN SCOTT CUTLER
Lifestyles & Features Editor
YEATESVILLE — Northside High School theater buffs will bring the classic fairy tale compilation “Into the Woods” to life Friday and Saturday.
The musical will be presented at 7 p.m. each night in the NHS auditorium.
The show, which features music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine, borrows characters and storylines from Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk and Rapunzel, according to NHS senior Shannon Cuthrell, who portrays the baker’s wife.
“Into the Woods” follows the wife’s trials and tribulations in her quest for a child.
“The baker and his wife are kind of thrown in there. It’s all interactive,” Cuthrell said of the storyline. “A witch has cast a spell on my husband’s family, and to break that spell and have a child, I have to find Little Red Riding Hood’s cape, a golden slipper from Cinderella, a coin from Jack and a hair pure as gold from Rapunzel.”
The show will appeal to folks of all ages, Cuthrell added.
“It’s a comedy, it’s a musical, and it all has a happy ending,” she said.
Freshman Alex Umfleet ties all the stories together in his role as the narrator.
“I did Battle for the Arts this year, and I’ve always been a music person, so I just saw this as an opportunity to do something different,” he said. “I’ve been in several different orchestras and bands, and I’ve gone to band camp at East Carolina University every year.”
Umfleet said he is enjoying his role as narrator.
“I introduce the stories and clarify things that are happening,” he said. “It’s been a good experience. It’s been a lot of fun, and that’s what it’s about.”
In addition to Cuthrell and Umfleet, “Into the Woods” cast members are Hayley Niser, Jack; Josh Brookins, baker; Liza Paul, Cinderella’s stepmother; Ariel Pinkham, Lucinda; Erika Branch, Florinda; Elizabeth Williams, Little Red Riding Hood; Victoria Bitar, Cinderella’s mother; Jonathan Williams, wolf; Hayley Jones, Rapunzel; Joseph Foster, Cinderella’s prince; Tiffany Oliver, Milky White; Caitlin Hoagland, Cinderella; Casey Clodfelter, Jack’s mother; Josh Ginn, Cinderella’s father; Beth Alligood, witch; Clay Asby, mysterious man; Tiffany LaBarge, Granny; Jonah Taylor, Rapunzel’s prince; and Michael Harris, steward.