Butler Lyric Theatre and Broad Ripple High School Present 'Into the Woods'
Monday, October 05, 2009
Butler Lyric Theatre will team up with Broad Ripple High School, the Indianapolis Public Schools’ arts magnet, to present Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods for five performances Nov. 12-15 at the high school, 1115 Broad Ripple Ave.
Show times are 7:30 p.m. Nov. 12-14, with 2 p.m. matinees Nov. 14-15. Tickets are $15 general admission, $10 for faculty and staff from both schools, and $5 for students. They’re available at the box office the day of the show and can be reserved by calling (317) 940-6369.
Into the Woods, which debuted on Broadway in 1987, is a menagerie of ingeniously interwoven fairy tales. The stories entangle in unexpected ways, revealing what happens after "happily ever after."
"I think the show is about the constant journey of learning through experiences and the necessity of interdependence and community," said Nancy Davis Booth, associate professor of music and artistic director of the Lyric Theatre. "The woods are a place where normal rules of civilization don't apply, a place where we learn about ourselves. The journey through the woods is a metaphor for growing up – the kind of growing up we all do over and over throughout our lives. The consequences the characters set in motion are a collective journey that they must all take together."
The theme is fitting for the partnership between Butler and Broad Ripple. Booth said she was looking for a site to stage Into the Woods, which has 19 characters, when the idea of working with the nearby high school came up. Given Butler’s ongoing partnership with the Shortridge Magnet High School for Law and Public Policy, working with an IPS school that specialized in the arts seemed ideal.
Butler students will play all the roles and perform the music, except for the Saturday matinee, when Broad Ripple students will perform with their Butler counterparts.
Broad Ripple students will handle the crew and lighting duties.
Booth said the goal is to give the Broad Ripple students the experience of working on a collegiate level and guide them toward the scholarships Butler has designated for IPS students. In 2007, the University announced it would guarantee tuition for 10 IPS students who are enrolled in the state of Indiana’s 21st Century Scholars program. In addition, eligible students must be a certified member of the Starfish Program or have participated in the Center For Leadership Development (Self Discovery/Career Exploration Project) programs.
Students from both schools will benefit from performing Sondheim, whose work “is the epitome of musical theater in an intellectual and personally stimulating way,” Booth said. “The lyrics are so clever and so pithy that you just marvel at the architecture and economy of words that he uses.
“There are so many wonderful themes running through it. It’s bound to touch everybody in some way.”
Contact: Marc Allan
mallan@butler.edu
(317) 940-9822
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