The spring production of Into the Woods garnered 16 SpotlLight Awards from the Hennepin Theatre Trust, including 13 individual awards, Honorable Mention for Overall Production, Community Engagement Award and Outstanding Orchestra.

“Into the woods without delay but careful not to lose the way into the woods.”

This spring, St. Francis High School theater department is performed the musical ”Into the Woods” by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine. The fairy-tale characters children know and love were seen in a new light in this two act play, which was performed in the Carlson Foley Performing Arts Center at St. Francis High School April 28 – May 1. “Into the Woods”  featureed traditional characters including Jack, the Baker and his wife, the Wicked Witch, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, and the Wolf.

Senior Alex Cutschall, who played the narrator, won an honorable mention for his performance.

“This is my first musical,” said Cutschall. “I hadn’t been in choir and since its my senior year it was my last chance to put myself out there.”

Though this is his first musical, Cutschall is familiar with theater and has been involved in various fall plays. “Theater is pretty much my life. I found my group of friends there. It’s like my clique,” he said.

Cutschall, like the rest of the cast, worked hard to make sure the musical would be a success. The cast met for rehearsal 5 nights a week for 3 hours a day. There were also three tech nights and dress rehearsals which typically went from 2:45 – 9:30 P.M.

“A lot of people suffer under the impression that we mess around during rehearsal and then do everything last minute, but we don’t,” said freshman Abilene Olson, who was awarded an Outstanding Performance in a Lead Role as the Baker’s wife. “There is insanely complicated music that we had to work at. You have to work hard at something to excel, and theater is no exception.”

For Olson, being part of the cast for “Into the Woods” was a dream come true.

“I really love this play,”Olson said. “It has a deeper meaning for me. Some of the parts are my dream roles, and I want to act as a career, so every bit of practice helps.”

Olson also finds herself in the position of having her mother as the director, but she feels that in the theater, the relations between her and the director are no different with her than they are with any other cast member.

“She’s a little bit harder on me because she doesn’t want people to think it’s unfair,” said Olson. “I have to shine enough to show people that I do actually deserve the part that I was given.”

Olson isn’t the only cast member who has been raised with an appreciation for the arts. Pit orchestra student director, Andrea Johnson grew up with musical theater influencing her life.

“My parents used to always bring me to the Children’s Theater in Minneapolis,” said Johnson, “and I was raised musically.”

Johnson played key board in the Outstanding award-winning pit orchestra and loved the music in the show.

“I wanted to be in the musical, and Mrs. MO and Mrs. Stodola both asked me to, so I did,” Johnson said. “Theater is like my second family.”

Junior Peter Burch, who won an Honorable Mention in a Lead Role as Jack, grew up watching his older brother participate in musicals.

“I wanted to try it,” said Burch. “It’s a great way to meet new people, and I like that in theater, for a few hours, you get to be someone else.”

However, sometimes jumping into a new personae has its oddities, especially when your friend happens to play a barn animal.

“Jacob Kempfer played a cow,” said Burch, “and I had to milk him.”

Even offstage, the cast mingled well together.

“There is a lot of talent. The cast mixed well and it was a great show,” said sophomore Connor Lysholm, who won an Outstanding Award in a lead role as the  Baker.

“We’re like a big family, we’re all really close. It’s a special bond not felt anywhere else,” he said.

Glenn Morehouse Olson directed the production.

“I love Into the Woods,” said Morehouse Olson. “I love the show, I love the characters, I love the message, and I thought it was a show that could be a successful high school production.”

Morehouse Olson felt “Into the Woods” was challenging and  feels that Sondheim is “the King of musical  theater.” She  feels that live theater is an art that shifts and changes based on the reaction of the audience.

“It’s the little moments,” said Morehouse Olson. “I’ts the moments when the audience laughs. It’s the moments when the music soars. It’s the moment when I say to the cast, ‘It’s your show, now take it.’”