CDS Ventures Into the Woods! But they had to Audition First!

CDS Presents Performs Into the Woods JR. as their Spring Musical and The Audition as their Fall Play

By Wynn Waterstredt

This previous week, CDS Presents, the Chatham Day Schoo perfo for fr Chath arts public and one showing for students and teachers on May

Into the Woods JR. premiered on May 11th and then had two more performances for the

The main characters are Mr. Torrance (the drama teacher), The Stage Manager, Soleil (a bullied kid auditioning for the continued from page 1 first time) and Carrie (an excellent performer that feels under appreciated) There were also many other supporting roles and there were a lot of monologues in the show. Into the Woods JR. is the first half of the Broadway hit by Stephen Sondheim This half focuses on everyone getting their wish When asked if he would have liked to have some of the second act incorporated into the junior version, here’s what Mr. Buchanan said “Sometimes I wish there was a little doom and destruction but I think that we are taking a chunk that tells a really great beginning to end story. It’s also good because we are able to show it to the younger students ” It has also been the biggest crew we ever had and a very large cast.

The Audition premiered on December 9 of 2022, but due to an unexpected outbreak of Covid amongst the cast, the second showing scheduled for the next day was postponed. After winter break, the cast list would go up one more time on

January 12th, 2023. This show was rehearsed all fall and was a very unique show Instead of focusing on one star, the show had many different moments for different people to shine. There were a few people who had larger roles in the show but everyone was important to making the show better While the show was short, it did a good job of telling a meaningful and important plot and story.

I would like to say that since I was in the cast of both The Audition and Into the Woods JR this article is less of a review and more of a way to talk about the shows and my experience being in them Personally, I really enjoyed doing both shows this year and find the theater program here really fun and relaxed.

When asked what she liked about the shows here’s what Ms Greenspan said, “I liked seeing my students in a new way and really seeing their personality.”

Many people have said that Into the Woods is one of the hardest shows that CDS has ever attempted. I asked Mr. Buchanan why he thinks this is true He said, “Well the obvious answer is that Sondheim’s music is very hard and he writes at a caliber that is very high.” He said that it is also ambitious because the cast is so large and there are many difficult and hard moments for the crew such as the scene change at the end of the opening number and many costume changes.

Many people say that they enjoyed the show and thought that the theater program is the best it’s ever been. I got my start in the theater one year ago doing the school’s production of Dear Edwina JR and now I have the job of theater critic for the school newspaper. I just really enjoy watching and participating in any show done by CDS Presents Overall, I’d give the program 5 stars!