Justice Gage | Visuals Co-Editor

It has been two years since the Buena Vista University (BVU) theatre department put on their last musical, Little Shop of Horrors. Being able to pull off a musical of this magnitude is a daunting task requiring several months of preparation. This year will be no different.

BVU’s theatre department will be performing Into the Woods in the spring semester of the 2014-2015 academic year. Into the Woods is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Lapine. The musical combines several plots from the original Brothers Grimm fairy tales such as Cinderella, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, and several others.

The theatre department intended to put on Candide, which is a lesser known musical, but just as challenging and entertaining. However, according to Associate Professor of Theatre, Dr. Bethany Larson, the production required enormous resources such as financial and talent resources.

“In looking at whether or not we could actually accomplish [Candide] this year, it seemed like a stretch. Like a stretch that, gosh if we didn’t make it all the way, we’d feel kinda bad that we didn’t make it all the way,” Larson said.

Candide was then replaced with Into the Woods for the musical choice this year.

“It made sense to choice something that is also a stretch, but is also more in the achievable range, because Into the Woods will be a stretch but it’ll be a good stretch,” Larson continued.

Matt Schulz, a second-year student heavily involved with theater is excited to being work on this stretch of a production.

“I am excited to see it all come together. This is such a powerful musical, and when done right, it is impossible to leave without having cried,” Schulz said.

The theatre department really is getting a head start on the process of putting this musical together. Auditions will be taking place on Sunday, November 23rd. There is a sign up sheet in Theatre Suite in Dixon-Eilers on campus. For those wishing to audition, a small section of a song and a sixty-second monologue are required for the auditions. Callbacks will take place on Monday, November 24th in the evening.

Graphic by Justice Gage