Many stories are based around going into the woods, some that are happy and many others that are sad or terrifying. However, the musical Into The Woods by Stephen Sondheim is a mix of all three.

Highland High’s spring production, Into The Woods, will be performed by Highland High theater. Behind the scenes, though, there are more students involved than Parents, as the production is student produced. Two casts perform under the direction of student directors who take charge of costume, design, staging, lights, music, and much more. Each student has their own responsibility to contribute to the play.

“The original plan was that the spring play would be student directed, and that’s been the plan since the beginning of the year,” sophomore and assistant director Hanna Richards said.

Into The Woods is an exciting play filled with fairy tales most are familiar with but also contain the dark and morbid details of the original stories. Crossovers between stories such as Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood, and more create an atmosphere once sweet turn sour when the events of the individual stories collide with one another.

“I hate how dark it is,” sophomore David Hartvigsen said, who plays Jack in one of the casts.

The story is a rare commodity, being that some of the main characters die before the halfway point of the play even happens.

“How dark [Into The Woods] is could bother some people,” senior Kai Mack said, who portrays both the Wolf and Mysterious man in one cast. “…these are real-life scenarios of these characters.”

Aside from being dark in story, the music adds light to the production. Through intense harmony and difficult rhythms, Sondheim tells a beautiful story between the fairy-tale characters.

“[Sondheim] writes it in a way where the harmonies are weird, but it still sounds really cool.” Mack explained.

The difficulty and intensity of the songs are hard, yet Highland theater has worked harder to make the songs work. The stepsisters of Cinderella have an amazing piece where the sound of the melody and harmony is dissonant and may sound disgusting but when performed it sounds beautiful and clean.

“[Sondheim]’s such a brilliant writer,” sophomore Sophia Kenrick said, who plays the step sister Lucinda in one cast. “He has great messages in all of his musicals.”

Into The Woods opens for performance on Thursday, May third, and has a performance every night except Sunday the sixth with a matinee on Saturday, May fifth. The actors are anxious and excited to perform for the public. Tickets are sold during lunch and afterschool. They cost seven dollars, six with a student I.D.

“It is a bucket list play!” Kenrick exclaimed. “We have cried over this, please come see it!”