Oklahoma State University Opera Theatre will present Into the Woods

comprised of music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim on Thursday, March 30 and Friday, March 31 at 7:30 pm in The McKnight Center for the Performing Arts, Stillwater. This musical will be presented in two acts with one fifteenminute intermission based on the book by James Lapine. The cast and orchestra are comprised of students from the Michael and Anne Greenwood School of Music and the Department of Theatre. Due to licensing regulations, we are unable to live-stream our performances so please come and enjoy our live performances.

Stage Directed by B. Peter Westerhoff, Conducted and Music Directed by Megan Barth Argo with assistance from Steve Sanders and April Golliver-Mohiuddin, the performance is sure to be a crowd pleaser for all ages! Additionally, we are thrilled to announce that the President of Oklahoma State University, Dr. Kayse Shrum, will be a part of the cast. Dr. Shrum will be the voice of the GIANT in our production.

“The musical intertwines the plots of several Brothers Grimm fairy tales, exploring the consequences of the characters’ wishes and quests. The main characters are taken from “Little Red Riding Hood”, “Jack and the Beanstalk”, “Rapunzel”, and “Cinderella”, as well as several others. The musical is tied together by a story involving a childless baker and his wife and their quest to begin a family (the original beginning of the Grimm Brothers’ “Rapunzel”), their interaction with a witch who has placed a curse on them, and their interaction with other storybook characters during their journey.

The musical debuted in San Diego at the Old Globe Theatre in 1986 and premiered on Broadway on November 5, 1987, where it won three major Tony Awards (Best Score, Best Book, and Best Actress in a Musical for Joanna Gleason), in a year dominated by The Phantom of the Opera (1988). The musical has since been produced many times, with a 1988 US national tour, a 1990 West End production, a 1997 tenth anniversary concert, a 2002 Broadway revival, a 2010 London revival, and in 2012 as part of New York City’s outdoor Shakespeare in the Park series.” (Into the Woods - Wikipedia) The cast will feature our special guest artist and recent OSU Opera alum, Dylan Aaron (Stillwater, OK) alongside current opera students Bailey Bovenschen (Stillwater, OK), Brennan Lacy (Stillwater, OK), Christian Diaz (Frisco, TX), Alicen Criner (Houston, TX), Cassie Andel (Ardmore, OK), Mike Bullington (Keller, TX), Analisa Gallegos (Corpus Christi, TX), Hayley Hitt (Muskogee, OK), Charlotte Sams (Tulsa, OK), Adeline Skillman (Stillwater, OK), Evan Reitan (Stillwater, OK), Jill Brown (Trophy Club, TX), Dylan Hilbert (Roanoke, TX), Casey Shapiro (Norman, OK), Anaya Harris (Everman, TX), Jade Robinson (Depew, OK), Lilliana Cudley (Fremont, NE), Elizabeth Brockman (McKinney, TX), Wesley Rice (Ardmore, OK), Ainsley Carmichael (Carrollton, TX), Skyla Robison (Dewey, OK), Grae Taylor (Pond Creek, OK), and Jordan Roberts (Brownwood, TX).

Tickets can be purchased online at mcknightcenter.org or at the McKnight Center for the Performing Arts Box Office. The Box Office can be reached at (405) 744-9999. Box Office hours are Monday-Friday, 9am-4pm, and two hours before the performance. General Admission is $12, Seniors $10, and students $7. Ordering tickets in advance is highly recommended.

We welcome donations to OSU Opera for future production funding and student scholarships. Donations to the Opera Program Fund or the Opera Scholarship Fund can be made through the OSU Foundation at osugiving.com or by calling 1-800-622-4678. For more information, contact April Golliver-Mohiuddin at (405) 564-4961. Your support will directly impact our students in the form of greater performance opportunities and scholarships!