MTC to Close Out Summer with Back-to-Back Shows

Putting together a musical in less than two weeks is a monumental enough task. (MTC) decided to double up this month and will put on two shows to close out its Summer Stage session.

Premiering tonight, MTC’s production of Stephen Sondheim’s classic Into the Woods (Jr.) is a first for the theater company in a couple ways. MTC has never performed the show, and it will mark the first time the company has fielded an all-teen cast.

“This is a very difficult show for adults, much less kids, to do,” said director Frankie Rowles, who’s directed three other shows for the theater company. “The rhythms are very different, there are some funky notes.”

He said directing the teens has been a much easier task than corralling the typically pre-teen casts in MTC’s other more young-kid-friendly shows.

“And I feel like it’s definitely a benefit to them, because for a lot of these kids, this is what they really want to do,” Rowles added. “We’ve been talking a lot about subtext, delving into characters.”

Into the Woods is an amalgam of several Grimm’s fairy tales—including "Jack and the Beanstalk," "Little Red Riding Hood," "" and "Cinderella"—in a musical with a generous helping of dry comedy.  

The 21-member cast has only been rehearsing since last Monday. That same day, the theater company also held auditions for its final Summer Stage production, Winnie the Pooh, Kids.

Mark Morgan, MTC’s producing artistic director, said it was “the craziest theater day of my life.”

Since then, Morgan and his MTC partners have been working almost 'round-the-clock to bring the two shows to life simultaneously, with the 6-12-year-old Winnie the Pooh cast and teen cast of Into the Woods rehearsing side-by-side.

“It’s the first time we’ve ever done this,” said Morgan, noting that they’ve been doing Summer Stage with just three shows for seven years. “We wanted to get another show … It’s a big experiment. It’s working so far artistically.”

Rowles was highly impressed with his cast during Tuesday’s rehearsal, guffawing loudly during several scenes.

“The adults, the parents, that come and see this will really enjoy themselves,” he said, “not just because they’re seeing their son or daughter, but because they’re genuinely laughing.”

Morgan said Into the Woods is among Sondheim’s most popular shows: “This show is a cult show. If people like Into the Woods, they’ll see it anywhere.”

Into the Woods premieres at 7 p.m. tonight at , with additional shows at 10 a.m., 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Thursday and 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Friday. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased online or at the door.

For more information, visit the Moorestown Theater Company website.

Winnie the Pooh, Kids premieres at 7 p.m. next Wednesday, Aug. 22, also at Hope Church.