Manlius Rec to stage ‘Into the Woods’ Thursday-Saturday

TOWN OF MANLIUS – Following a two-year hiatus, the Town of Manlius Recreation Department is inviting the community back July 21 to 23 for the return of its annual summer musical. Running for three evening performances at the Fayetteville-Manlius High School auditorium, this year’s production will be the Stephen Sondheim play “Into the Woods.”
The musical melds the character arcs of Brothers Grimm fairy tales such as “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Jack and the Beanstalk,” “Cinderella” and “Rapunzel” within a story about the quest of a baker and his wife to start a family despite a witch’s curse. At the onset of the pandemic, the recreation department canceled plans to perform the musical version of Roald Dahl’s novel “Matilda” after starting the audition process ahead of schedule in February 2020. They later decided to forego a show in 2021 before settling upon a particular production to present.
“To miss two years in a row was kind of devastating,” said Manlius Recreation Supervisor Kristine Zingaro, who has been with the department since 2000. “That was a real blow when we weren’t able to do ‘Matilda’ in 2020, and obviously we thought we’d be back in 2021, but the world had different plans for us.”
With the passage of two years, the secured cast members for “Matilda” aged out of their roles in some cases and others would have been unavailable this summer. In the meantime, Syracuse Stage held performances of that musical late last fall and into the new year.
In the span between its 1976 production of “Cabaret” and its 2019 take on “Guys and Dolls,” the department’s only other off year for summer musicals was in 1987, which was coincidentally the year “Into the Woods” debuted on Broadway.
This summer, however, marks the first time the department will be staging “Into the Woods” in its history of hosting summertime musicals.
Auditions were held in the middle part of May in the town hall, and rehearsals began at F-M High School the first week of June. From that point until Thursday’s opening night, a decent amount went into organizing the production on the back end, including set rentals and advertisements, Zingaro said.
The aspect of her involvement she finds the most enjoyment in, though, is the sight of hundreds of audience members in the auditorium night to night.
Sponsored by the Baldwin, Sutphen & Frateschi law firm, the local recreation department’s presentation of “Into the Woods” features Zingaro and Eric Feola as the producers and Joseph Spado as the director with music direction from Shawn Hebert, choreography by Marisa Guzmán-Colegrove, a full orchestra under the baton of Joshua Corcoran, and a cast of 18 actors from across Central New York.
Remaining tickets are available at ManliusMusical.org. For more information, contact the rec department by calling 315-637-5188 or by emailing [email protected].