By Mike Oakley
The 18th rendition of Bibb County Children’s Theatre ended last week with a stirring production of “Into the Woods, Jr.,” a story by James Lapine with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.
This production, put on by young people from all over Bibb County, is a highlight of the year for many in West Alabama. The children and adults work very hard, putting in long hours of practice, repetition and learning how to present themselves on stage.
Established in 2001 by Alesa Judd and Vickie Brown, the productions have always been lively, entertaining and surprising. The tradition has been carried on by Brown’s daughter, Kelly Brown Davis, who currently serves as producer and director. Kelly, a former Bibb County Junior Miss, has long had a career in the arts and has sung numerous times on stages and with her talented father, Dr. Eddie Brown.
The role of stage manager was filled by Ashlynn Partridge, a veteran of Children’s Theatre productions and a college student.
David Culp, Keri Chastain and Michael Lewis combined to produce sound support and did an excellent job. Susan McCalla loaned her extraordinary talents to set design and viewers were blown away by the artistic touch of McCalla.
Into the Woods intertwines the plots of several Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault 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.
As you can see, this production was no simple task to master. The cast of characters, ranging from elementary age to seniors in high school, took to the work like professionals. As anyone involved knows, a production requires hours and hours of work. This is in addition to school, extra-curricular actives and anything else that may come up.
The participants work hard to keep each other’s spirits up as you might imagine, night after night, weekend after weekend and free time that once was yours is gone with the wind. Parents play a mighty big role, too, for it is them who make sure their charges are where they are supposed to be, when they are supposed to be there. And many parents juggle the needs of more than one child while supporting the arts. They are to be commended.
The players were Isabella Bandy, Allison Bell, Allora Bell, Colton Burnett, Anne Chance, Chloe Chandler, Hallie Chastain, Mary Charles Culp, Piper Deerman, Zoie Deerman, Alistair Drake, Aslan Drake, Atticus Drake, Katie Belle Drake, Aubrey Dunkin, Savannah Gibson, Saylor Gibson, Brody Gonzalez, Julia Gonzalez, Sebastian Gonzalez, Jude Graff, Haven Hallman, Catherine Hammond, Kherington Hubbard, Scarlett Ingram, Ralyn Irvin, Tiana Irvin, Cadence Jackson, Dakayla Jackson, Madeline Kirk, Jacob Kornegay, Maci Kornegay, Jessica Lacy, Emma Lawley, Lily Meadows, Bella Moore, Ella Morris, Millie Morris, Presly Nash, Joel O’Dell, Piper O’Dell, Jacey Register, Jackson Register, Haylee Sibley, Mylee Simmons, Cary Smith, Maci Smith, Victoria Smith, Nathan Smitherman, Nathanael, Terry, Toby Tucker, Trey Tucker, Anna Watts, Audrey Waits, Mitchell Waits and Alexa Williamson.
These youngsters, as mentioned, sacrifice their time, effort and heart and soul to put on good performances. Theater has been proven to improve self-confidence, vocal control, and improve self-esteem. They learn how to project their voices and remain confident, even if something goes wrong with the sound or set. The ability to “put oneself out there” for everyone to see is a powerful thing and will help each one of the participants in this production.
Previous productions of the Bibb County Children’s Theatre have been:
The Velveteen Rabbit, The Magical Land of Oz, The Jungle Book, Follow that Rabbit, Pocahontas, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, School House Rock Live! Junior, Mulan! Junior, Willie Wonka, Seussical/Junior, Annie Junior, Beauty and the Beast Junior, The Music Man Junior, The Little Mermaid Junior, Aladdin Junior and Shrek the Musical.
Hats off to those participating and supporting our very own Bibb County Children’s Theatre, and proceeds go to support the Bibb County Child Caring Foundation.
