'Into the Woods' at GMU

Speaking with Ken Elston, Chair, George Mason University Department of Theater, you can hear his excitement, passion, and commitment for

the journey that begins with the upcoming production of  Into the Woods.   A journey in collaboration with Dennis M. Layendecker, Director, School of Music at Mason, introduces Music Theater studies with the ultimate intent to create a BA degree program in Musical Theater. 

Elston has been acting, directing, and teaching with a specialty in stage-movement for almost 20 years and ten of them at George Mason.  The
selection of the Stephen Sondheim/James Lapine musical masterpiece Into the
Woods was made not only because it is the 200th anniversary of the Brothers
Grimm’s fairy tales but because Elston also sees this new journey with “its own
sort of dangers” as somewhat of a parallel to the fairy tales in the play. 

Elston recognizes that there are many steps to creating a new BA degree program including approval from the state, so until this goal is achieved,  the collaborators are taking the less complicated approach with a certificate program based on a model currently in use in the Mason Science Department.  Elston says this approach will show up on the students’ transcripts showing that they have a theater major with a concentration in Musical Theater.  Students will have acquired a certain amount of credits in music and dance and will have
sharpened the needed skills to enter the marketplace. 

The various venues at George Mason puts the program in a very different league because the students get to work in different venues from a Black Box to a 1,000- seat theater and to acquire the skills that are required for each venue, says Elston.

After auditioning 183 students, the cast consisting of 11 from the George Mason Theater Department and 11 from the Music School, was chosen after 50 callbacks.  There are also 30 musicians in the pit.   Elston is directing this production that he calls “a masterpiece because of the themes of parenthood and maturation and the connection of our dreams and wishes and our actual life’s journey”.  He has added a “unique aspect” for this production, three movers “magic makers” conceived as “magical creatures of the woods who help to make things happen.”

The design team consists of George Mason University faculty and graduates of the theater program: Dana Maier (scenic design), Howard Vincent Kurtz (costume design), Liz Replogle (lighting design), Kevin Dunayer (sound design), Beth Hoffman (dramaturg), Stephanie Seltman (production stage manager), and sophomore theater major Nerissa Hart (properties mistress).

I saw Into the Woods on Broadway, and I look forward to seeing this new production at George Mason and being present at the beginning of what promises to be an exciting journey.  You, too, can be a part of the excitement.  The production runs at the George Mason University’s  Center for the Arts Concert Hall Friday, October 26, 2012 (8 p.m.), Saturday, October 27, 2012 (2 p.m. and 8 p.m.), and Sunday, October 28, 2012 (4 p.m.)  Tickets are $20 general admission and $15 for students, faculty, staff, seniors and groups and can be purchased online – cfa.gmu.edu- or by calling 888-945-2468.