I had to go into the woods to see a great play last week. No, not literally, but Murfreesboro Little Theatre’s youth program of actors was tremendous on the Patterson Park Theatre stage in the largest and longest youth production I have witnessed in Murfreesboro. Lasting well over two hours, with a set that was a work of art within itself, “Into The Woods,” directed by Wayman Price, was fun and placed most all of our fairy tale memories into one setting, interacting with each other as if they were all one big happy family.

Ben George was the narrator, and did an excellent job side-telling the story, and although the cast is lengthy, I think it would be a shame not to tell you who each actor was and their part in this hilarious fairy tale. Dillon Poff played Jack (as in “beanstalk” fame), Carl Glenn was the Baker (also awesome in “Oklahoma!” at Oakland High a few months back), Courtney Coppa as The Stepmother, Darby McCarthy as Lucinda, Kaylie Hackett as Little Red Riding Hood, Joshua Vasquez as Cinderella’s father (huh?), Ben George was also the “Mysterious Man” (did he have to act for that part?), Martie Elliott as Granny, Justice Arman as Rapunzel’s Prince and the Wolf, William Franklin as The Steward, Michelle Quarto as Cinderella (a perfect part for her), Jacob Alvarez as Milky White (great job!), Ali Amirian as the Baker’s Wife (great blend for her and Carl), Jennifer Hedden as Florinda, Kate Walrath as Jack’s Mother (always a delight), Azita Saed as the Witch, Hannah Jackson as Cinderella’s Mother (ah, more like it!) and as the voice of the Giant, Abbey Kairdolf as Rapunzel (great hair for a great actor), and Caleb Peterson as Cinderella’s Prince. Each one of these young people were tremendous. Beautiful costumes were by Anne Minzey, Jamie Storvik and Lourdes Luster, again the set was obviously Loweryesque (Shane Lowery), and a beautifully placed live orchestration was conducted by Tim Smith. The lighting was some of the best I have seen at Patterson. And as bad as the sound/acoustics are at Patterson, I could even hear the dialog, so kudos to the sound crew.

Looking Ahead

Jonathan Tolins’ “Twilight of the Golds” begins Friday May 8 at MLT, with Eric Douglas, Todd Seage, Sherry Sunday, Amy Bernstein and Brian M. Booth. Bob Fish directs this compelling comic/drama, and it runs for two weekends, 7 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and 2 p.m. on Sundays. I would encourage you to buy tickets early; I see a sellout each night for this show. This will be another winner for the MLT thespians.

Auditions were recently held for “Working” for a future run at MLT by Wayman Price and Charlie Parker.

Auditions are also being held at Murfreesboro Center for the Arts on May 17 at 4 p.m. and May 18 at 7 p.m. for “Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn;” call the Center at (615) 904-ARTS for more info.

There are also auditions at The Arts Center of Cannon County for “West Side Story” on May 9 at 3:30 p.m. and May 11 at 6:30 p.m. They will be needing 21 males ages 14 – 22, 14 teenage females, and 4 adult males. Call (615) 563-ARTS for more information.

Lamplighters Theatre in Smyrna will be producing “God’s Favorite” on May 15 – 17 and 22 – 24; curtains open at 7:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Sunday.

Also, keep watch in this article; a little bird told me Tony Lehew’s “Everyday Heroes,” an original production staged at MLT a while back, will soon be “onstage” again at a popular local brew and smoke hangout.