Blue Forest Theater Academy is one of the only theater academies in Rockbridge County. There is no official opening date posted online, but their website states that they started an adult theater program in 2023. According to Rockbridge County Theater their goal is, “… is to provide live quality theater experience in Rockbridge County while fostering a love for the arts in both children and adults,”
The Blue Forest Theater Academy is preparing for a new play titled “Into the Woods”. They plan to perform in late November, and their text week starts November the 17th. The play “Into the Woods” is a mix of a magical fairytale and dark humor. The plot of the play is about a baker who wishes to start a family with his wife, but they are cursed by a witch, keeping them from having kids. The first major production of the play was in 1986 on Broadway and in 2014, Walt Disney released it as a movie.
The students in the Blue Forest Theater Academy all worked to get the roles they wanted. The play is double-casted, meaning most parts have two actors. The main roles are the Baker, Baker’s Wife, Witch, Cinderella, the Wolf, and the Mysterious Man. The Baker is Tommy Davis and Bowen Romneil and The Baker’s Wife is Sierra Hostetter and Abigail Woodford. The Witch is Presley Brzostek and Lily Johnson and Cinderella is Mary Jude Beacham and Celeste Jenkin. The Wolf has only one actor, Micah Fishburne, and The Mysterious Man is Jack Murri.
Senior Thomas Davis talks about the auditioning process
“We all sent in audition tapes containing a song of our choice and a small portion of sides from the script to read. After that, we all got call-backs and went more in-depth on the characters we were auditioning for. The day after callbacks, the cast list was released,” Davis said.
The students have all been working hard to get the play ready to perform in November.
Sophomore Abigail Woodford talks about how she is preparing for her part as the Baker’s Wife.
“We have practice every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. We practice scenes, learn music, and learn choreography. Closer to the show, we will start working on costumes and props. Outside of practice, I’ve been working on memorizing my lines and songs. I read the script as much as possible and listen to my songs on repeat”, Woodford said.
This shows how dedicated these students,m, are to the art.
Be on the look out for the play “Into the Woods” by The Blue Forest Theater Academy. They will be preparing the play for the next four months; make sure you go and see them perform in November.
