Cast and crew members of LBCC’s production of the musical “Into the Woods” answered questions from prospective performing arts students at two Q&A sessions on March 18 as part of the Meet the Performing Arts event.
The event invited students from four local high schools from the Long Beach Unified School District, including Renaissance, Wilson, Millikan and Lakewood high schools.
The students engaged in tours, breakout sessions with professors and experienced an abbreviated performance of “Into the Woods” before the Q&A sessions.
Among the panel was Phyre Romero, who played the role of the Witch, production stage manager Jade Abbott, and Director Andre Brown. Along with actor Christopher Johnson, who played the Mysterious Man, Aden Cajudo, who plays Jack and Charlie Banister, who plays Little Red Riding Hood.
“In choosing that panel we wanted to be sure that we encompassed not just performers, but all of our disciplines,” said Skye Angulo, the vocal director for “Into the Woods,” who also coordinated the event.
The panelists answered questions about their favorite lines and what they liked to do when they weren’t onstage.
Romero answered that her favorite line was “You’re so nice,” from the second act song “Last Midnight,” and that backstage performers are usually eating or mouthing the lines spoken or sung by whichever characters are actually actively onstage at that time, as they wait for their own cues.
Another question asked to the panel was how difficult it was for them to balance being in the musical while also being in classes.
The panel responded with how they have managed to succeed despite the challenges, mentioning the program’s accommodations like schedule accommodations, and Romero mentioned her additional commitment to track and field.
“It was a new experience but it felt nice giving advice about balancing work and school. I know it was a struggle for me in the beginning, so it was nice to give hope that it’s possible to achieve what you want while still pursuing your education,” said Abbott, expressing how it felt to be part of the panel.
Other questions included what the panelists’ goals were in their careers, how the actors tapped into their characters and if the LBCC production took any liberties with the source material.
The latter question was mostly answered by director Andre Brown, who highlighted changes such as the unique characterization of the narrator character to be more relatable to a Gen Z audience. In LBCC’s production of “Into the Woods,” the narrator was a college student who uses Tiktok, as opposed to in the original musical it’s an older man.
Brown also explained that the script itself, the dialog and songs, was followed exactly as originally written, in accordance with the performance license required to perform the show.
“I love to see young people interested, because if we don’t have audiences, we ultimately won’t be able to grow the program or have arts. So, we always have to make sure that we’re inspiring these audiences so that we have, not just only students, but art makers in the future,” said Brown, reflecting on the event’s turnout.
