'Into the Woods Jr.' a chance for Yellow Door veterans to shine this weekend

For Catherine Dubois and Alex Bergshoeff, Yellow Door Theatre Project’s production of Into the Woods Jr. this weekend is as much about the ‘woulds’ as it is about the ‘woods’.

That’s because the Virgil-based educational theatre group for youth has added a Dungeons & Dragons element to the Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine musical that centres on the characters of several Grimm Brothers fairy tales.

YDTP founder and artistic producer Andorlie Histrom credits that decision to projection and sound designer Corwin Ferguson, who has collaborated with her for a few years.

“I told him I wanted the environment to be an attic, where all the props and costumes would be found,” Hilstrom tells The Local. “He came up with the idea that the young people would come to the attic for a Dungeons & Dragons campaign.”

For the uninitiated to D&D, a campaign is a series of adventures that takes place in a specific world or setting. For Hilstrom, it made wonderful sense to combine the fairy tales with the campaign, the characters being assumed because of that. And of course, as in D&D, that meant there would be a roll of the dice, in this case, the beans thrown by Jack, of Beanstalk fame.

“Corwin has done an excellent job of showing what would happen by using the dice rolls and projecting that onto the backdrop,” says Ridley College student Bergshoeff, a seven-year veteran of YDTP who plays Jack. “There are some parts in the musical where the characters have to make choices. It’s so engaging for the audience.” 

Especially so for the matinee audiences this week, comprised mostly of elementary school students. Though Hilstrom confirms the play is fully scripted, there is the illusion that anything could happen as a result of rolling the dice.

“The afternoon and the evening shows are very different when it comes to the audience reaction,” says Dubois, a Grade 12 student at Laura Secord Secondary School. “When we roll the dice, the kids have really loved that. They have been screaming out their choices.”

The 17-year-old Dubois, who plays the Baker’s Wife, around whom Into the Woods Jr. centres,  discovered YDTP by chance nine years ago when she arrived at a karate studio that used to operate out of the same Virgil building. 

“I was more interested in what was going on there,” she says, “so I decided to try it. I’ve been involved ever since. Just a little decision like that can change so much in your life. Chances are I wouldn’t have found it if I didn’t go to karate.” 

Dubois shone last year as one of the leads in her school’s production of 9 to 5 - The Musical. As well, both she and Bergshoeff, who will play Gomez in The Addams Family at Ridley in January, have walked the Shaw stage in front of bigger crowds in recent years. It’s clear their YDTP training has given them the confidence and skills needed to be more than just ‘theatre kids’. 

“They have always been good performers, but they are developing into wonderful young professionals,” Hilstrom says. “They bring that level of professionalism to everything they do. I’ve watched them become more articulate. They have matured and they can take on leadership roles willingly.

And speaking of the ‘woulds’ and making choices, Dubois is in the process of narrowing down her post-secondary aspirations for next September, a decision too important for a roll of the dice. 

Seeing her onstage and knowing she has nine years of experience at such a young age, one would think she is destined for a career in theatre. But she’s actually considering studying social sciences at McMaster University in hopes of becoming a music therapist.

Bergshoeff has another year before he has to make that same decision, and the chance elements of the musical have given him pause for thought. 

“The post-secondary decision is so important,” he says. “There are so many ways that can go. I never really thought about that until now,”

For Hilstrom, the choice of doing Into the Woods Jr. was the right one for this winter, in light of YDTP’s expanded season. Just last month the younger Yellow Door students performed The Little Prince to sold-out audiences in their Virgil studio space. 

“It’s a very challenging piece,” she says of this weekend’s production. “ We always had a full-company production in the fall. The change to three shows this year allowed me to focus on a more challenging show for the high school level. This year I have voices who can manage to do it.”

There are three more opportunities to see Bergshoeff, Dubois and others in Yellow Door Theatre Project’s Into the Woods Jr. at the First Ontario PAC’s Robertson Theatre - Friday, Dec. 6 and Saturday, Dec. 7 at 7:30 p.m. and a matinee Saturday at 2 p.m. Visit the PAC’s website for tickets.