Every year, the Erie High School theatre department works hard and diligently to create beautiful pieces of performing art for the community and students to watch and be marveled by. This year is no different, as the department has just completed auditions for their upcoming spring musical, Into The Woods. Students received offers for their parts in the musical as tech, pit, or in cast right before spring break and are now patiently awaiting the start of rehearsals after winter break. The community in the Erie High School theater department is one of the strongest throughout the entirety of the school. They spend many hours together working hard to ensure they are producing quality and empowering performers every time a show reaches the stage.
The teachers behind these productions need to be talented and educated when it comes to music and acting. Thaila Burd is one of the teachers who mainly deals with the spring musicals, she is the choir director here at Erie whose job it is to fine tune each musical, making sure its perfect for the audience. This year’s musical, Into The Woods, is “almost completely told in song,” Burd explained. The musical essence of the spring show will be even more prominent than previous shows at Erie. It will require even more excellence from every individual in the cast and in the pit in order to present the beautiful music in Into The Woods. This is also going to require Burd to utilize her musical abilities even more this year so that the students in this show can feel confident with their work.
It takes a lot to get to the point the department is currently at, even though they haven’t started rehearsals yet. A show isn’t possible without having a cast, so a few weeks ago auditions were held to find the students who best fit the roles in this musical, “you have to be prepared and confident with yourself,” Liam Gordon expressed. It takes a lot of courage to walk into an audition room, but auditioning is not a random decision students make, they spend months preparing their 90 second audition that consists of a song and a monologue. Even when they have the talent to be amazing, they still work hard to make sure they are bringing their best into the audition room. Before production even starts, students are putting in their best effort to show up and be stunning in their art.
The community in the theater department continues to be exceptional, but they are only able to produce such incredible pieces of art because they support and care about each other. Being around each other for so many hours is enjoyable “because of the friends,” that the students, like Essy Kerns, found within this community. The emotions seen on stage are so convincing because these students have been through all the real ones with each other.
Into The Woods will be performed March 6-8 2025, and the cast and crew are excited for the hopeful turnout to come.
