If ever there were a demonstration of rising talent in Whanganui theatre, it would be the upcoming production of Into the Woods at Amdram.
The musical is directed by 17-year-old Maddi McKenzie with Caleb Arthur as musical director. Caleb is 23. Neither has taken directing roles before.
Into the Woods was Maddi's idea, stemming from a time when she was in Year 11 English class.
"We were talking about what the school production was going to be and I talked about how I always wanted to do Into the Woods. My friend Kezia, who is in the show, said 'you should just do it'!
"I went to Graham [Dack] and asked him what does a 17-year-old girl have to do to direct a show here, and he said put in a proposal, and that's what I did.
"And then I went to Caleb — we were doing Phantom [of the Opera] at the time, and I asked him what he was doing after this."
Caleb had never been musical director for a show before, so he said he really wanted to do it.
Now they are in rehearsals for the show, which will be performed at Amdram from July 6 to 16.
"The cast ranges in age from 13 to 21," says Maddi. "I couldn't be happier with them." Having such a young cast is something she chose to do. "I thought I was probably more equipped to direct youth — I thought I would know how they would work, react to direction, and I think it's a really important thing to have youth productions. We do have a lot of theatre, but a big production for young people outside of school productions, I really wanted to see that happen."
But why Into the Woods?
"There's something captivating about it; it's the perfect mix of drama, comedy ... it's dark but still light-hearted in places. It's got a bit of everything — the fairytale aspect: I suppose I've always been enchanted by that kind of thing," says Maddi. "I've always loved the show."
