Cast of Into the Woods sings for its stage

Last night, members of the Gloucester High School theater department used song to make their case for reopening the auditorium to the school committee and city council.

The cast and crew of  the musical “Into the Woods” performed a re-written version of the title track, asking officials to allow the performance to take place in the GHS auditorium, which was recently closed due to water damage from the leaking roof.

With the spring show less than three weeks away, the students are trying to bring attention to what Drama Council President Madison Smith calls “a dire situation”. According to Smith, without the auditorium, the Theatre department is out of luck.

“There is no stage in Gloucester that will accommodate our set,” said Smith. “Musical Theater International, the company who licenses our show, has forbade us from moving out of Gloucester.”

“It does kinda stink that it’s our senior year and this is happening, because this is a great show,” said cast member Jessalyn Silveira. “We have had so much fun working on it, and now this happens and it’s not something that we can easily recover from.”

With the show set to open on April 7th, drama students worked together to create a memorable performance for the school board and city council members.

“We all got together in a google doc and we quickly rewrote the lyrics to suit our dire situation. We tried to show that we have solutions and we are willing to compromise,” said Smith.

Drama students have also started a social media campaign to promote awareness of the issue with #saveintothewoods.

“The hashtag is an easy way to spread the word to more than just the school,” said freshman cast member Marisa Orlando. “We want to spread awareness that we have been working hard on the show, and we don’t want it to go to waste.”

At this point no decision has been made as to whether or not the play will go on.

“They are fixing leaks right now, and are going to see how well it holds up this weekend. If it starts to leak, that will affect their decision about when it will be open,” said drama club member Mikayla Healey. “They are trying to get it open as quickly as they can.”