Photo courtesy of Minnie Madden ’26
On Friday, March 31, the cast, pit and crew performed Into the Woods: In Concert in Evans Hall for a packed house of family, friends, and faculty. The show was initially planned to be performed in the newly renovated Palmer Auditorium with a complete set, lights and props during the first weekend of March. But when Conn erupted in protest in late February, pushing for the resignation of President Katherine Bergeron and advocating for diversity, equity, and inclusion issues on campus, the cast made the tough decision to cancel their performance in solidarity with Students Voices for Equity (SVE).
On Feb. 27, the cast, pit, and crew wrote to President Bergeron expressing that they would not perform Into the Woods until SVE’s demands were met. The Into the Woods team explained how they had worked diligently on the show since January to “produce a story about community and found family” that “spreads an emotional and powerful message of coming together to face challenges and obstacles.” They made the decision to support SVE and sacrifice their hard work preparing to perform on March 3 through 5, acknowledging that the weekend would be their only opportunity to fully perform the show.
Following this letter, the cast received an email response from President Bergerorn on Feb. 28. Notably, this was Bergeron’s first direct address to a student group since the Fanning occupation. When the students explained that they would not perform a production so valuable to the team involved for an administration that does not regard student wellbeing, Bergeron urged the cast to consider the legal, financial and institutional complexity of their demands. Bergeron was concerned about the $20,000 deficit that would come from canceling the show (to gain rights to a show, copyright law dictates that a show must be performed during the date range stated upon the acquisition of musical rights). Bergeron wished for students to protest in a way that did not damage the College. Despite her pleas, the cast kissed their performance goodbye and stood with SVE and all those who occupied and facilitated the 2023 Fanning Occupation.
The news of the show’s cancellation in protest of the Conn administration’s disregard toward marginalized students reached the national Broadway World publication. Broadway World not only published SVE’s list of demands, but also brought the story of the Into the Woods team’s protest to national attention.
Heeding to the pressure of students, faculty and staff , President Bergeron resigned on March 24, meeting SVE’s first demand. With the demand met, the cast of Into the Woods got creative and decided to perform an abridged concert version of the show. Jillian Hughes, stage manager for Into the Woods, prefaced the production by stating, “Now that actions are being taken to meet these demands, we are excited to perform our slightly altered concert version as a celebration of the work we’ve done as a campus and the change we’re beginning to evoke.”
On the stage in Evans Hall, the cast performed alongside a small orchestra. The performers adorned the costumes they would have worn in the initial production and performed the entire show in a toned down spectacle version. The intimacy of the event made the evening all the more powerful, leaving the vocals of the actors to speak for themselves.
The show’s central message of bringing different people together fittingly parallels the community that has banded together at Conn advocating for DIEI change. The refrain “Sometimes people leave you halfway through the woods / Others will deceive you /You decide what’s good / You decide alone, but no one is alone ” encapsulated the atmosphere on campus since and during the Fanning protests. The campus-wide scenes of solidarity with SVE proves that, despite having a long way to go to make our campus inclusive and equitable for all of its citizens, no one is alone here at Conn.
