BLOOMFIELD — The Talent Time Players will be presenting “Into the Woods” for its annual fundraising effort this summer. There are eight performances at Bloomfield High School: July 30, 31; Aug. 6, 7, all at 7:30 p.m; and Aug 1 and 8, at 2 and 7:30 p.m. An autism friendly show is Aug. 1. The group has been performing to benefit families in need of medical assistance for 70 years.
The popular “Into the Woods” is a 1987 Broadway musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. It weaves a number of characters from Grimm’s Fairy Tales into a quest for fulfillment and how this changes them. This quest is necessary to lift a witch’s curse and the characters have to go into the woods to find what they seek. Victoria Alameda, the president of the Charles Seller Foundation, which puts on the show, said “Into the Woods” has a strong message about community.
“It’s the one the foundation works to put out,” she said.
In discussing the production, she was joined by Mark Schellhorn, a long-time Talent Time participant who, in the production, serves as the narrator, and Luke Wroblewski, who plays the baker. Alameda plays the mother of Jack, of beanstalk fame.
Voicing his take on the show’s theme, Shellhorn said that everyone is in their personal woods.
“It’s important to break the cycle,” he said.
Wroblewski opined that the further message was the need to put yourself in someone’s shoes.
There are 45 people in the cast, ages 9 to 35, and only one is double-cast.
“There are no parents and children this year, but lots of sets of siblings,” Alameda said.
The show is a fast-moving ensemble musical with direction by Carey Gsell and costumes by Mariaelena Alaneda and Scout Schiro.
“But our biggest takeaway is not from the audience,” Alameda said, “but who we’re putting this on for.”
A grievous injury launched everything.
On the morning of July 17, 1950, Charles Seller, a recent BHS graduate, attempted to board a moving eastbound train at the Osborne Street station in Glen Ridge.
Arriving late with the train slowly departing, Seller attempted to board it. Grabbing a railing, he misjudged the train speed and spun off. His right leg, landing on the track, was run over and required an amputation at the knee.
Learning this, Sellers’ friends met and determined to create a variety show with the proceeds going to him. The four performances were a big success raising $4,600 and his friends got the notion to make the show an annual benefit. The Charles Sellers Foundation was created and the Talent Time Players, since 1954, produce a musical annually.
In 2016, Seller, who died January 2024, said Talent Time had three strokes of luck at the outset.
The first one was the willingness of people to get involved. The second was that the accident happened soon after high school graduation.
“It was only three weeks later,” he said. “A lot of people were still there.”
The third was having BHS English and drama teacher “Tink” Martin around. Her Montgomery Street home became a headquarters.
This year’s recipient will be a Nutley 5-year-old, Gino DeVito. According to Alameda, the child has a condition known as SATB2 Associated Syndrome, producing cranial and facial differences, difficulty eating, risk for seizures and cardiac complications.
“It’s extraordinarily rare,” she said, “with maybe 500 cases worldwide. But Talent Time is definitely not traditional community theater. It’s more than just putting on a musical. It goes beyond that.”
Photo Courtesy of Talent Time
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