Into the Woods Is Coming to Pittsford This August — and Over 200 of Your Neighbors Are In It

This spring, more than 200 people auditioned for Pittsford Musicals' production of Into the Woods. Two hundred of your neighbors cleared an evening, prepared something, and raised their hand for a role on a Pittsford stage. That number — which the organization itself called extraordinary — tells you what's already happening here before a single curtain rises in August.

What Is Pittsford Musicals?

What Is Pittsford Musicals?

Pittsford Musicals is the community theater organization rooted in this village, and its structure is worth understanding before you buy a ticket. This isn't a theater run by professionals at arm's length from the audience. According to pittsfordmusicals.org, anyone who has ever bought a ticket or participated in a production is a voting member. Governance flows directly through the people who show up — the audience, the volunteers, the parents in the back row.

The Annual Membership Meeting is Wednesday, July 22, at 7pm at the Spiegel Community Center, Room 204. Board nominations are open. Any qualifying member can attend — and can run.

Most institutions have a membership in name only. This one hands the vote to whoever showed up. What would it look like if more community organizations were built exactly this way?

The Show: Into the Woods

The Show: Into the Woods

Into the Woods is one of the landmarks of the American musical theater canon. With a Tony Award-winning book by James Lapine and score by Stephen Sondheim, it does something unusual — it takes fairy tales seriously.

The story weaves together Cinderella, Jack and his cow, and a Baker and his wife trying to break a witch's curse. Act One gives everyone exactly what they wished for. Act Two reckons with what that cost. It is, at its core, a show about what happens after happily ever after — which is to say, a show about real life and the choices we carry.

The material is demanding. Sondheim's score is complex and emotionally layered. Staging it well requires genuine range from the cast and real theatrical ambition from the production team. That Pittsford Musicals chose Into the Woods for its 2026 production says something about the level of talent walking through those audition doors.

More Than 200 Auditions: The Depth of Local Talent

More Than 200 Auditions: The Depth of Local Talent

According to Pittsford Musicals, more than 200 people auditioned for this production. The organization called it extraordinary.

Think about what that means in a town this size. These are people who coach little league, pick up kids from school, wave to you on the towpath — and then, on a weeknight this spring, drove somewhere and stood in front of a director and said: I want to be part of this. That kind of participation doesn't happen by accident. It happens because something in this community keeps sending people back — back to the audition room, back to the audience, back to the Costume Loft and the volunteer table.

The gift that organizations like Pittsford Musicals offer is specific: it's the feeling of a neighborhood performing for itself. The cast you'll see in August will include people you recognize. That changes how theater lands.

"We can't wait to welcome you into the woods with us this August!"

— Pittsford Musicals, pittsfordmusicals.org

Dates, Venue, and How to Get Tickets

Dates, Venue, and How to Get Tickets

Pittsford Musicals presents Into the Woods on three dates: August 7, 8, and 9, 2026, at Pittsford Sutherland High School. Tickets are on sale now at pittsfordmusicals.org.

Donors of $100 or more receive early access to the best seats — a concrete way to support the organization and secure your spot in the front section before general availability opens up.

Three performances. One venue. A cast drawn from this community. There will be people on that stage whose kids play on the same teams as yours, who you pass on the towpath, who you wave to on Main Street. That's a different kind of theater. It's worth making the time.

How to Get Involved Before August

How to Get Involved Before August

The woods open in August, but the path in starts now.

The Annual Membership Meeting is Wednesday, July 22, at 7pm at Spiegel Community Center, Room 204. If you've ever attended a Pittsford Musicals production — or participated in one in any capacity — you're a voting member. You can be in that room. The door is open and the community it serves is yours.

For those who want to support without performing: the Costume Loft, volunteer crew, and merchandise sales are all available. You don't have to sing to matter to this organization.

What would it mean to show up — not just for the performance, but for the organization that makes it possible, year after year, because neighbors decided it should exist? Come find out on July 22.