This season, a musical that has been in the works for eight years will premiere at Utah Tech University. Melissa Walker Glenn, associate professor of music, has created her own original musical inspired by “Hansel and Gretel” called “Gingerbread.”
Alongside John Bell, a colleague of Glenn’s from Brigham Young University—Hawaii, the pair discussed the idea of writing a musical. When she asked Bell if he knew any scriptwriters, and he quickly showed interest, Bell said.
It was a musical eight years in the making. After the first four years, they held a workshop production and received feedback from their colleagues. After that, they reworked it for another four years.
Bell has been writing plays for more than 50 years. Glenn has never written any plays or musicals, but has written songs before.
“There have been 25 major drafts, each representing a dozen minor revisions,” Bell said. “In all, the process has been extremely collaborative and fun.”
Because the piece is inspired by the fairy tale “Hansel and Gretel,” it is centered around the idea of who the real witch in the woods is.
The play highlights how children are vulnerable because of poverty. Glenn said she wanted to create a story of the community coming together to make life better for its children. The story is told from the perspective of the village and mothers of the children, Glenn said.
“For my doctoral project, I had worked in India with girls and women who had survived sex trafficking, and I knew that poverty and separation of rich and poor is one of the leading causes of trafficking,” Glenn said.
Glenn said her experiences during that project, combined with the question of who the real witch is, sparked the idea to merge the two concepts.
“One of the things that John and I really try to present is the reality of this issue, but also showing that there are ways forward,” Glenn said. “That there are things we can do.”
Most popular fairy tales have a musical version, but “Hansel and Gretel” does not have a major musical adaptation, which inspired Glenn even more.
The performers in the play are students from the university, and Glenn’s children will be playing Hansel and Gretel.
“I honestly couldn’t think of anyone better to work with on the show,” said Ireland Redd, a sophomore integrated studies major from Morgan, who’s performing in the play. “[Glenn] has done so much and put so much time into this. I just hope we do her show justice.”
Glenn feels this could become a community staple if the community connects with the production.
“I hope that people feel a connection to their community, to each other, to the cast and even to others in the audience.”
The musical will be performed at the Dolores Dore Eccles Fine Arts Center, Nov. 13-15 and again Nov. 18-22. Tickets are on sale through the Utah Tech ticketing website. Admission is $20 for the public and $5 for students, staff and faculty.
“I think the arts are one of the many ways to motivate people and touch people on a deeper level to care about the things that are important,” Redd said.
