As the cast of The Music Man celebrated the conclusion of a successful show at the cast party yesterday afternoon, they were already looking ahead to the next ones. Kevin Ginter, the head of the music department at Rice, announced to an audience of eager students the two productions to take place in the 2023-2024 school year.

The first will be the musical-comedy The Pirates of Penzance. The show will be presented in a lightly staged but concert style, and will “feature our many strong voices,” said Ginter. There will be two performances at the Ellie-Long Music Center at Saint Michael’s College in the fall.

The full-scale musical will be Into The Woods. This announcement induced déjà-vu for some, as Rice previously staged the show in 2020, but was unable to perform it due to COVID-19. To acknowledge the disappointment the cancellation caused, one of the 2024 shows will be dedicated to the former cast. Furthermore, the hashtag #reversethecurse will be the production’s motto. Just as the characters in the production seek to overturn a witch’s spell, the future cast and crew aims to bring an end to the challenges faced by the department since the onset of the pandemic.

“I’m so excited you have no idea,” said junior Connor Trombly. “I think that [Into The Woods] will definitely fit the talents that we currently have and show off a lot more people. It will definitely show what the music department at Rice has to offer.”