When the house lights dim at Horace Greeley High School for this weekend’s performances of “Into the Woods” – Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s musical about what happens after “they lived happily ever after” – many in the cast will be adding another Sondheim show to their credits.

That’s thanks in large part to Pleasantville’s Little Village Playhouse, a training center for young actors and singers, where Sondheim is a staple.

In the past 10 years, LVP has presented “A Little Night Music,” “Sunday in the Park with George,” “Into the Woods,” “Anyone Can Whistle,” “Assassins,” “Pacific Overtures,” “Sweeney Todd,” “Merrily We Roll Along” and “Into the Woods” again.

For Greeley director Chris Schraufnagel, who appeared in a professional production of the musical when he was fresh out of high school, experience shows.

“These kids are huge Sondheim fans and they’ve done Sondheim, so they knew what they were walking into,” he says. “And I think they’re doing really well with it.”

While most Lower Hudson Valley high schools perform their musicals in winter and spring, Greeley and a handful of others do it in the fall. The Chappaqua school’s spring musical is the last hurrah, for seniors only. (This year, it’ll be “Zombie Prom.”

The fall musical is for kids for whom theater is a passion.

“They know their musicals,” Schraufnagel says.

Olivia Nielsen, 17, a senior, played Little Red Riding Hood in “Into the Woods” at LVP. Now she plays the baker’s wife, a complex and realistic character.

“She’s more of a challenge, because you can’t fall back on the slapstick,” Nielsen says. Still, there are physical requirements for the role, as when she meets her demise and falls off the back of the tilted stage, called a rake.

“And when I’m with the prince, I roll down the rake,” she says, adding with a laugh: “Me and the rake, we’re becoming friends.”

Senior Elsa Obus, 17, plays Little Red, who sings the song “I Know Things Now.”

“She has been seduced by the wolf and she’s learned a lot from that and she’s talking about how she knows better now,” Obus says. “She talks about how she’s smarter, but that the reason she did it was because it was exciting to be out of her comfort zone and doing things that were different.”

Sondheim feels like a comfort zone to Obus. “I’ve been in a lot of Sondheim shows,” Obus says, putting particular emphasis on “a lot.”

Senior Evan Ross, 18, is such a Sondheim fan that while he’s playing The Baker at Greeley, he’s getting ready for January’s LVP production of “Merrily We Roll Along,” Jan. 9 and 10 at the Irvington Town Hall Theater.

“Sondheim’s amazing,” Ross says. “He captures emotion like nobody else does. He’s notorious for being difficult, but I feel that the extra work you put into doing really, really hard music is completely worth it because the shows are so amazing. There’s nothing like Sondheim.

“You could sing ‘Grease,’ ” Ross says. “But what would you get out of it?”

Photo by Carucha L. Meuse/The Journal News: Rachel Greenberg looks at a musical score during a rehearsal for the musical “Into the Woods” at Horace Greeley High School in Chappaqua.

‘Into the Woods’
Where: Horace Greeley High School, 70 Roaring Brook Road, Chappaqua.
When: 7:30 p.m. Nov. 20; 8 p.m. Nov. 21 and 22
Tickets: $10 at the door.
Call: 914-861-9425.
With: Cynthia Bonacum, Christine Haggerty, Sky Jarrett, Ali Ross, Evan Ross, Olivia Nielsen, Rachel Greenberg, Ruthie Gold, Phoebe Dunn, Justin Wolf, Elsa Obus, Aleah Papes, Hannah Cohen, Sam Caywood, P.J. Grisar, Juliette Blank, Julia Deutch, Matt Haas, Alex Gold, Adriana Miano, David Baranowski, Zeyn Yao, Christina Zhang, Shailaja Iyer, Lea Ono, Cerianne Robertson, H. Davis Knobloch, Sasha Ono, Justin Krim, Rebecca Schneyer, Jessica Yao, Devon Tipp, Jeff Benton, Eric Chang, Alex Gerstein, Alex Greenzeig, Noah Hyams, Noah Hyams, Rio Keleman, Debbie Sachare, Dan Stern, Anna Ohara, Doris Berman, Molly Pickel, Laura Stein, Michael Stanton, Alanna Lauter, Grace Magoun, Samuel Watson, Andrew Schwartz, Sarah Beilenson, Adam Cole, Miri Dainson, Luc Lachaud, Joo Woo Lee, Jon Mackey, Sycamore May, Steven Osorio, Madelyn Pollack, Michael Schraufnagel, Casey Silver, Claire Van Ryzin, Michael Zezze, Troye Evers.