The Legend of Sleepy Hollow follows Ichabod Crane, a graduate from Connecticut, as he comes to fulfill the much needed role of a school teacher in this seemingly benign town. Ichabod slowly becomes part of the community as he learns more about their folklore, and more about a special girl that has caught his eye. Everything is seemingly going fine until Ichabod begins to learn the hard way that the stories he’s been told aren’t just fiction. The legend ends with Ichabod going missing and the town continuing on as they always have, settling with the belief he was simply “spirited away”.

Beau Dolan produces a more than believable Ichabod to the audience with clearly practiced mannerisms and enough skilled line delivery that makes it seem he was born for the role. Dolan’s character seamlessly blends with the other actors onstage in a scene, especially when performing with Neve Holloway (Katrina Van Tassel). Holloway similarly brings her own take to Katrina and her flirtatious ways, and with that a possible self-awareness that adds layers to the coquette ‘belle’ of the town.

This legend’s two leads are masterfully reinforced by an array of supporting and ensemble characters. With Atticus Gregory, who plays Brom Bones with an enjoyable mischief and confidence along amusing interactions with Ichabod. Also, Gökhan Necioglu, who delivered a tasteful Baltus Van Tassel that truly added to whatever scene he was in. All of these characters were tied together with multiple ensembles who provided with whatever mood was needed in a scene. Having Specific groups like the Sleepy Hollow Boys with their youthful charm and their counterparts, the Country Girls, anyone watching could understand the way an ensemble is truly one of the most important aspects of a good play.

Along with the mystical cast, the crew that made this production delivered a quality that superseded expectations in the best way possible. The sets (led by Hatcher Gardner, Drew Crawford, and Zoe Korff) truly went above and beyond with trees and platforms that offered such a pleasing flow for the stage and always managed to pull the audience’s eye right back to the center. Almost buddying up with the sets, lighting (led by Dian Greenough and Ashnil Dasan) provided attractive “windows” on either side of the stage which created extremely smooth transitions along with sike lights that progressed the story with colors to match the time of day. Tying everything together with a pretty bow, costumes (led by Jaz Camacho and Caitlin Van Berkel) made sure that each of the actors looked straight from the story with beautiful outfits whose color scheme matched perfectly with the rest of the story.

Lastly, to go without mentioning the magnificent creativity of Genny O’Neill would be absolutely inexcusable. O’Neill created original scores for this production which perfectly underlined every scene it was included in. Every note flawlessly grasped the mood that each character and audience member was feeling and to say the show would not be on the same level without it would not be an understatement.

Heritage High School’s performance of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow brings a new meaning to the magic of theatre. This mystical production completely immersed each viewer without fail and shows the incredible talent that the cast and crew of this department have.