Into the Woods
June, 2003
Directed by Michael Anthony. Written by Stephen Sondheim.

 
Reviews

By Rob Hopper,
San Diego Playbill

Once upon a time there was Cinderella, Little Red Ridinghood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel and giants and witches and magic and adventure. These are the fairy tales that have been passed down for centuries, taking us into entrancing lands and treacherous woods where all of life’s dangers lurk, teaching lessons and morals to generations who listened with a mixture of enchantment and fear and excitement, but where we know everything will end happily ever after.

But what happens after happily ever after? Under Stephen Sondheim’s creative hand, we go back into the woods to find out, his story introducing us to a poor Baker and his wife who want to have children but are told by a Witch that she put a curse on them to forever be barren. In order to break the curse, they have three days to bring her a blood-red cloak (much like the one adorning Little Red Riding Hood), a cow as white as milk (Jack might sell them his for some magic beans), hair as gold as corn (which Rapunzel has plenty of), and a slipper as pure as gold (courtesy of Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother).

But this story doesn’t end with the Bakers’ odd, little scavenger hunt. For though everybody gets what they think they want by the end of act one, in act two we learn that what we want isn’t necessarily for the best. Cinderella finds Prince Charming isn’t really so charming. Rapunzel’s prince is bored with his crazy wife. And Jack’s killing of the Giant who was climbing down the beanstalk makes a very bad enemy in the form of the Giant’s Wife – an enemy that will threaten the entire village and force everyone to decide whether to stick together and fight as one, or turn on each other in a cold and desperate attempt to save themselves – an event highlighted by the masterfully performed Your Fault scene in which the characters find valid reasons for scapegoating everyone for their current situation.

This fantastic show is usually presented with colorful costumes and sets that try to capture the magic of the fairy tale, and the difficult musical is usually rehearsed for a few weeks at least. Therefore it was hard to know what to expect when San Diego Junior Theatre’s advanced musical theatre camp put on a one-time-only “black box” performance of Into the Woods following just eight rehearsals. But with Michael Anthony directing a cast of Junior Theatre all-stars, I suspected it might have a happy ending.

Of course, it did. This exceptionally talented group put on an amazing and polished production that didn’t need the fancy sets and the colorful costumes (which, though all plain and black except for Little Red’s cloak, showed quite a bit of creativity for individualizing the various characters).

Joey Price stars as the perfect everyman – a Baker who is just trying to eek out a normal life but still finds challenges and heartbreak that he must face. Courtney Linton is the Baker’s Wife who insists on helping with the scavenger hunt, facing the world’s dangers together as a team. Courtney is a riot as she swoons over Prince Charming, and then performs the most disturbing scene with her poignant Moments in the Woods. Jacqueline Lopez is bewitching as the evil, masochistic, selfish, and pragmatic Witch who humorously fawns over her crazy daughter Rapunzel (Jackee Bianchi) and delivers a spellbinding rendition of the Last Midnight. Stephanie Ward’s gorgeous voice and melancholy yet compassionate air combine for a lovely Cinderella. And Karli Cadel is a hoot as the bratty but adorable Little Red Ridinghood.

Other standouts include the storyteller Gordon McLachlan as the Narrator who ends up getting a little too close to the story, Tyler Knell as the naïve and innocent Jack of beanstalk fame who steals one too many trinkets from giants, his faithful cow Milky-White with hilarious expressions provided by Lena Hudson, an amusing turn by Cinderella’s obnoxious stepmother and stepsisters, and princes Ryan Wagner and Jim Oliver combining for two of the best scenes in the show – in the first act singing of their relentless efforts to woo Cinderella and Rapunzel, and in the second act showing some regrets at catching them and now being infatuated with Sleeping Beauty and Snow White!

Unfortunately this was a one-time-only show, but much of this outstanding cast will be onstage next week at San Diego Junior Theatre’s production of Footloose – a musical based on the blockbuster film.