Snippitts of Illusions

Into the Woods

This past weekend I took the opportunity to journey to Salt Lake to see some friends and take in some theater. I had two close friends both doing shows and another individual I like and respect doing one as well. Part of me going on this venture was to take in a lot of theater, and that I managed to do. I saw three plays in two days time and I intend to write a short review for each.

Into the Woods is one of Steven Sondheim's more popular musicals. And why not? It takes several classic fairy-tales and weaves them into a humorous and darkly whimsical narrative with memorable catchy music and scenes. It's popular because it's accessible to a fairly wide audience, and despite dark implications there's nothing risque apparent in the play on the surface.

For the those unfamiliar with the plot, take all your favorite fairy-tales: Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella, Rapunzle, Little Red Riding Hood, and hints and suggestions of several others and tie them all together with an unfortunant baker and his wife and a witch who has decided that she wants youth and beauty and you get some idea of the play. The play starts off with a long prelude introducing the entire cast of characters, as being told by a Narrator (Gary Pimpelten). These include the aforementioned Jack (Jacob Tonks), Cinderella (Ashley Gardner Carlson), The Baker (Jonathan McBride), the Baker's Wife (Stephanie Purcell) and the Witch (Julie Silvestro Waite), as well as Little Red Riding Hood (Angela Chatelain Avila). Each of the characters starts on the journey you'd expect, except for the Baker and his Wife, who are told by the Witch that they are infertile because of a curse she placed on their father for stealing her magic beans. She'll undo the curse, but only if they fetch her four items: A cow as white as milk, the cape as red as blood, the hair as yellow as corn, the slipper as pure as gold. I think you can see where this is going.

The majority of the first act is the Baker and his Wife fumbling about the woods for each of the objects, but we're also introduced to a few other characters as well: The Wolf, played by an impressive Doug Irey (who does double duty as Cinderella's Prince later in the play) tries to lure Little Red Riding Hood off the path to her grandmother's house in "Hello Little Girl." I don't usually call out technical aspects unless they are egregiously flawed, but in this case the Wolf's performance was not only fun, but his make up fantastic! Make up and hair designer, Yancey J. Quick created a seamless and visually impressive looking Wolf, and I think that may have been half the fun with the character. There's a Mysterious Man (played by the Narrator's Gary Pimpelten) who is seems to be out to sabotage the Baker and his Wife as they go about their quest. We also meet the Rupunzel (Katie Jones) who is locked high in a tower, her Prince (Jake Miskimins) who sings with the duet "Agony" with Doug Irey (now as the Prince) where both men agonize that which they seemingly can't have: Rapunzel and Cinderella respectively. Both actors have strong voices that compliment each other quite well and they manage to bring out the humor effortlessly in the piece.

The Baker and his Wife manage to get each item, first by swapping the magical beans for the Cow with Jack, whose mother responds as you'd expect. Jack ventures to the Giant Kingdom and reflects on the things he's seen in "Giants in the Sky", Jacob Tonks who portray's Jack as a sweet but some what naive strange youth has a apt voice for this part, though there were a few moments where he was perhaps a little on the soft side. The Baker manages to kill the Wolf and release Red Riding Hood, her Grandmother and three little pigs and is ultimately presented with Red Riding Hood's cloak as his reward. His Wife, after convincing him that he does need her help in "It Takes Two" manages to get the remaining two items, the slipper from Cinderella and a bit of Rapunzel's hair. By the end of the first act everything is what you'd expect in this far off kingdom. Cinderella is with her Prince, her sisters blind and lame. Jack and his mother are wealthy and happy. The Witch is beautiful even though she's lost her powers. The Baker and his wife are soon to have a baby. The entire cast performs, what in my opinion is one of the funnest first act closers of any musical "Ever After." The casts voices shine. Their strength definitely lies in their singing capacity and this was a great closer. Unfortunately the choreography was a bit off at times. This is not one of those musicals where the choreography is as big of a part of the over all whole and it's a pretty minor nitpick honestly.

The second act begins sometime later. Everybody is "Happy" until the giant's wife (the giant having been killed by Jack in the first act) shows up seeking revenge. Where the first act is a bit dark, though lighthearted the second act is dark. There's a bit of humor but the long list of character deaths before the end makes it a bit depressing. That being said, this is also where some of the most beautiful musical numbers of the play are located. At one point during the Giant's rampage Jack, The Baker, Red Riding Hood, Cinderella and the Witch lay blame at each other in "Your Fault." This is one of the most difficult songs in the show and the principle actors have it down pat. It was fun to watch, and listening to the lines being tossed back and forth, weaving in and out of each other let's anybody with even a little musical background know how genuinely impressive this number is to pull off well. The cast pulled it off quite well. Unfortunately there were moments (and this is true of the entire play) where the orchestra was a bit too loud. This was the case during parts of this number and some of the lyrics were lost due to the energetic pianos playing in the background. The play grows darker after this with a great performance by Julie Silvestro Waite sing "Last Midnight". With death's happening all around them, The Baker, Jack, Red Riding Hood and Cinderella come up with a plan to deal a blow to the Giant once and for all. This is, musically, the most beautiful number of the show. "No One Is Alone" was simply gorgeous and incredibly moving. Jonathon McBride and Ashley Gardner Carlson both have fantastic voices and this number let's their talents and hard work shine.

Over all The Grand Theatre's production of Into the Woods is well worth an evening (or Saturday afternoon). It has a strong cast and while the orchestra was a bit loud at times, they do a great job as well. The production runs Thursdays through Saturdays until the 27th with a 2:00 p.m. matinee on Saturdays.

Labels: Theater Reviews

posted by F.G. Shaw @ 5:29 PM