FULL CAST
INTO THE WOODS: Musical by Stephen Sondheim (music and lyrics) and James Lapine (book). Directed by Susi Damilano.Music Director Dave Dobrusky. June 24 to September 6, 2014
Enthusiasm abounds INTO THE [Surrealistic] WOODS at SF Playhouse [Rating: 4]
Into the Woods the musical by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine opened in San Diego at the Old Globe Theatre in 1986, and premiered on Broadway in 1987. It won Tony awards for Best Score and Best Actress in a Musical (Joanna Gleason) and has been staged many times in regional/community theatres throughout the United States along with London and TV productions. A Disney movie is scheduled to open during the 2014 Holiday season.
After seeing the memorable 2002 Broadway revival with Vanessa Williams as the Witch and reviewing five local productions of Into the Woods comparisons seem appropriate and inevitable. After rereading those local reviews it is concluded that the TheatreWorks production was the most technically/satisfyingly proficient, the Sixth Street mounting the most charming, the Broadway by the Bay staging most hectic, the Ray of Light creation the most energetic and this SF Playhouse the most original. Originality is what we have come to expect from the SF Playhouse and this production does not disappoint.
The massive monochromatic surrealistic forest (set by Nina Ball) with nary a green leaf in sight signaled that director Damilano would probably emphasize the darker elements of this masterpiece musical. Why then is the young Boy (Ian DeVaynes) prancing across the stage throwing his NERF ball into the audience? Ah ha! When the Narrator (Louis Parnell) comes out to start the show with “Once upon a time. . .” and to end the show with the same line, he is telling the story to the boy. Clever? Yes, since the finale includes the plaintiff song “Children Will Listen.” That Boy with nary a line of dialog remains on stage for most of the evening and takes part manipulating some props with a unexpected twist becoming the reincarnation of the Mysterious Man as a boy. To this reviewer he is a distraction to the fine performance of Parnell as the Narrator doubling as the Mysterious Man.
Damilano wisely limits her experiments with this classic allowing Sondheim traditionalist to enjoy the music played by a seven piece orchestra under the superb direction of pianist/music director Dave Dobrusky. Also, the major characters of her 15 member cast (excluding the Boy) have good to great voices but sometimes do not capture the cadences of the recitative and spoken dialog.
Sondheim and Lapine‘s fantasy, a contorted view of Grimm’s fairy-tales, includes characters taken from “Little Red Riding Hood”, “Jack and the Beanstalk”, “Rapunzel”, and “Cinderella”, as well as several others. They added their own tale of a Baker (an excellent Keith Pinto) and his wife ( El Beh) who is childless due to a curse placed on them by the neighboring Witch(Safiya Fredericks) because the Baker’s father has stolen the greens from her garden. This is the first bit of morality that abounds in the play; the sins of the father shall be passed on to the son.
If they gather four ingredients required for a potion the curse will be lifted. Into the woods they go meeting the aforementioned characters. Each possesses one ingredient: Jack (Tim Homsley) “a cow as white as milk”, Red Riding Hood (Corinne Proctor) “the cape as red as blood”, Rapunzel (Noelani Neal) “the hair as yellow as corn” and Cinderella (Monique Hafen) “a slipper as pure as gold.”
In the woods go two handsome/vain Princes (Ryan McCrary and Jeffrey Adams) from other fables that intersect through unexpected new plot twists. All have ventured “into the woods” for their own purpose to “find what they wish for.”
By the end of the energetic, humorous, intriguing 90-minute first act all have found what they wish for singing a rousing first act curtain chorus of “Ever After” and they should “live happily ever after.”
My personal choice would to head home in a happy mood after the first act curtain. It is not to be. There is the admonishment to “beware of what you wish for.” The narrator’s Act II prologue “So Happy” ends with the Baker’s house destroyed by a huge footprint. The widow of the Giant that Jack has slain has arrived to seek revenge. Back into the woods they all go. This time the plot is indeed black surrounded by death and destruction and “happily ever after” is not to be.
The music is classic Sondheim with tricky cryptic lyrics and intricate tonality, which are handled fairly well by most of the cast. Sondheim and Lapine inject a hopeful note with the plaintive “No One Is Alone” and the finale “Children Will Listen.”
“Into The Woods” is a fascinating musical that can be appreciated on many levels starting with the selection of your favorite character. Dulcet voiced Monique Hafen is charming as Cinderella. Tim Homsley as simple minded Jack of beanstalk fame has a fine baritone voice and bounces up the down and across the se with alacrity. Pert Corinne Proctor has the right amount of insouciance for the part of Red Riding Hood. Jeffery Brian Adams and Ryan McCrary have a show stopper with their duet of “Agony.” Safiya Fredericks as the Witch in undone by a costume that appears to have been a cast-off from a second hand store and by her transformation wearing a dominatrix leather outfit. She overcomes her costumes with her dramatic singing of “Witch’s Lament” and “Last Midnight.”
To mention all 16 members of the cast would make a long review. Be assured they all perform admirably with enthusiasm, zany humor, flair and they all have fun. You will too. Running time 2 hours and 45 minutes.
CAST: Louis Parnell (Narrator/Mysterious Man), Ian DeVaynes (Boy); Safiya Fredericks (Witch); El Beh (Baker’s Wife); Keith Pinto (Baker), Tim Homsley* (Jack); Bekka Fink (Stepmom), identical twins, Lily and Michelle Drexler (Cinderella’s Stepsisters), Noelani Neal (Rapunzel), Corinne Proctor (Red), Ryan McCrary and Jeffrey Adams (Princes/Wolves) and John Paul Gonzales (Steward); Maureen McVerry (Jack’s Mother/Granny).
Creative Team: Susi Damilano (Director); Dave Dobrusky (Music Director); Kimberly Richards (Choreographer);Sound Design,Theodore J.H. Hulsker;Stage Manager, TatjanaGenser (through 8/10) & Courtney Legget(8/11- 9/6); Lighting Design, Michael Oesch;Set Design, Nina Ball; Costume Design, Abra Berman;Casting,Lauren English;Props Artisan,Jacquelyn Scott; Sound Engineer, Anton Hedman; Wig Design,Tabbitha McBride
Kedar K. Adour, MD
Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com
