{"id":12855,"date":"2014-07-02T14:37:27","date_gmt":"2014-07-02T21:37:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/?p=12855"},"modified":"2014-07-02T21:45:23","modified_gmt":"2014-07-03T04:45:23","slug":"enthusiasm-abounds-into-the-surrealistic-woods-at-sf-playhouse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/enthusiasm-abounds-into-the-surrealistic-woods-at-sf-playhouse\/","title":{"rendered":"Enthusiasm abounds INTO THE [Surrealistic] WOODS at SF Playhouse"},"content":{"rendered":"
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FULL CAST<\/p><\/div>\n

INTO THE WOODS: Musical by Stephen Sondheim (music and lyrics) and James Lapine (book). Directed by Susi Damilano.Music Director Dave Dobrusky.\u00a0 June 24 to September 6, 2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

Enthusiasm abounds INTO THE <\/em>[Surrealistic] WOODS <\/em>at SF Playhouse\u00a0 [Rating: 4]\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0Into the Woods <\/em>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.
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After seeing the memorable 2002 Broadway revival with Vanessa Williams as the Witch and reviewing five local productions of Into the Woods <\/em>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.
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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!\u00a0 When the Narrator (Louis Parnell) comes out to start the show with \u201cOnce upon a time. . .\u201d 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 \u201cChildren Will Listen.\u201d 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.\u00a0 To this reviewer he is a distraction to the fine performance of Parnell as the Narrator doubling as the Mysterious Man.
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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.\u00a0 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.
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Sondheim and Lapine\u2018s fantasy, a contorted view of \u00a0Grimm\u2019s 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\u2019s 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.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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) \u201ca cow as white as milk\u201d, Red Riding Hood (Corinne Proctor) \u201cthe cape as red as blood\u201d, Rapunzel (Noelani Neal) \u201cthe hair as yellow as corn\u201d and Cinderella (Monique Hafen) \u201ca slipper as pure as gold.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

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 \u201cinto the woods\u201d for their own purpose to \u201cfind what they wish for.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

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 \u201cEver After\u201d and they should \u201clive happily ever after.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

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 \u201cbeware of what you wish for.\u201d The narrator\u2019s Act II prologue \u201cSo Happy\u201d ends with the Baker\u2019s house destroyed by a huge footprint.\u00a0 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 \u201chappily ever after\u201d is not to be.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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 \u201cNo One Is Alone\u201d and the finale \u201cChildren Will Listen.\u201d
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\u201cInto The Woods\u201d 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 \u201cAgony.\u201d 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 \u201cWitch\u2019s Lament\u201d and \u201cLast Midnight.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

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. <\/strong><\/p>\n

CAST<\/em>: 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\u2019s Mother\/Granny).
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Creative Team<\/em>: 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<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Kedar K. Adour, MD<\/strong><\/p>\n

Courtesy of\u00a0 www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

INTO THE WOODS: Musical by Stephen Sondheim (music and lyrics) and James Lapine (book). Directed by Susi Damilano.Music Director Dave Dobrusky.\u00a0 June 24 to September 6, 2014 Enthusiasm abounds INTO…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-12855","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-kedar-k-adour"},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"