Into the Woods

“And they lived happily ever after...”

Isn’t that the way fairy tales end?

Not necessarily. “Happily ever after” comes at the end of the first act for Stephen Sondheim & James Lapine’s “Into the Woods,” at Music Circus this week..

What happens to all those folks who live happily ever after? Do they really live happily ever after? That’s the story Sondheim and Lapine set out to explore, which is given an outstanding treatment in this production directed by Glen Casale with musical direction by Craig Barna.

From the moment one enters the Wells Fargo Pavilion, one is in this magical world. Scenic Designer Evan A. Bartoletti has created what may be the most elaborate Music Circus set to date, a forest heavily laden with leafy branches, trees that stand tall, and then disappear out of sight, and a rocky forest floor which lends itself nicely to separating the “families” of this tale into their own space.

Sound Designer Robert Sereno fills the theater with the sounds of birds and other woodland creatures while the audience members are taking their seats so that by the time the lights go down, you are already in the mood and ready to jump into the story.

The story centers around the Baker (Jeffry Denman) and his wife (Vicki Lewis) and the curse put on the Baker’s father and all of his family years ago by the Witch (Yvette Cason), which has left the young couple childless. In order to break the spell, the Baker must gather four things – a cow as white as snow, a red cape, a golden shoe, and a lock of blonde hair.

How convenient, then, that their neighbors include Little Red Riding Hood (Tracy Katz Paladini), Cinderella (Kim Huber), Jack (of beanstalk fame) (Matthew Wolpe) and Rapunzel (Savannah Smith-Thomas).

One would be hard pressed to find a weak performance in this cast. They are each generally outstanding. Denman gives the character of the Baker an endearing quality and his “No More” is filled with pain.

Paladini, who played Little Red Riding Hood in the national tour, is perfect as the know-it-all moppet who is as matter of fact about swiping sweets from the Baker as she is about meeting Grandma (Karen Culliver) in the belly of the wolf (Jason Forbach).

The stage lights up whenever Cason steps on it. As the witch under a spell in the first act, she is menacing, and her on-stage transformation, hidden by pillars of smoke, into the glamorous witch is impressive.

The brother princes, Cinderella’s (Gordon Goodman) and Rapunzel’s (Jason Forbach) are deliciously over the top, self-centered, and very funny in their “Agony” duet.

There are not a lot of familiar tunes in this show, but it is filled with some beautiful moments, such as “No One is Alone,” sung by Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, the Baker and Jack when it seems that all is lost.

Likewise, the Witch’s “Stay with Me,” a plea to her daughter Rapunzel, is hauntingly lovely.

We sat next to a woman and her small child, who left the show at intermission. This surprised me, since I felt the show was so good, but on reflection I decided that this may be the perfect way to share this production with a small child. At the end of Act 1, it looks like every thing has turned out well for everyone and perhaps it’s best not to disillusion small children by staying for Act 2.

Act 2 is filled with betrayal, the death of beloved characters, sexual indiscretions, and the graphic sounds of the kinds of things that an angry giant on a rampage can do to puny human beings. The survivors do, in fact, ultimately look like they will have a happily ever after but the whole act might be a bit too disturbing for younger children.

This is the best Music Circus production thus far this season and is highly recommended.

Into the Woods

After all the hopes, the dreams and the plans. After years of stop and start progress and frustrating delays, Jan and Steve Isaacson finally welcomed Davis Musical Theater Company’s loyal audience to the first production in the new Hoblit Center for the Performing arts, at 607 Pena Street in Davis on Friday night.

There was the smell of fresh paint throughout the building, and places that still need to be painted or stained or carpeted. The curtains had only been hung the night before and the wrinkles were still falling out of the grand drape. The acoustic designer won’t get to work until everything is in place, but the show must go on, and go on it did.

“Into the Woods,” with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine, was the opener. Sondheim shows are not necessarily easy under the best of circumstances and I fully expected there would be lots of glitches with this opening night performance and was prepared to be forgiving because of all the work that the company has been putting in trying to get the theater ready.

I was pleasantly surprised. If there were glitches, other than a couple of faulty light cues, I was unaware of them. The set, designed by Woodrow & IvyMoss, with its stark spiky trees for the forest and the traditional wagon sets for Cinderella’s home (later the palace), the home of Jack (of Beanstalk fame), and the bakery where the baker and his wife long for a child were perfect for the Hoblit stage. (And the scene change from houses to forest was great!)

The DMTC orchestra, under the direction of Erik Daniells, now has its own pit and the difference in sound was amazing. I’ve never heard them sound better.

There will be some adjustments that will have to be made as the performers learn how to project out over an orchestra rather than one which is backstage on a platform, as it has been for years. Some of the actors handled this change better than others. Most could use a bit more oomph in their delivery for spoken lines.

However, that said, this is a good production.

“Into The Woods” was Stephen Sondheim’s attempt to prove that not everything he wrote had to be heavy, loaded with gloom and doom and psychological undertones, and that he could also write light hearted material.

Act One weaves together the stories of many familiar tales from our childhood. Cinderella (Rosie Babich) sits at home with her stepmother (Monique McKisson) and two stepsisters (Dannette Vassar and Stacia Truesdale), longing to go to the Prince’s ball.

Next door, Jack (Steven Ross) and his mother (Jannette Kragen) are arguing over selling Jack’s beloved cow, Milky White (playing herself).

Rounding out the families is the Baker (Ryan Adame) and his wife (Kristen Wagner), who are disappointed that they have not yet conceived a child.

Into the mix comes Little Red (Jocelyn Price) on her way to bring goodies to Granny (Melissa Tolley). There are a couple of princes, Cinderella’s Prince (Bob Olson) and Rapunzel’s Prince (Ryan Favorite). And of course Rapunzel is there too (Jessica Hammon) along with the witch who is keeping her captive (Marguerite Morris). Binding it all together is Steve Isaacson, as the Narrator

It is an excellent cast with few weak performers. Those who rise above the rest are Price, whose Little Red is energetic and cute as a button. Babich as Cinderella gives an outstanding performance, as do Adame and Wagner, as the Baker and his wife. Both princes have strong voices and are quite regal on stage (well, perhaps except for that rolling around on the floor in an illicit encounter business).

Marguerite Morris gives her usual first-rate performance. She is at her best when singing, but needs to work more on projection in her spoken lines.

Melissa Tolley is the offstage voice of the wife of the Giant that Jack killed. It is unfortunate that some sort of amplification was not used for the voice. It should have sounded more scary.

Act 2 of “Into the Woods” shows us that there really is no “happily ever after,” and many characters meet horrible ends. However, for purposes of this production, they all died gloriously.

Director Jan Isaacson was beaming in the lobby after the show ended, saying “I just can’t believe we’re finally here.” After all this time, she must feel like she is living her own kind of fairy tale. It is this reviewer’s hope that, unlike most of the characters in “Into the Woods,” the Davis Musical Theater Company has finally found its “happily ever after” and that they, along with their loyal patrons, can enjoy it for years to come.

Into the Woods

Into The Woods was Stephen Sondheim’s attempt to prove that not everything he wrote had to be heavy, loaded with gloom and doom and psychological undertones, and that he could also write light hearted material. He succeeded--half way.

A production, with book by James Lapine, music and lyrics by Sondheim, opened this weekend at Wyatt Pavilion, produced by Studio 301.

Act One of Into the Woods is the “happily ever after” portion, where Sondheim and Lapine blend several familiar fairy tales – Cinderella, Jack in the Beanstalk, Little Red Ridinghood, Rapunzel, and The Baker and His Wife central among them. Each is dealing with a problem--Cinderella wants to go to the King’s festival, Jack and his mother need money, the Baker and his wife wish for a child, and Little Red Ridinghood wants to go to Grandma’s house. Throw in a witch and a mysterious stranger and a bit of magic and by the end of Act 1, everyone is living happily ever after. Or so we think.

But does anyone ever live happily ever after? Sondheim reverts to type in Act 2, with murder, destruction, agony, and enough melancholy to satisfy the most ardent of Sondheim fans.

There are strong performances in this production from actors who appear to be trained singers. Then there are the trained actors who also happen to sing and here the results are sometimes less than perfect, and in one or two cases downright painful to the ear, as notes are sung out of the singer’s register and at least one performer seemed to have trouble staying on key. Sondheim’s music is very tricky and may have been a bit ambitious some of the performers. It may also explain why there didn’t seem to be a lot of sparkle to the production.

Studio 301 is a student drama group, unaffiliated with the university’s Theater and Dance Department. In answer to the question “Why doesn’t Studio 301 do musicals?” producers Katie Baad, Molly LeGoy, and Syche Hamilton, with the assistance of a generous donor, purchased the rights to the Sondheim musical.

A company statement reads, “The production team has continued to expand, bringing on students of different backgrounds and strengths as we have learned what is necessary.
While we base our system on that which we know best - the UC Davis Theater and Dance Department - it still has taken trial and error for us to become the team we are today...and we expect to further shape ourselves as we move through the stages of production.”

With that explanation, Into the Woods has its strengths and it has its weaknesses, but it makes one want to follow the progress of Studio 301 as they continue to shape themselves.

Performances worthy of note are John Mothershead as the Baker and Jennifer Nelson as his wife. David Sawyer was a good Jack, with fun comic relief by Drew Phillips as his cow, Milky White. (Phillips also doubles as Red’s granny.)

Katie Baad was outstanding as Little Red Ridinghood, with a strong voice and commanding presence and Anna Rozzi was a scary witch.

Carter Mills was a lovely Rapunzel, while the two princes, Mario Castro and Jeffrey Frieders (who also plays the wolf in act 1) were wonderfully droll.

Brian Turner held things together nicely as the narrator. He also played the “mysterious man.”

Others in the cast include Molly LeGoy as Cinderella, Chelsea Kashin as Jack’s Mother, Casey Ledwith as Cinderella’s Stepmother, Natasha Tavakoli and Rosa Threlfall as the ugly stepsisters, Joe Ferreira as Cinderella’s father, Alissa Steiner is the Giant.

Director Syche Hamilton has handled the difficult structure of the Wyatt Pavilion stage well, with excellent use of the theater’s many levels, including placing the orchestra behind a curtain, their image projected on the back of the theater, to allow the performers to follow musical director Philip E. Daley.

Scenic Designer Chris Allison created a lovely fairyland, sparse enough to prevent the scenery from obscuring the view of the patrons in that always-difficult theater, but rich enough to set the scene. I particularly liked the way they handled Red Ridinghood’s grandmother’s house and her demise.

Allison’s design was nicely complemented by the lighting design of David Goldin.

Costumes by Molly Legoy and Lynly Saunders were quite good. My particular favorite was the costume for the wolf, vaguely in the vein of Julie Taymor’s Lion King (the look was less effective for Milky White)

Into the Woods is an ambitious project for this student company but the end results are very promising. It is definitely an enjoyable evening, though the production is not without its flaws.