A simple-minded but kind-hearted boy with an affinity for stroking his beloved cow, a seemingly innocent little girl with spontaneous murderous urges, an angry witch, a sterile baker, and two love-struck princes — these are the leads of Advanced Drama’s production of the musical Into the Woods, whose on-stage chemistry and enthusiasm make it a must-see.
Written by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine, Into the Woods is a compilation of classic fairytales, including Jack and the Bean Stock, Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, and more.
While the plot surrounding this clash can sometimes feel convoluted and rushed, the writing is still funny and charming. Creative humor and a touch of slapstick keep the audience in almost-constant applause.
The singing in Into the Woods was immersive — the semi-casual but sweet way in which the actors and actresses delivered their numbers immersed me in the experience. At times, the actors and actresses hit sour notes, but no one tried to steal the show by outdoing themselves. The players sang in practiced harmony, and never once overwhelmed the audience.
Zack Taitz, Danny Liebster and Samantha Choy — who played the Baker, Jack and Little Red Riding Hood, respectively, brought life to the stage with their sunny and absolute portrayals of their characters. They brought excitement and emotion to almost every scene they were in.
Taitz handled his role as the central protagonist especially well, never forgetting or stuttering any of his hundreds of lines throughout the two hour plus show.
The musical starts off at the beginnings of the aforementioned plays, with Cinderella being shamed by her vile step sisters, Little Red Riding Hood taking bread from the baker and his wife to bring to her sickly grandmother and Jack being told he must take his cow to the market to sell. The three fairytales occur as they should, but with a twist: the baker and his wife are forced to hunt down Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood and Jack, by a witch who cast a spell on the baker’s genitals, causing him to be sterile until he collects a set of items for her from the children. Cinderella, Red, Jack, the baker, and the baker’s wife go into the woods on their respective journeys, not realizing that from that point on, their lives will never be the same.
One of the most thought-provoking parts of the play is the fact that the main characters never really learn from their mistakes. Cinderella’s Prince (played by Mitch Thompson) still ended as the egotistical lady’s man that he was at the start, and the Witch (Jacki Glenwright) remains evil and angry to the bitter end.
To attempt to explain the plot past this point would be a waste of energy, as it is far better seen performed by the brilliant EPiC cast. The story of Into the Woods is hard to follow and is seldom perfectly clear to the viewer, but in a way that keeps them intrigued and searching for answers. Organized chaos comes to mind when attempting to classify the theatrical direction taken by the cast.
That chaos was accompanied by a nonstop live mini-orchestra comprised of six band students: seniors Alexander Ehrenberg, Gideon Elson and Jeremy Becker, juniors Jason Zucker and Lindsay Hendrickson, and sophomore Tamara Frangoul. At times, the music seems to overpower the dialogue on stage, but it generally paces well with the actors and actresses and their singing.
Into the Woods will be performed from Nov. 7-10 and 14-17 at 7:30 p.m. in the Little Theater.
