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This fall Iowa Theatre Company will embark on a journey Into the Woods, with Stephen Sondheim's 1988 Tony Award-winning musical, opening November 13 in Spayde Theatre on the Maharishi University of Management campus and running for four weekends through December 5.
Into the Woods has a brilliantly witty script and score, by turns comic, charming, touching, suspenseful, and ultimately uplifting. It is the ingenious and sophisticated blending together of familiar fairy tale figures, among them Cinderella, Jack (of Beanstalk fame), Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, giants, witches, princes, and a childless Baker and his Wife.
As Act I opens, everyone expresses their hopes and dreams: Cinderella wants to go to the ball, Jack wishes his cow would give milk, the Baker and his Wife long for a child. To get what they want, however, they must all venture into the woods where their resolve, resourcefulness, loyalty, and courage are tested. After a series of adventures involving mysterious characters, spells, magic potions, defeats, and triumphs, everyone has gotten what they wanted (though not necessarily what they bargained for) and Act I ends "happily ever after."
Then Act II starts. . . Everyone is dealing with the consequences of having fulfilled their desires and now each character is also wishing for something more. So back into the woods they must go, this time to deal with even more challenging situations, including loss and disillusionment, to eventually come to a deeper understanding of themselves and each other, a fuller and richer discovery of what is truly valuable.
By the end of Act II, "happily ever after" has been tempered and replaced with something more valuable because it is real: knowledge of oneself, one's capacities and limitations, and the joy and strength we can find in each other. The musical ultimately proclaims everyone's interconnectedness and the critical importance of realizing that no one is alone or acts in isolation, that everyone's actions, taken to fulfill their desires, impact on everyone else.
Although Sondheim (music and lyrics) and author James Lapine remained basically faithful to their source material, the occasionally dark cautionary fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm, they have added so much hilarity, such a modern touch, and such beautiful and intricate music that one almost feels one is watching "Fractured Fairytales" (remember them from Rocky and Bullwinkle?) meets Shakespeare meets Carol Burnett meets Mozart meets Broadway. . . The striking originality of the show's concept--that is, to have these completely familiar storybook characters meet each other as their tales interweave and overlap--is dazzling, and though we have all "known" them since childhood, we feel we are meeting these people as real people, and for the first time.
Director Rodney Franz and musical director Mosie Lasagna have assembled a magical cast for this demanding and unusual production. Audiences can look forward to glorious costumes, wonderful special effects, and exceptionally strong voices, including Michelle Morgan as the Witch (originally played by Bernadette Peters), Paul Gagnon as the Narrator, Louise Scherer as Cinderella, Ben Estey as Jack, Marissa Baumann as Jack's Mother, Zac Sluser and Tena Nelson as the Baker and his Wife, Adrien Daller as Little Red Riding Hood, David Murphy and Jonathan Lynch as the two Princes (David also doubles as the Wolf), Ali Sperry as Rapunzel, Jan Thatcher, Anne Carlise, and Jennie Mescon as Cinderella's stepfamily (Tom Terrien is her father), Eva Sands as Cinderella's Mother and the Giant, and Brea Hallen as Little Red's Grandmother. Leanne Edgeton will provide the challenging and rhythmically intricate musical accompaniment.
Although the show is something of a technical nightmare to produce, Director Franz has this to say about the process of making it happen: "The intelligence behind the script, the wit of the musical structure, the level of feeling, both humorous and deep, make working on Into the Woods a remarkable experience. I look forward to going to rehearsal every single night. The cast is wonderfully talented and it is a joy to work with them."
Tickets will be $5 for students and MUM staff, $8 general, and will be available at Somebody Cares and the door.
