Imperfect Fairy Tale Extravaganza

Into the Woods

by Stephen Sondheim

directed by John Weinstein

at the Loeb Mainstage

through November 21

"I was raised to be charming, not sincere," says Cinderella's Prince to the Baker's Wife. It is an apt description of this production of Into the Woods, Stephen Sondheim's musical valentine to the Grimm Brothers' fairy tales. The competent cast does a good job with the funnier first act. But especially in the inherently weaker second act, the actors too often seem lost in pro forma direction and overwhelmed by the pit orchestra from hell. There are saving graces--the well designed set and scene-stealing cow are two examples--but John Weinstein's production of Into the Woods, while polished and charming, is basically shallow.

Into the Woods tells the fairy tale of a Baker and his Wife who must go on a scavenger hunt to appease the witch next door. Along the way they meet Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood and Jack of beanstalk fame, to name just a few. The title of the musical refers to the journey that each of these characters must make in order to fulfill their dreams. In the Act One finale they declare themselves "happy now and happy then, happy ever after," but the second act finds each of them just a little discontent. Their second trip "into the woods" is precipitated by a disaster affecting the whole kingdom. This journey is a much harder one and has higher stakes.

The structure of this musical offers several opportunities for star turns. Jessica Walling is wonderful as Cinderella. A terrific actor, she is credible in a fairly ludicrous role. Walling makes Cinderella's conversation with origami birds and her prayer to an oak tree seem completely normal. Of all the characters in Into the Woods, it is probably Cinderella who changes the most. Walling does a good job of portraying this growing maturity, making it look both natural and logical.

Equally good is Vonnie Roemer as the Baker's Wife. The Baker's Wife is the voice of reason in fairy tale land. When her husband is worried that they cheated Jack into trading his cow for worthless beans she tells him that "if the end is right it justifies the beans." "Is it always or, is it never and?" she asks in her brilliant last song "Moments in the Woods," capturing these characters' inability to take charge of their lives. Roemer has one of the finest voices in the show and the necessary stage presence to keep her sane and ordinary character from being overshadowed by the more flashy creatures around her. Where other actors have a tendency to drift downstage and sing all their numbers facing front with their hands at their sides, Roemer knows how to handle herself on stage and is consistently good.

Christine Kienzle as the Witch also deserves acclaim. She is delightfully malicious in the first act and Kienzle does not make the mistake of letting the Witch get any nicer after her physical transformation. Kienzle is perhaps at her best when she is blithely running down the crimes of the Baker's father: "I'll tell you the same I tell Kings and Queens--never never ever mess around with my greens--especially the beans."

Lacey Tucker portrays the bratty Little Red Riding Hood to perfection and Michael Wertheim is a likeable Jack without being obnoxiously cute. The performances of Marc Jones as the Narrator, Michael Stone as the Baker and Victoria Wei as Jack's Mother were also well done.

Set Designer Chuck Adomanis handles the scenic demands of Into the Woods well. The musical begins with the Narrator opening a large two-story "book" to reveal the homes of the Baker and his Wife, Jack and Cinderella. This is artfully done and a good contrast to the wide open stage of the "forest" where the rest of the action takes place. The tree panels are on a fine line between abstract and unrecognizable; Rapunzel's tower is downright weird. The rotating rake in the center of the stage is put to good use in indicating scene changes and the director only once gives into the temptation of staging a "Les Miserables"-like turning sequence. Bovine Engineer Margaret Chou also deserves credit for creating a stupid looking yet loveable cow that gets more applause each time it appears than do many of the actors.

John Weinstein does an adequate job directing but too often slips into cliched staging. This has particularly disastrous results in the several crowd scenes, some of which bear a striking resemblence to a drill team performance. There are some nice touches--the death of the cow is cute and the knife-wielding Little Red Riding Hood is funny--but too often the actors seem to have been left to fend for themselves.

This is particularly a problem in the two "Agony" sequences where Cinderella's Prince and Rapunzel's Prince lament their anguished quest for love. These are normally among the funniest numbers in the show yet they receive only token laughs in this production. Markham O'Keefe and Jason Watkins as the Princes seem to have no idea what they're doing. This scene is only funny if the princes actually believe what they're saying. O'Keefe and Watkins treat it as a cabaret performance and sing the whole song facing front and rocking back and forth on their feet. A firmer directorial hand could have saved these scenes.

The musical ability of this cast is high. The same cannot be said of the orchestra which, among other problems, is plagued by a particularly bad brass section. The excellent Sweeney Todd orchestra will be free this weekend--the producers of Into the Woods should think about borrowing it.

Into the Woods is shaping up to be the most successful Mainstage show since West Side Story. While some of this is simply due to the fact that musicals are more popular than plays, the cast and crew of Into the Woods should be credited with doing a proficient, if uninspired, job.