Every moment is a moment when you’re in the woods. Be careful what you wish for, bring a slotted spoon to catch the potato, and nice is different than good. Direct from Broadway (including an opening weekend surprise of Andy Karl re-joining the company for the weekend), the darkened Sondheim Fairytale launches its National Tour debut from The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Are you ready to go Into The Woods? Into the woods and out of the woods, and home before dark!* Directed by Lear deBessonet with Musical Direction by John Bell and Choreography by Lorin Latarro, this minimalist, deconstructed production of one of Sondheim’s most popular musicals brings a healthy dose of added humor to the ominous tales of childhood in addition to some of Broadway’s finest performers delivering the vastly complex score.
Scenically, the show is sparse. Scenic Designer David Rockwell takes a minimalist approach to the show’s set and takes the increasingly popular approach of placing the full orchestra (Conducted by John Bell, featuring Evan Rees, Jason Wetzel, Mark O’Kain, Una Tone, Kurt Marcum, Tim Schadt, Randy Cohen, and Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra— Ko Sugiyama, Elizabeth Pulju-Owen, Andrew Eng, Ignacio Alcover, Paul Henry, Stephani Stang-Ferry, David Jones, Joseph Grimmer, Christopher Jewell, Peter de Boor, Chandra Cervantes,) dead-center stage. This gives the production more of a concert feel than anything else. Three suspended model houses overhang both the opening of Act I and Act II, representing the houses of Cinderella, the Baker & the Baker’s Wife, and Jack & his mother. And there are cylindrical trees (hollowed with lighting effects by way of Lighting Designer Tyler Micoleau) that drop from above to frame the orchestra and the steps built into the stage to create the illusion of ‘going into the woods.’ But as far as scenery goes— that’s it. It’s subtle, tasteful, and effective, but those less familiar with the tale or more attuned to the typical splashy Broadway sets may be looking at their ticket prices and wondering.
That said, the true majesty of this production is in the puppetry, which is sheer artistry and imaginative wonder at its finest. Though use of puppets for Cinderella’s birds and Milky White is nothing new when it comes to Into The Woods, there is something miraculously innovative about the use of these puppets in this production. Puppet Designer James Ortiz creates a curious skeletal-frame for Milky White, which is unique in and of itself. With Kennedy Kanagawa at the reigns of Milky White, audiences are losing their minds in hilarious laughter and thunderous applause when it comes to the cow. (Milky White is literally the cow as white as milk.) Kanagawa’s extraordinarily expressive facial features and body language, combined with the motions of the puppet, make for an uproarious, scene-stealing character— particularly in that lampooned moment of The Baker saying, “I’ve gotta go”, wherein he physically takes the Milky White puppet from Kanagawa and carries it off-stage, leaving the actor standing there looking hilariously dumbstruck before he runs off-stage, chasing after his bovine charge. (The same can be applied to the scene where the Witch attempts some sorcery on the actor-less puppet, eventually giving up and summoning Kanagawa to the scene before it can continue!) Ortiz’ puppet creations don’t end with just the fantastical Milky White and the birds— there’s also an enormous pair of wicker & white Renaissance-era women’s boots which stomp their way on stage (at the hands of Kanagawa and Puppeteer Josh Breckenridge) to provide visual stimuli for The Giant (voiced superbly by Felicia Curry) that appears in Act II. Those drop-suspended cylindrical trees? They shimmy in place whenever the boots thunder onto the ground, and occasionally they’re even lit internally with red whenever the ‘Giant’ goes “BOOM. SQUISH.”
Aesthetically, the show is not without its charms, even if the only character who ever seems to changes costume is Cinderella. (And the Witch but that’s a libretto requirement, though truthfully her transformation, which involves the actress marching off-stage and then marching back on transformed, is lackluster, underwhelming, and actually disappointing to anyone who has witnessed a ‘transformation’ in previous productions.) While there is some true flare in Costume Designer Andrea Hood’s work— particularly the peacock ensemble featured on Florinda (Brooke Ishibashi) and Lucinda (Ta’Nika Gibson) which more than amplifies their inner vanity— the majority of Hood’s sartorial selections for this production falls in line with minimalistic approach of the scenery and lighting design.
Musically the show is pristine, despite Stephen Sondheim’s lyrical and harmonic chicanery. As a company, the blended chaos of charming and erratic music, which populates nearly all of Stephen Sondheim’s scores, comes lilting along out into the audience not unlike an enchanted tune played by the pied piper himself. Any of the full company numbers— “Into The Woods”, “First Midnight”, “Second Midnight”, “Ever After”, etc.— flow seamlessly and soundly from the stage, enticing listener and hypnotizing them with superior blended harmonies, mesmerizing melodies, and an overall sense of musical magic. These sounds— and those delivered with emotional fortitude during the more weighted solos— more than make up for the minimalism in the show’s overall aesthetic.
While the Witch’s transformation may be lackluster, Montego Glover’s vocals and emotional capacity are sensational. With a powerful sound to rip its way through “Last Midnight”— the song by which all Witch’s are judged when it comes to their performance in the iconic role— Glover does not disappoint. What’s somehow more impressive is her smooth transition into the maternal caress that she breathes into “Stay With Me.” Rapunzel (Alysia Velez), who only ever gets to yodel-cry her vocal talents, creates a perfect target for the Witch’s motherly affections in this moment, really grounding the sound as the hauntingly comforting song resonates across the stage.
You get the comic, over-the-top, chivalry-gone-rotten prancing princes in Cinderella’s Prince (Gavin Creel) and Rapunzel’s Prince (at this performance, Andy Karl) and they’re both foppishly fabulous, persistently attempting to one-up the other in their duets, “Agony” and it’s Reprise. The pair have hilarious moments, gorgeous and grand-as-gold voices, and their laugh-out-loud choreographed entrances and exits to scenes have the audiences in stitches. Creel’s Prince doubles up as the Wolf and is given a preliminary vocal showcase during “Hello, Little Girl” where you get the jazzier flavor of his vocal capabilities and a sense of his fleet-footedness.
Boisterous and bordering on vocally violent, Katy Geraghty’s portrayal of Little Red Ridinghood has everyone believing that she’s perfectly capable of caring for herself, be it alone in the woods or up against the wolf. Vocally clear and concise for her featured solo, “I Know Things Now”, you get a keen sense of her understanding of the complex lyrics and score that Sondheim presents to the character. There’s even a surprising softness in store when it comes to the slight shift that Geraghty brings to the character’s forefront during her quartet part of “No One Is Alone” and her pattered cadence during “Your Fault” keeps well in line with the rest of the players in that number.
Vocally gargantuan, Cole Thompson delivers the epitome of a wide-eyed, eager-spirited, albeit terribly naïve and possibly slightly touched, young lad in his rendering of Jack. Enthusiastic with physicality and animated facial expression to match, Thompson’s Jack is perpetually alive and exploding with the joys of discovery, determination, and adventure. Even in his more subdued moments of sorrow and anguish in the second act, Thompson delivers that frenetic undercurrent of needing to be motion, needing to be active, and it adds a zesty edge to the character that is most agreeable. His solo feature, “Giants In The Sky” is wondrous to hear; there is a thrilling sense of danger and wonder wrapped up in Thompson’s vocals for this number and its simply wild.
Fair of voice and of portrayal to the kind, gentle Cinderella, Diane Phelan fabricates the perfect blend of youthful naïveté and learned patience into her portrayal of the fairytale kitchen-girl-turned-princess. Every time she encounters the Baker’s Wife in the woods, there’s a refreshing confusion featured in her renditions of “A Very Nice Prince”; you genuinely believe that she’s at a loss as to what to say about the Prince when she’s recounting her tale of her time at the festival through song. The same is true when she sings her way through “On The Steps of the Palace” except instead of being at a loss, she’s full of witty and clever discovery. Her stand-off with her Prince (Gavin Creel) is loaded with heavy emotions, even if it is but a moment in the woods where they exchange words. And when she adds her heartfelt vocals to “No One Is Alone”, you get a budding sense of maternal instinct making its way to the forefront of her sound.
At this performance the role of the Baker is tackled with aplomb by Jason Forbach. The chemistry he brings to the interactions with the Baker’s Wife (the formidable Broadway sensation, Stephanie J. Block) feels authentic and burbles along throughout their squabbles and through their truly tender moments. You get a heartbreaking sound from Forbach during “No More”, a duet shared with The Mysterious Man (David Patrick Kelly, who takes both this role and the cheeky role of the narrator to new heights with his portrayal), and again an unmistakable sense of paternal love flowing from Forbach during “No One Is Alone” and his segments of the finale, where even though he is ‘telling the story’ you can feel his intentions clearly.
As for the stupendously impressive Stephanie J. Block in the role of the Baker’s Wife, she makes this a wildly engaging roller-coaster ride through fairytale land with her portrayal. Vocal perfection can take but so many forms in any one production and Block is certainly nailing it in this one. There is a rawness and a roughness to her character portrayal, a true grit that makes you believe in the trouble-plagued Baker’s Wife’s woes. And when she delves into the madness of that meeting with the Prince (again, Gavin Creel) in the woods during “Any Moment” and her solo recall of that, “Moments in the Woods” you get this spirited reckoning of what her life is, what it should be, and how it’s going to go. Block brings equal parts heart and serenity to “It Takes Two” when she’s prancing about in giddy glee with Forbach in that duet and she has her moments of high-comedy as well— generally early on when she’s combatting the nonsense that gets flung at her both from Little Red Ridinghood and the Witch. Ultimately giving a stellar performance, the audience finds themselves deeply invested in her character’s arch and storyline.
Careful the wish you make; careful the path you take…unless it’s a direct path to The John F. Kennedy Center to see Into The Woods before the midnight on March 19th is gone!
Running Time: Approximately 2 hours and 50 minutes with one intermission
Into The Woods plays through March 19, 2023 in the Opera House of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 2700 F Street NW, Washington, DC. For tickets call the box office at (202) 467-4600 or purchase them online.
*one may only make it “home before dark” if one is attending a matinee performance. Arrival at ‘home before dark’ not guaranteed.
