Two midnights gone. The slotted spoon doesn’t hold much soup
but it can catch— well, in this case, the Phoenix Festival Theatre production
of Stephen Sondheim’s Into The Woods appearing now as a part of LIVE! at
Harford Community College. Directed by Dickie Mahoney and with Musical
Direction by Terri Matthews, the iconic fairytales of happily after plague the
stage in a warped and twisted fashion, craftable only by the depraved mind of Sondheim.
Freak,
slut, burn out, bug eyes, poser, lard ass, loser, short bus, bull dyke, stuck
up, hunchback, white trash! Names. Labels. Words used to describe people who
are different or don’t fit our image of what we consider the “norm.” Words that
one might associate with high school, but all to often are used far more common
in our everyday speech. In fact, if I am being honest, although I didn’t speak
the words,
Look at their set; isn’t it neat? Wouldn’t you think their set design is so sweet? Wouldn’t you think Michael Rasinski’s the guy— the guy who’s designed everything? Look at those lights— colors so bold! How many wonders can Lighting Designer Thomas Gardner behold? Looking around the stage you’d think— the creative team’s done everything! They’ve got James Hunnicutt designing the properties. They’ve got Brent Tomchik making splashes with sound. You want Choreography? That’s Karli Burnham.