BWW Reviews: Valley Youth Theatre Presents INTO THE WOODS

The Brothers Grimm populated the world of fairy tales with an assortment of characters from the angelic to the mischievous to the devilish. An imaginative fusion of the adventures of a select few is the grist for the Stephen Sondheim (music and lyrics) and James Lapine (book) mill that nearly thirty years ago rolled out the highly acclaimed Into the Woods.

Valley Youth Theatre, under the direction of Bobb Cooper, has a solid reputation of fearlessly staging the full ~ not the junior! ~ version of popular Broadway productions and demonstrating the remarkable talent of young performers, who, with the right training and motivation, will make you feel like you've been to the Great White Way.

Now, at the Herberger Theater Center in Phoenix, a 22-member cast, ranging in ages from 13 to 19-years-young, has wrapped its collective arms around the musical and delivered an admirable performance, uplifted by Mark Fearey's powerhouse musical direction, stunning sets provided by 3D Theatricals, and the elaborate costumery of Karol Cooper ~ despite some opening weekend technical glitches that will likely be corrected in short order.

Parallel plots unfold and intertwine among the gnarly trees and perilous pathways of the forest. Little Red Riding Hood (Alex Kirby, unbelievably an eighth grader with the voice of an angel!) is on her way with bread to Grandmother's house. Cinderella (Tatum Dial) wants to attend the King's festival. Jack (Sam Primack, returned from his stint as Pugsley in the national tour of The Addams Family) is exhorted by his mother (Sophia Drapeau) to sell his beloved cow for gold. And the baker (Michael Schulz) and his wife (Ally Lansdowne) ache for a child, only to learn that their infertility is due to a curse that can only be lifted if they can secure "the cow as white as milk, the cape as red as blood, the hair as yellow as corn, and the slipper as pure as gold" before midnight strikes in three days. And, so, as, once upon a time, strange and mysterious things happen and the dominos of their doings fall, lots of things go bump in the night.

Be ready to concentrate on the twisted plot and to discover some up and coming young talents.

Into the Woods runs through June 28th at the Herberger Theater Center.

Photo credit to GAPMar.com