Laurel Mill's "Into the Woods" a Pleasant Journey

Into the Woods, that "fairy tales gone wild" musical by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine, has always been a favorite, and is produced frequently.  It is easy to see why – most of the stories are familiar and most of the show is kid-friendly.  The much darker second act might be tough to get a young child to understand, let a lone sit through (at least one little one had to leave during act two the night I saw it).  But what a great opportunity talk with your older (10 and up) kids about personal decision-making and its consequences.  Or the difference between nice and good.  Or that very little in life is what it seems.  Or that death is hard to fathom, no matter how prepared you are for it, and harder still when it hits you out of nowhere.  Lots to talk about – perhaps the Disney Channel crowd version of Spring Awakening.  No worries.  Aside from one affair, there is little sexual content.  Happily, though from a critical point of view mildly sadly, this production of Into the Woods, which is currently running at Laurel Mill Playhouse, is pretty benign even at its darkest edges.  So family-friendly wins out and heavy Sondheim-thinkers will have to figure out the really tricky stuff on their own.  And actually, that isn't such a bad compromise, considering the remarkable production values, the creative direction and quality of most of the cast.  And I am happy to report, with a couple of exceptions, nothing about the entire production is critiqued here with the caveat "good for community theatre."  No, for the most part, very little of this show resembles "community theatre" so otherwise professional it is.

 

Laurel Mill Playhouse, which is located in Historic Laurel (Main Street, natch), is a tiny place – it makes Spotlighters in Baltimore look like an arena.  But the folks that produce and design here are well versed in making the most out of their small space.  Designed by director Alex Campbell, assistant director Tim Grieb, and music director Julie Silvestro Waite, the set utilizes every inch of the playing space.  They have concocted a set that still manages to keep the three main stories – Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, and The Baker and his Wife – separate.  With simple, suggestive set pieces, and folding walls to define houses, each story gets its own due, and while they are physically maybe a foot apart, they still feel completely isolated when necessary.  As the cast journeys into the woods, one sees the walls are painted with trees that are at once homey, fairy tale happy, and downright haunted looking.  Add a few well placed actual branches, leaves and logs and it is easy to forget the tiny scale of things.  The design team has also been forced to rally their creative juices to create an ingenious way of making Rapunzel's tower appear and disappear, and Cinderella's Mother's tree got a few gasps from the folks around me as well.  So creative is the whole affair that it is easy to forgive a couple of clunky, show-stopping scene changes, both of which reveal how the tricky set works.  The lighting (again designed by Campbell and Grieb) enhances the mood of each scene very well.  And Brennan Kuhns' sound design allows the sound effects and orchestra to be heard easily.  Again, this is no small fete, considering the space and the size of the crowd (SRO on Friday night).  Costumer Victoria Halperin has done a nice job with costumes – creative and colorful – and apparently right on target – the little girl behind me squealed with delighted recognition every single time Cinderella entered.  All of the design team is to be commended for really making the most of their resources and talents.  Perhaps all of the downfalls of such a space actually made the show that much better – necessity is the mother of invention, after all.

With the original Broadway cast production so readily available on DVD (and the revival not that far in the past), I always attend this show with a wee bit of dread that I'll be sitting through a tired re-tread of the "real thing".  Fortunately, and again this may have to do with the venue as much as anything else, director Alex Campbell has avoided an outright copy of the original.  No one in the vast company is doing an impression of their Broadway counterpart – each is doing their own thing, creating natural feeling relationships based on the people they are acting with, which is a real treat.  Aside from the aforementioned scene changes, the entire show runs at a brisk pace, even in the deadlier parts of act two.  And as the book demands, director and cast have worked very hard on creating complete stories that work separately and together, allowing first timers to understand the show completely, and those of us familiar with the work to relax and enjoy as it unfolds.  Campbell has assembled a fine cast – 21 in all – of local talent.  Most of them handle the rigorous demands of the music (those damnable Sondheim harmonies are strong here) and the lyrics (most of the company executes the words with precision and clarity).  And the times when the entire cast is singing is literally music to the ears.  For that we have musical director Julie Silvestro Waite and her small, but phenomenal orchestra (housed off stage, but with a wonderful sound) to thank. 

Campbell treats the darker second act with the same light touch as the first, which has its merits and problems.  By allowing the company to remain relatively the same people they were in act one takes some of the punch out of the emotional content of the perilous second act.  It feels just a bit too much like the characters have all been there, done that, rather than discovering fresh the lessons to be learned as they venture back into the woods.  On the other hand, it many ways it makes the second act easier to take – it is like we are all old friends working out a little problem together.  We aren't as surprised at the way things turn out or at the "in the moment" choices the characters make because it seems like they've played it all before. Part of me likes this tack because it takes a lot of the burden off the audience, but part of me isn't as pleased since part of the intrigue of act two is seeing what we think we know about these characters being turned upside down.

Of the cast, only one actress, Anne Cronvich, really sticks out in a negative way, and only because she resorts to "community theatre" style acting.  Fortunately, as Cinderella's Mother and Little Red's Granny, her stage time is limited.  I had to cringe at her directly in your face mugging through out the wolf/granny scene.  She wasn't even comic book over the top, she was past Jupiter over the top, which makes her look really bad and sticks out even worse in an otherwise naturally performed and directed piece.  As Cinderella's mother, her shrill soprano made for the only time in the entire show that lyrics were unintelligible, and was particularly bad as the Prince tried the shoe on each of the girls – had I not known the story, I don't think I'd have understood what the "tree lady" had to do with the story. 

It has always interested me that because of its original casting, that the Witch has been given lead role status (in fact, here at Laurel Mill, she gets the last curtain call).  But really, had it not first been played by the incomparable Bernadette Peters, the Witch is really an important supporting player.  In the case of this production, Kristen Lehl's portrayal clearly relegates the Witch to supporting status.  Part of that is not her fault – no one but Bernadette Peters is Bernadette Peters – but even though she sings the part excellently – what a range! – she seems to be so bogged down in the words (and in act one, the costume) that she misses a lot of the character and often sings the songs correctly, albeit without acting them.  She gets virtually no laughs from the witty rap song she sings, and there is absolutely no sense of bite or irony to any of her line readings.  And in act two, Ms. Lehl commits the deadly sin of "community theatre" acting – she moves her arms up and down to emphasize each and every syllable when her character is upset.  It looked like she might take flight during "The Last Midnight" which really took away from the fact that she sang the song very well.  As I said, though she sings well, and gets the story plot points clearly out there, her Witch becomes a performance you don't have to worry about messing up, but you don't really care all that much about her, either.

 

The rest of the supporting cast is delightful.  They sing well, and have devised full characters.  To a person they have grasped the "unreality" of their familiar fairy tale personae, and more importantly, understand that gravitas needed in the more "realistic" turn their characters take in act two.  Youngsters Charly Stahly (she plays the birds) and Michael Baeder (he plays Milky White) do well and have a charming, thoroughly professional demeanor about them.  No cutesy kid-shtick here, thank heavens!  Cinderella's Stepmother and Stepsisters (Christy Stouffer, Emily Biondi and Jessica O'Roark) are deliciously catty and smug, and frightening real as they become aware that they are pretty worthless in the face of trouble, while Bill Jones as her father mumbles and bumbles his way through an appropriately ineffectual existence. 

Gregory Mangiapane does a nice job as the Steward - typically officious and aggravatingly bureaucratic.  Victoria Halperin is pretty frightening as the Giant – the little ones in the audience looked terrified!  Emma Jensen as Rapunzel does the most she can with the least well-written role in the show, and Tim Grieb as her prince has his moments, particularly when he lets loose on both versions of "Agony."  Grieb has clearly done his homework on those songs as he (and Cinderella's Prince – more on him later) milks them for every laugh he can get, while remembering the serious undertone of the songs.  Steffi Rubin as Jack's Mother has found the perfect balance between overwhelmed single parent and befuddled nag.

Tom Rendulic does nice work keeping us on track as the Narrator and confusing us as the Mysterious Man.  His gentle demeanor gives a funny twist to the darker passages he narrates, and he is almost ballet-like in his lyrical delivery and odd prancing as old man of the woods.  That same demeanor gives nice weight to later scenes when he tries to help his son the Baker navigate the harsh world of unwilling widowers and single parenting. 

In the dual roles of Wolf and Cinderella's Prince, Bobby Bradbury offers only the second interpretation (Robert Westenberg on Broadway being the first) of the parts I have seen that shows that the actor understands that the Prince IS a wolf.  In fact, it is hilarious (and slightly nasty) to watch him as he first pursues Little Red Ridinghood in act one (his "Hello, Little Girl" is sexy and slimy perfection), then as he charms the Baker's Wife with equal, though more subversive, carnality in "Any Moment", often employing the same disgusting moves as the wolf.  Good for him, even better for us!  And his uncanny (and very funny) self-absorbed delivery of both "Agony" numbers (with Mr. Grieb)  makes both highlights of the show.  He gives a masterful, professional quality performance from start to finish.

With the de-emphasis of the Witch, this production highlights what the real emphasis should have been all along – on the Baker and His Wife, Cinderella and Jack and the Beanstalk.  And here is where the real treat of this wonderful show lies.  Ricky Stakem's large frame and huge, bewildered eyes make Jack both a physical force and an embodiment of childlike wonder and seeing things as black and white.  His "Giants in the Sky" shows an awe and lack of fear that is chilling, as are his line readings that effectively say, "if it is bad, I'll just kill it."  In light of recent tragic events, that blind matter-of-factness is plain scary.  Similarly, Little Red's willingness to kill, and glee at being armed takes on an extra layer of awfulness.  Kristen Zwobot's interpretation of the role – part girlish imp, part knowing woman – is dead on.  Her performance of "I Know Things Now" is particularly terrific as she sings AND acts its superbly.  Her wide eyes of innocence are betrayed only by her manipulative corkscrew mouth gestures.  Ms. Zwobot clearly understands the multifaceted nature of this relatively (and deceptively) complex woman-child.

 

Cinderella, played with a plain loveliness by Christine Alfano, is another complex character, and Miss Alfano gets at every angle successfully.  Not only does she sing like a bird, she acts with a grace and subtlety that is a wondrous counterpoint to the hysteria going on around her.  Her Cinderella is first and foremost a lady.  But she is also quite strong – her realization about wanting more than the prince who pursues her has equal parts sting and growth.  Her performance of "No One is Alone" is sweet and makes the meaning of the song crystal clear.

 

Finally, two terrific actors, R. Brett Rohrer and Esther Covington, play the real stars of Into the Woods, the Baker and His Wife.  For all of his stubborn machismo and manly befuddlement, Rohrer nails the fact that the Baker is a man who wants to do men "are supposed to do", and yet is willing to learn from and eventually lean on his spouse.  He sings quite well, again he is acting his songs – particularly in "No More" and "No One Is Alone".  Ms. Covington brings a special blend of world-weariness and maternal desire to her role in act one, and a virtual spring of strength in act two.  That strength, put to the test in "Any Moment" as she frolics with the Prince, makes her downfall all the more effective, and her death all the more touching.  Both Rhorer and Covington have excellent chemistry, most necessary in this show, and their obvious care for each other makes their performances all the richer.  Nowhere is that more evident than in their humorous but telling number, "It Takes Two."

This colorful, well-done production is family-friendly and gives everyone what they want.  If you like your shows light, this one is easy to take simply on face value.  If you like a little more to chew on, then act two is for you.  And for those of you who are more technical, the sets, costumes and lights are a wonder all things considered.  Unfortunately, you only have the rest of this weekend and next weekend to take this journey into the woods – I found out about it late.  Lucky for me, it was better late than never.  So if you can, get to Laurel and see this nice production before the show vanishes in a puff of fairy tale smoke.  You'll be glad you visited these woods.

PHOTOS: TOP to BOTTOM: Bobby Bradbury and Kristen Zwobot as te Wolf and Little Red Ridinghood; Kristen Lehl as the Witch; Tim Grieb and Bobby Bradbury as Rapunzel's Prince and Cinderella's Prince; Ricky Stakem as Jack; Christine Alfano as Cinderella; and R. Brett Rhorer and Esther Covington as The Baker and His Wife.  Photos cortesy of the Into the Woods Company.

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