Review: INTO THE WOODS at Epiphany Players Drama Ministry

We are back with our second analysis of a local INTO THE WOODS production, this time with The Epiphany Players Drama Ministry. Epiphany has been around since 1991 providing summertime musical theatre opportunities for performers young and old. This group is obviously a religious-based institution, so their mission revolves around providing a supportive space rooted in Christian values.

I bring this up because it seems a little unpredictable to expect a complex show like INTO THE WOODS to be performed by a church group. However, it’s not like this group is obligated to only perform shows like GODSPELL or JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, so I can understand the appeal to produce a classic show like this. According to her program notes, director Margo Russ states, “This show helps remind us that no matter how dark the woods get, how far off the path we feel we have gone, or who we may lose along the way, there will always be a glimmer of hope, and we are never alone.”

The team also includes Judy Mansky as Music Director and Conductor, Sam Johnson, Taryn Lightcap, and Olivia Lombard as Stage Managers, and Megan Sears as Producer. Russ directed and choreographed this production, and from the first moments of the prologue, you can tell that her directing style also infuses elements of dance, whether it be full lyrical moments, or sharp poses between the stepsisters. There were moments where this style worked really well considering this show’s score dominates the timing of the storytelling. Mansky’s musical direction also supports this with a tight-knit orchestra that stays on top of all the cues and manages to catch up on any timing issues.

I do wonder about the decision to incorporate a full ensemble in this version, it feels inevitable considering this group has a lot of youth performers that participate, so to fill them in as dancers for some of the songs is at least creative in execution. For example, the wolf’s song, “Hello Little Girl” has some dancers  that work with flowers to invoke the flower garden that Little Red gets distracted in during the number. Other moments with the ensemble where it makes sense to have them include the endings of Act 1 and Act 2, but other times where they’re playing regular villagers treading through the woods provides crowded moments where it pulls the focus away from the main characters and their storyline. This was most notable in the last section of the Prologue, and even in “A Very Nice Prince” where it’s supposed to be a back and forth between the Baker’s Wife and Cinderella, but instead we also have the ensemble as festival guests and royalty dancing at said festival. 

Compared to the previous version of INTO THE WOODS I saw, I would say this version is much more traditional to the original production that we theatre people are so used to. Some notable changes include having a young actor, Adi Oveman, as the Narrator throughout the story. His Narrator darns pajamas as he reads the fairy tales out loud from his storybook, a-la The Neverending Story. The principal cast displays strong bonds with consistent choices for each character. Sophia Harvey as Cinderella was very expressive in her performance and showcased a vocally strong character. Sully Crinion as Jack is full of innocence and pairs well with Keefe Carter as the Milky White puppeteer, who played up the comedy of the character. Kathy Meyer as the Baker’s Wife has a strong voice and commanding presence on stage that contrasts well with Aaron Brewer’s Baker, who takes a more meek approach to his character. Liza Russ as Little Red is adorable and plays up the crazed moments really well. Kandis Gibson as the Witch provides that diva energy that fills up the entire space and allows her vulnerable emotions to shine through. Nicko Nauseef portrayed the Wolf and Rapunzel’s Prince, and with Tj Montgomery as Cinderella’s Prince, they both play the royal brothers with silly smugness. Nick Bellmyer as the Mysterious Man gives off that looney grandpa energy, and the step family consisting of Allison Crews as the Stepmother, Tabitha Powell and Leah Kay Russ as Florinda and Lucinda are hoity-toity in delivery. 

One of the major differences in this production is a narrative choice they make at the end, where the Witch is normally supposed to return singing “Children Will Listen” as a changed woman presenting the lesson to the Baker as he takes on the narrator position. What Epiphany has chosen to do is instead have Oveman’s Narrator sing the first line, and then have other children from the ensemble sing solo lines to the Baker. This choice is mixed in my opinion, on the one hand, yes it makes sense for the old Narrator to pass along the torch to the Baker by singing part of this song, but on the other hand, by taking this singing moment away from the Witch, they have deciphered that the Witch is purely a villain in this story, and not a complex person along with the rest of the characters.The Witch does, however, sing the final line, “Careful the tale you tell, that is the spell…” so it’s not completely robbing her of that complete arch, but I can only surmise that the reason for this choice was to offer more featuring opportunities to some of the ensemble members. Overall, this production has some wonderful highlights, the cast is strong together, they vocally tackle Sondheim’s complex score, the choreography felt strategic and never too much, and the pace never went under for me, it kept up and kept the story going forward. If you are interested in checking out Epiphany’s theatre group, you can visit their website, https://www.epiphanydayton.org/music-drama/ or follow them on Facebook at Epiphany Players Drama Ministry. 

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