Review: INTO THE WOODS at Ahmanson Theatre

Certain fairy tales are timeless, a fact that Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine latched onto when they first dreamed up their Grimm mash-up, INTO THE WOODS, back in the mid-1980s. So when you throw a bunch of really talented musical theater actors at a now classic musical about immortal fairy tales, well, the results figure not to suck.

No news flash, then, the latest Broadway revival of INTO THE WOODS that wraps up its national tour at the Ahmanson Theatre, is fantastic. Director Lear deBessonet’s spin on this tale of wishes granted and their consequences both embraces the spirit of Lapine’s original productions and also sends the material off in a different direction. Consistently more rollicking than rueful, deBessonet’s production (which began as an Encores! New York City Center limited engagement before transferring to Broadway) goes light on the technical glitz, but certainly gives the company members plenty of rope to go for their Grimm gusto.

That they do, and they do it splendidly. From the Baker and his Wife played by off-stage spouses Sebastian Arcelus and Stephanie J. Block, to Montego Glover’s Witch, from the no-nonsense ingenue Cinderella delivered by Diane Phelan to Katy Geraghty’s take-no-prisoners Little Red Ridinghood, from Cole Thomas’s beanstalk-climbing Jack to the mugging, self-adoring Prince played to preening perfection by Gavin Creel, this is a lineup of mighty pipes and scene-poachers. There have been plenty of WOODS with powerhouse casts, and given how often this perennial is staged, there will undoubtedly be great ones in the future, but in the name of Bruno Bettelheim, do not miss this company if you possibly can.

Silly thought it now may seem to have to recap this, INTO THE WOODS, finds a group of familiar characters all out in the woods, each in search of something that will grant his or her desires (deep or superficial). Jack needs to sell his cow, Milky White, to get money for food. Little Red is taking sweets to her grandmother. Cinderella wants to escape her stepmother’s oppression to attend the royal ball and Rapunzel (Alysia Velez) wants out of the tower in which she has been imprisoned.

Into their collective midst stumble a Baker and his Wife who wish to undo a curse that is preventing them from having a child. The Witch placed that hex and she knows how to undo it, which will help her out as well. So she sends the Baker into the woods in search of a cow as white as milk, a cape as red as blood, a slipper as pure as gold and hair as yellow as corn. In the effort to fulfill their own quests, the Baker and his Wife proceed to c*ckup everybody else’s tale. In Act 2, after everybody has more or less received his wish, we witness the not so happily-ever-after consequences.

Which are costly. Make no mistake, INTO THE WOODS has its quotient of sorrow, darkness and a few moments of terror, but deBessonet’s production isn’t hitting the audience in the face with them. Gone (and not particularly missed) is the mother-daughter duet “Our Little World” which takes a little bit of the poignancy out of the relationship between the Witch and Rapunzel. “Hello, Little Girl,” the suggestive number that has the Wolf (also played by Creel) serenading Little Red, retains its naughtiness, but so deliciously self-indulgent is Creel and so lethal is Geraghty’s Little Red that the song doesn’t come across as predatory. And the production gets oceans of laughs out of hapless Milky White, a living skeleton of a bovine whose puppy dog eyes, shivers and shakes are executed to a hammy delight by Kennedy Kanagawa. 

Despite their very solid charisma – individual and as a duo – Block and Arcelus give the Baker and his wife enough of a bickering edge that, sure, we can see that he’s the practical one and she has champagne dreams of balls and princes.  With a pre-transformation costume (from Andrea Hood) and mask that makes her look a bit like a Ninja Turtle, Glover is having a high old time both wielding that elongated staff and messing around in other people’s lives. Her renditions both of the Witch’s mournful songs and the comic and confrontational songs are boffo.

That’s a hallmark of this production. SWEENEY TODD, SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE and A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC will get their due – deservedly so – but INTO THE WOODS may be Sondheim’s most crowd-pleasing score. Music Supervisor Rob Berman, Music Director John Bell and that marvelous cast showcase it with all its finery. Dubious though I often am over the over-gushing enthusiasm of an opening night crowd (particularly at Center Theatre Group), the extended roars following number after number of INTO THE WOODS were entirely deserved.

One of those was earned by Thompson as his dimwitted Jack returned from the clouds to announce with gee whiz wonderment that there are “Giants in the Sky.” Indeed, there are, and, a bit later, there’s one on the ground, too as cleverly rendered by a pair of enormous heels and the voice work of Felicia Curry. Whether its taking you skyward following a boy’s dream or crashing you down to earth to the revelation that betrayals may happen, but no one is alone, this INTO THE WOODS is a theater-goer’s wish come true.

INTO THE WOODS plays through July 30 at the Ahmanson Theatre.

Photo of Kennedy Kanagawa, Milky White and Cole Thompson by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman.

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