Great Lakes Theater’s ‘Into The Woods’ is a great show for some

I find myself in a dilemma, one that I occasionally find myself in when reviewing theatrical performances. My quandary is this. What do I do when I see a show that is superbly professionally executed, very well produced and directed but is a show that I simply do not like? In this case it is the Great Lakes Theater’s production of Stephen Sondheim’s “Into The Woods” with book by James Lapine.

The show is smartly directed by Victoria Bussert and has a stellar cast that really works hard to entertain but the music (again well played by a live orchestra) grates on my nerves. I mean, how many times can you repeat the same phrase (Into The Woods) over and over using the same staccato driving beat that feels like someone is hitting me in the forehead with a large stick or I am strapped down for a long session of Chinese water torture...intothewoods...whackwhackwhack...intothewoods...dripdripdrip with all of the songs sounding virtually the same. I realize that my criticism is blasphemous to whose who worship at the altar of SS but I simply do not get it.

It is a retelling of various well known and favorite fairy tales taken from the Brothers Grimm collection and other sources. The Narrator (Brian Sutherland) introduces us to the groups of characters that include Cinderella (RhonniRose Mantilla), her two sisters, Florinda (Zoe Lewis-McLean) and Lucinda (Royer Bockus) and her step mother (Boe Wank), Jack (Nic Scott Hermick) and his mother (Jessie Cope Miller) and their cow Milky White, The Baker (Joe Wegner) and his wife (Jodi Dominick), Little Red Riding Hood (Jaedynn Latter), The Witch (Jillian Kates), Granny (M.A. Taylor), The Wolf (Dan Hoy), Rapunzel (Angela Utrera), Snow White (Royer Bockus), Sleeping Beauty (Zoe Lewis-McLean), The Mystery Man (Brian Sutherman), Cinderella’s Prince (Dan Hoy) and Rapunzel’s Prince (Benjamin Michael Hall).

Everyone has a wish. The baker and his wife wish for a child. Cinderella wishes to attend the king’s festival. Jack wishes his cow (who is his only friend) would give milk so they do not have to sell her. Little Red Riding Hood wishes for bread and treats to take to her ill grandmother.

The baker’s neighbor (a witch) reveals it was she who cursed the childless couple because the baker’s father had stolen vegetables from her garden and she put a curse on the two. Likewise, the witch was cursed by her mother (who took the young girl’s beauty and charm away) for letting some magic beans be stolen. In order for the curse of infertility to be lifted the baker must bring four items to the witch in three days, “the cow white as milk, the cape red as blood, hair as yellow as corn and a slipper as pure as gold”.

Soon everyone is getting their wishes granted. Cinderella gets slippers and a gown from her deceased mother (who is now a tree). Jack sells Milky White to the baker for five magic beans, Little Red Riding Hood meets the wolf in the woods but still makes it to her grandmother’s cottage where the wolf has eaten granny and then eats Little Red but the baker slices the wolf open and rescues the two. Rapunzel meets her prince. Cinderella meets her prince. The baker gets the four demanded items. Jack climbs an enormous beanstalk (grown from the magic beans) and returns with a chicken that lays golden eggs and a sack of gold. He returns up the beanstalk to steal a golden harp and cuts the stalk down as the giant is chasing him down it with the giant falling and being killed. The witch (with the four objects) regains her beauty but looses her powers. The second act shows the “ever after”.

This is a top notch performance by a terrific cast. It is just that I find the music irritating at best. The costumes by Tesia Dugan Benson are colorful and dazzling. Courtney O’Neill’s stage design (which doubles for the set of “Midsummer Night’s Dream” that is playing concurrently) is whimsical. Trad A Burns lighting sets the proper mood with use of light and shadows and David Gotwald’s sound design is crisp and sharp. Jaclyn Miller does a fine turn as the Choreographer.

If you are a fan of Stephen Sondheim then you will probably flock to this show and love every minute of it. Good for you. As for me there is not enough aspirin in the world that could get me back to see this show in any form but that is just me. The audience loved it and you will probably love it also.

The Great lakes production of “Into The Woods” is playing concurrently with William Shakespeare’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream” in the Hanna Theatre at Playhouse Square. For more information and tickets go to www.greatlakestheater.org or call (216) 241-6000.