By JOANNE BRIANA-GARTNER for The Enterprise
The Cape Playhouse opened its 2½-week run of “Into The Woods” last week. The cast enthusiastically embodies this musical cautionary tale from Stephen Sondheim that reminds us to be careful of what we wish for.
“Into the Woods” is a bit of a puzzle. Act I plays out like one would expect a fairytale musical might: a big bad wolf is dispatched, curses are lifted, Cinderella meets her prince and magic beans grow into beanstalks. As the curtain falls for intermission, happily ever after seems as good as got.
Act I is all campy fun with comical observations and jokes about Jack’s (Joe Serafini) affinity for his cow, Milky White, which he refers to as his “best friend,” the Wolf’s meta moment when he finds himself talking to his dinner and plenty of gallows humor over the fate of Cinderella’s wicked stepsisters Florinda (Renee Shohet) and Lucinda (Becky Alex).
The woods, a metaphor for life, are inviting in act I; even Little Red Riding Hood (Madison Mosley), accosted by a swole Wolf, sees the toothy canine as a threat, but the woods—not so much. When asked by the Baker’s Wife (Alex Finke) about her journey through the woods she sings resolutely: “The way is clear. The light is good. I have no fear. Nor no one should.”
In act II the other shoe falls, so to speak, and that shoe belongs to a giant—giantess actually—and she’s out for revenge. The woods become more menacing—bad things can (and do) happen in the woods. Older and wiser, the characters come to grips with the consequences of their individual and collective actions.
“Into The Woods” is very much an ensemble piece but even so, each performer does get a chance to shine, including Mosley in “I Know Things Now” after her too-close-for-comfort encounter with the Wolf and Serafini in “Giants in the Sky” after his trip up the beanstalk.
As the headstrong Baker’s Wife, Finke is well cast. She’s practical, grounded and a little starstruck. While in the woods she meets up several times with Cinderella and muses about what it would be like to be at the festival and to meet the Prince. Later in act II she muses wistfully about “Moments In The Woods.”
Less sure of himself is Javier Muñoz’s Baker, who at first doesn’t want his wife to venture into the woods with him but then has a change of heart (“It Takes Two”). In act II he sheds some of his own emotional baggage and gains the confidence he’ll need to be a good father.
Eric Lochtefeld is the narrator and also the mysterious man who lurks in the woods. Both parts require him to be somewhat detached from the other characters.
Nick Adams is both Cinderella’s Prince and the Wolf—both outsized personalities. “Agony,” his over-the-top duet with J. Savage as Rapunzel’s Prince, is a delight.
Cinderella (Delphi Borich), who seems frivolous and flighty in act I, blossoms in act II. Her lead-in to “No One Is Alone” is empathetic and motherly, her standoff with the Prince heartfelt.
The Witch (Pearl Sun) is something of an enigma. Is she evil? Is she prophetic? Is she to be pitied? Sun turns in a powerful performance and answers the question herself with the lyrics “I’m not good. I’m not nice. I’m just right,” in act iI’s “Last Midnight.”
Songs that involve the entire company, especially the long opening sequence and “Your Fault,” are especially enjoyable.
Costuming ranges from shabby-but-practical peasant attire to elegant ballgowns. The set is straightforward, a foreground and background of large trees with lighting to indicate whether the woods are inviting or forbidding. The seven-member orchestra is at the back of the stage behind the cyclorama. The orchestra never overpowers the performers, who enunciate Sondheim’s complicated lyrics perfectly.
With a dramatic score and quick-witted lyrics, “Into The Woods” is delightful in the way it reimagines fairytales, threads multiple fairytales together and redefines the notion of happily ever after.
Be forewarned: “Into The Woods,” while delightful, is a lengthy show at 2½ hours and the seats of the 99-year-old Cape Playhouse can get uncomfortable. I noticed some theatergoers had wisely brought their own cushions.
The show is directed by Cape Playhouse artistic director Eric Rosen with music direction by Robert Frost and choreography by Betty Weinberger.
“Into The Woods” continues through Saturday, July 11, at the Cape Playhouse in Dennis. Performances are at 7:30 Mondays through Saturdays, with additional matinee performances at on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 2 PM.
