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NEW YORK — The brilliant new revival of “Into the Woods” is delivered so harmoniously and meticulously, you’ll swear you can even hear the punctuation in the lyrics. Here in St. James Theater, where the musical had its official Broadway opening Sunday night, the memory of the late Stephen Sondheim is honored in the best possible way: by actors who really know how to sing and singers who really know how to act.
They were all encouraged by an inspired director, Lear de Bessonet, to bring bravura. This impulse can in other cases bend the theatrical arc towards camp. But for the brand of musical comedy that Sondheim and author James LaPine pursued — a storybook world of rampant anxiety — some ticklish personal dazzle is absolutely the way to go.
One by one, the extraordinary cast members—Sarah Bareilles, Philippa Su, Gavin Creel, Patina Miller, Brian d’Arcy James, Joshua Henry, and more—add hilarious new twists to old and brand new fairy tale characters. There’s no one who won’t miss this special occasion, the Broadway transfer of a concert version that originated earlier this year in the long-running Encores series at City Center, the institution that launched the revival of “Chicago” with more than 10,000 performances. .”
If you’ve never been to a production of Into the Woods, which premiered on Broadway in 1987, this would be the perfect place to start. If you have, this would be the perfect place to renew your acquaintance. The physical format is essential: more than a dozen strong orchestras on stage, conducted by Rob Berman, conveying the whimsical texture of Jonathan Tunick’s orchestrations; a simple set design by David Rockwell, of platforms in front and behind the group and birches that descend for the forest quests and glitter with Tyler Miccolo’s lighting as a Giant shakes the kingdom; and a cast wittily costumed by Andrea Hood delivering Lapine’s lines and Sondheim’s music with gusto.
The program lists two sound designers, Scott Lehrer and Alex Neumann, which seems especially appropriate, because the clarity with which Sondheim’s lyrics reach our ears is perhaps double the norm. Have you ever experienced what I call theater audibility fatigue—the exhausted sense of loss that occurs when you lose half the words to amplification problems or a distorted vocal performance? The opposite happens in St. James: Sondheim’s poetry is evocatively rendered down to the last syllable of the recited rhyme.
“Into the Woods” is one of the best-known and most-performed musicals in the Sondheim canon, but it’s a family show only if you want to explain some of the complexities of life to little ones afterward. Lapine and Sondheim invent a kingdom of wannabes: a childless baker (d’Arcy James) and his wife (Bareilles); brutal Cinderella (Soo); a penniless housewife (Aimy Garcia) and her son Jack, known as “Beanstalk” (Cole Thompson); a withered witch (Miller) living under a curse. The writers tie up just about everything in a pretty bow when the wish list is completed by the end of Act 1 — then rip the bow to shreds in Act 2.
No one gets out unscathed. “Wishes can lead to such trouble that you regret them,” says the opening of the second act, “but better than never having them.” The story traces our universal transition from childhood to adulthood. We are banished from the land of fiction and into a world of tragic consequences. As the kingdom unravels, pursued by this vengeful Giant (Annie Golden), characters die, turn on each other, and become increasingly confused. Life is a mystery, but not always fun.
The show’s final sequences are forced to make a curious and not entirely convincing moral; then again, a jumble of things may end up being the best we mortals can hope for. Still, Lapine and Sondheim create so many relatable characters, and the score is so wonderful, that any concerns about the plot pale into insignificance. And that’s especially true in a version of “Into the Woods” that offers nothing but champions. Bareilles, for example, is a natural as The Baker’s Wife: The performance is effortlessly warm and funny, embodying the independence and humility that characterize the best of us.
Creel, in the traditional dual role of Cinderella’s Wolf and Prince, summons his inner ham with fully baked comic virtuosity; “Agony” and its reprise, both sung with Rapunzel’s prince portrayed by the delightfully self-adoring Henry, are the best I’ve heard. They belong in the Into the Woods Hall of Fame alongside Julia Lester as the overconfident, rough and ready Little Red Riding Hood; Soo, infusing a soulless charm into a melodious Cinderella; and Miller, singing “Stay With Me” sweetly and yet maintaining the witch’s air of menacing authority.
Cinderella’s entourage (Nancy Opel as the Stepmother, plus Brooke Ishibashi, Ta’Nika Gibson, David Turner and Albert Gerzon) is a bright sideshow, and David Patrick Kelly is an inspired choice as the Narrator and the Mysterious Man. Two standout props also need to be mentioned: the Giant’s imposing big shoes and more importantly, Milky White as an emotional cow puppet working merrily into my performance by Cameron Johnson. It should be noted that if the Tony Awards were ever to divide the acting categories into dairy and non-dairy, Milky White would be a pain in the ass.
The last applause belongs of the composer, who died in November but whose memory fills every stage. “Sometimes people leave you in the middle of the woods. Don’t let it make you sad. No One Goes Away Forever,” go the lyrics on No One’s Alone. Sondheim is certainly not gone forever.
In the forest, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by James Lapine. Directed by Lear de Bessonet. Music Direction, Rob Berman; choreography, Lorin Lataro; orchestrations, Jonathan Tunick; set, David Rockwell; costumes, Andrea Hood; lighting, Tyler Miccolo; sound, Scott Lehrer and Alex Neumann. About 2 hours and 45 minutes. In St. James Theatre, 246 W. 44th St., New York. intothewoodsbway.com.
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