Into The Woods

I very much enjoy the musicals of Stephen Sondheim and "Into the Woods"   is a particular favourite of mine.  Sondheim has a quirky sense of storytelling and the music is memorable.  The quirkiness of Sondheim adds to the difficulty as does the tricky music.   Fairy tales often have a dark side and in "Into The Woods" this dark side has been taken several steps further.  The story is formed from several different fairy tales which means there are a number of principals and not a chorus, which in a musical is somewhat unusual.    Because the story is about fairy tales it is important that the characters are recognizable.  The costumes were well planned and the child in us all delighted in seeing the well-known characters come to life on the stage.   I understand these costumes were largely provided by the company.  There is a big contrast between the first and second acts.  At the end of the first act they have everything they had wished for, then in the second act, it all goes wrong.  The happiness changes to recrimination and blame.  No happy ending to this fairy tale.

The cast had a good understanding of the story and their part in it giving a depth to the characters that made this improbable plot into a drama and drew the audience in and the story moved with excellent pace.  

The difficult but gorgeous music was played beautifully.    Under the sensitive direction of the MD the Band kept with the singers even in the tricky numbers when the cast was singing just a line each.   The singing had been well taught and particular attention had been placed on clarity, the diction was superb. The singing by everyone whether solo, duets or ensemble was impressive with no weak moments.  It was a joy to listen to.

The lighting was inspired and had the wow factor. The use of greens and purples was so evocative of a fairy tale, mysterious woods, strange happenings etc.  A beautifully designed set was enhanced by inspired lighting.  No idea how it was achieved but when Rapunzel lay across the front of the stage just prior to her long hair being cut it seemed as if the long golden plait had been specially lit.  The moon appearing was another wonderful moment.   This clever lighting helped to make a superb production into a fabulous show.  The sound balance also was excellent, both band and singers could be heard clearly.

 The forest complete with Rapunzel's Tower and a bridge was very mysterious.  In the opening scene the three areas of Palace, Bakery and Jack's Cottage were represented by v-shaped flats which were individually lit.  This design enabled the set to be quickly cleared to show the forest.   At all times a good pace was maintained with no interruptions for scene changes.  The moment when the wolf's belly was sliced open and Grandmother and Red Riding Hood appeared was cleverly set and made a wonderfully dramatic moment.   At the end of the show, the storybook was closed.  That was a neat touch.  I understand the backcloths were hired but most of the scenery had been constructed by the members.  The set was impressive and I was delighted to be given the opportunity to see it at close quarters.  

 EmCo has some very talented members and it was clear that the cast and production team had worked very hard to perfect this glorious Musical.  The music is not at all easy and the staging needs to be magical, it is a fairy story after all.  

From the first moment, this production had the wow factor.  I cannot begin to imagine the work that must have gone into this.  It is such a complicated story and it can be difficult for the audience to follow unless great care is taken. Everything came together, the design of the set, the interpretation of the story, the costumes, everything made for wonderful theatre.

 

 

 

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