"Into the Woods" opens in Foley

By Allison Marlow
Managing Editor
allisonm@gulfcoastmedia.com
Posted 4/22/22

When Exit Stage Left began its production of "Into the Woods," the cast and crew stalked far off an easy path to instead face wolves, spells, beans and giants.The Tony Award winning show is demanding …

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"Into the Woods" opens in Foley

Posted

When Exit Stage Left began its production of "Into the Woods," the cast and crew stalked far off an easy path to instead face wolves, spells, beans and giants.

The Tony Award winning show is demanding musically and physically. Its fairy tale set can be as complicated as the stories it weaves together into a single magical narrative. Its costumes, lavish. Its characters dark and often hilarious.

For all of these reasons, the company jumped at the chance to produce its own version of the Broadway classic.

"It hasn't been done in this area because people are too nervous of everything it entails," said Director Chase S. Morrisette. "We knew it was going to be a challenge."

But for the cast, each rehearsal, as the song goes, was another opportunity to step into the woods and through the fear, they had to take the journey.

The music alone may send many novice actors running into the woods, in fact. The complex musical stylings of legendary composer Stephen Sondheim are in full force.

Morrisette said the staff picked the production partially to honor the memory of Sondheim, long credited with reinventing the American musical. Sondheim died in November of last year.

"I thought the music was going to be intimidating," Morrisette said. "Sondheim is a genius. Everything is written for a very specific reason and our actors really embraced it."

The largely ensemble show nudges into operetta territory with funny and whimsical humor sprinkled throughout a retelling of several Grimm's fairy tales that do indeed, become very dark once the characters step into the woods.

While many audiences may only be familiar with Disney's movie version, they will meet the originally crafted characters on stage.

"Disney cut out 90 percent of act two," Morrisette said. "These characters are much more complicated than they appear in the film, especially Rapunzel."

And when all of these characters are granted their greatest wish, are they really happy? Do you think you would be?

Step into the woods and begin the journey. You have to every now and then.