Stunningly fresh takes on iconic roles distinguish the the newest Broadway revival of composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim and book writer James Lapine’s Into The Woods, now playing at the Ahmanson, from the myriad productions that have preceded it.

The tale that Sondheim and Lapine have to tell is the same one that has enchanted audiences in the nearly four decades since the musical’s pre-Broadway World Premiere at San Diego’s Old Globe way back in 1986.

Lapine’s book takes well-known Grimm’s Fairy Tale characters from Cinderella, Jack and The Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood, and Rapunzel, adds an original pair of his own (a childless Baker and his wife) and a Witch to boot, then has them meet and interact while on a variety of missions that have sent them Into The Woods.

Cinderella attends a royal ball, Jack goes off to sell his beloved cow Milky White, Red Riding Hood leaves to visit Grandma’s house, and the Baker and his wife take off in search of four magic ingredients which the Witch says will allow them to conceive a child.

By the end of Act One, these characters have not only all become acquainted, they’ve achieved their fairytale Happily Ever After, or at least so it seems until a curtain line alerts us that there is more, much more, to come.

Sondheim’s songs range from signature “where did that note come from” ditties (“On The Steps Of The Palace”) to instantly hummable ballads (“Children Will Listen”) to the infectious title song, and his lyrics are both clever and profound.

No wonder then, that Into The Woods has had three Broadway revivals to date and umpteen regional incarnations including the musical’s most recent Ahmanson appearance six years ago when Fiasco Theater brilliantly re-imagined the Sondheim-Lapine classic with a cast trimmed down to about half the size of the Broadway original and an onstage pianist for accompaniment.

The 2022 revival now playing at the L.A. Music Center, on the other hand, features a whopping eighteen performers, a fifteen-piece orchestra, and Jonathan Tunick’s lush original orchestrations that sound more glorious here than ever.

On the minus side, the Broadway original’s elaborate sets have been replaced by sixteen tree trunks hanging down from the rafters and suspended miniatures standing in for the side-by-side houses that Cinderella, Mr. and Mrs. Baker, and Jack and his mother call home.

Still, with director Lear deBessonet eliciting performances that had me seeing characters and hearing lines as I’d never seen or heard them before (and adding some inspired puppetry along the way), it’s no wonder Thursday’s Opening Night audience reacted as loudly and enthusiastically as I’ve ever heard an audience react before.

There’s probably never been a more gorgeously sung or deliciously acted Baker’s Wife than the divine Stephanie J. Block’s, and Sebastian Arcelus as the still lovestruck Baker is pretty darned splendid too, the real-life spouses finding brand-spankingly new line readings that had me oohing and aahing their originality.

Montego Glover’s downright sensational Witch isn’t afraid to go big in Act One (a feat more easily conceived of than accomplished) and a scene-stealing Katy Geraghty reinvents Little Red Ridinghood as a petite-meets-plus-sized terror.

Gavin Creel does stellar double duty as the most rapacious of wolves and the posiest of platinum-haired Princes, joined delightfully in the latter task by Jason Forbach as Rapunzel’s equally dreamy Prince.

Cole Thompson gives Jack oodles of boy-next-door sweetness and charm, Diane Phelan makes for an exquisitely voiced Cinderella, and David Patrick Kelly is both a dryly droll Narrator and an weirdly, wonderfully quirky Mysterious Man.

Josh Breckenridge (Cinderella’s Father), Felicia Curry (Cinderella’s Mother, Granny, Giant), Aymee Garcia (Jack’s Mother), Ta’nika Gibson (Lucinda), Brooke Ishibashi (Florinda), Nancy Opel (Cinderella’s Stepmother), Jim Stanek (Steward), and Alysia Velez (Rapunzel) make for the most spirited and gifted of supporting players.

Last but not least, actor-puppeteer Kennedy Kanagawa manipulates a Milky White so expressive in both facial reactions and body language that Jack’s “old pal,” ingeniously designed by James Ortiz, becomes every bit as much of a character as its human counterparts.

David Rockwell’s minimalist scenic design will likely prove a letdown to those bemoaning the current Broadway trend towards what the New York Post’s Johnny Oleksinski calls “embarrassingly cheap looking” sets (his words, not mine) but Tyler Micoleau’s striking, often dramatic lighting design (including some nifty effects from inside those hanging tree trunks), and Andrea Hood’s clever, vibrantly hued costumes go a long way towards overcoming that minimalism.

Lorin Latarro’s jaunty choreography, the musicianship of the show’s onstage orchestra, expertly conducted by music director John Bell, Cookie Jordan’s imaginative wig and makeup designs, and Scott Lehrer and Alex Neumann’s pitch-perfect sound design are additional plusses.

Rob Berman is music supervisor. Matthew Steffens is associate choreographer. Scott Rowen is production stage manager. Cody Renard Richard is production supervisor. Michael Sanfilippo is company manager.

Casting is by The Telsey Office, Craig Burns, CSA, and Geoff Josselson, CSA. Marya Grandy, Paul Kreppel, dance captain Eddie Lopez, Ximone Rose, and Sam Simahk are understudies.

Having now seen a grand total of twenty different live productions of Into The Woods (beginning with its first Ahmanson appearance back in 1989), I need something out of the ordinary to make the show feel fresh and new to my seen-that-heard-that eyes and ears.

This time round, it’s the performances and the puppetry that had me cheering, and I’m guessing they’ll have you doing the same.

Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N Grand Ave, Los Angeles.
www.CenterTheatreGroup.org

–Steven Stanley
June 29, 2023
Photos: Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade

Tags: Ahmanson Theatre, Center Theatre Group, James Lapine, Los Angeles Theater Review, Stephen Sondehim