Into the Woods! (LAArtsOnline.com)

INTO THE WOODS!

Into The Woods plays at The Wallis Dec 2-21
INTO THE WOODS!
By KEN WERTHER

Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods is arguably the master composer’s most oft-produced musical. It premiered in December 1986 at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego and opened on Broadway November 5, 1987 where it played for two years; was nominated for 10 Tony Awards (winning three); and racked up 765 performances. The show intertwines the plots of several Brothers Grimm fairy tales, including Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel, and Cinderella, among others. The plot is all tied together by an original story by James Lapine involving a childless baker and his wife and their quest to begin a family and their interactions with a witch who has placed a curse on them and with other storybook characters during their journey.

When I was working in the Ahmanson Theatre press office back in 2002, we hosted the out-of-town tryout of what would be the show’s first (and to date, only) Broadway revival. Original director James Lapine was once again at the helm. What a thrill it was to watch him put this classic Broadway musical back together.

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s critically acclaimed production of Into the Woods arrives on December 2, bringing with it a 17-member cast and an 18-member orchestra. This humorous and heartfelt chase through the woods never fails to thrill and delight its audiences. See you in the woods!

Into the Woods runs through December 21 at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, located at 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd in Beverly Hills.