In 1976 child psychologist Bruno Bettelheim released The Uses of Enchantment, interpreting the symbolism behind fairy tales. In the context of Freudian theory. In 1987, Stephen Sondheim (music and lyrics) and James Lapine (Book) premiered Into the Woods, a musical they acknowledged was heavily influenced by Bettelheims’s book. Into the Woods is a masterful weaving of several stories: Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, in which different characters, from separate narratives, interact with each other. The Narrator, the Witch, and the childless Baker and His Wife are the connective tissue. Sondheim and Lapine create a piece illuminated by explication, mockery, pathos, invention, and the improbable. All this while still entertaining and poignant. It’s nuanced and elaborate, but it doesn’t seem so.
In the first act, each fable, each quandary, is resolved. (A spell is broken. A danger avoided. A fortune attained.) In the second act, they are dismantled to suggest that life is more complicated. Deeper wisdom is pitted against conventional, simplistic answers. Maybe the Giant’s Wife has legitimate grievance. Perhaps the Prince and Cinderella didn’t consider their genuine motives. Perhaps the takeaway in the world of adults isn’t obvious. Sometimes it’s heartbreaking. Lapine and Sondheim have posited a contradiction in the title. “Out of the woods” means you’re no longer at risk. These two demented souls suggest you can’t learn to survive in the actual world, without putting yourself in jeopardy. Headlong into danger. But maybe they’re not wrong.
Pity poor Joel Ferrell, who in the process of directing this logistical nightmare, must have felt like he was juggling dishes, hoops and oranges at the same time. If the experience of Into the Woods is overwhelming in the best sense, imagine what it was like for him. The ridiculously demanding script couldn’t be easy to navigate for this tireless, fearless, animated ensemble cast. They bring the pleasure and grace of performance to Into the Woods without breaking a sweat.
Standouts include Christina Austin Lopez, as the persistent if somewhat unbalanced Cinderella, Bob Hess, avuncular and insanely versatile as The Narrator, Tiffany Solano, bold and vulnerable as The Baker’s Wife, Alex Organ, cunning and stately as Wolf and Prince, Sally Nystuen Vahle, patient and long-suffering as Jack’s Mother, Zachary J. Willis, endlessly cheery and guileless as Jack, Blake Hackler, as the perseverant and protective Baker, Cherish Love Robinson, wounded and vindictive as The Witch, and Christopher Llewyn Ramirez, pompous, but sensitive as Rapunzel’s Rescuer.
This remarkable musical mixes so many disparate, contrasting elements (the chaotic and the sublime, the absurd and the woeful, the cunning and the brave, the ironic and naive) and this phenomenal cast lights the fuse. The Dallas Theater Center’s production of Into the Woods is a vibrant, provocative, deeply affecting theatrical experience.
The Dallas Theater Center presents: Into the Woods, playing April 7th-30th, 2023. The Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre. 2400 Flora Street, Dallas, TX 75201. 214-522-8499. DallasTheateCenter.Org.