A Trip Into the Woods

Within a couple of minutes, it’s always clear when you’re talking to a kid who used to do theatre. Community, school, or summer camp, every person who's ever belted out “Tomorrow” from Annie wears that badge somewhere proudly on their chest. 

Sometimes their time as a thespian came to a bittersweet end, perhaps an audition gone wrong or a role snatched up by a nemesis. But what do all retired theatre kids do when a Stephen Sondheim musical comes into town? 

They treat it like their own personal homecoming. 

Into the Woods, which premiered originally on Broadway in 1987, is a more realistic take on our beloved Brothers Grimms fairy tales. The audience watches as little red riding hood, jack and his beanstalk, rapunzel, cinderella, and a baker weave their lives together as they journey in and out of the magical woods. The musical is ripe with metaphors- from the complicated relationships between parents and children to being careful about what you wish for. To lighten up the tension, there are endless catchy tunes and a couple of funny innuendos sprinkled for the older crowd in attendance. 

Into the Woods premiered at Elon University on February 12, 2022, directed by Fred Rubeck, choreographed by Faythe Kelly and musically directed by Christopher Rayis. From the onset, you could tell that the energy was high. With tickets sold out, it seemed that the entire audience was waiting to be whisked away to somewhere magical. After months of not being able to see live theatre at all and a completely sold-out opening night, it seemed like the entire audience was already living out their fairy tales. 

The ambiance was set from the beginning, with recorded bird songs playing as the audience sat down to their seats.  The Scenic Director Charles G. Johnson was incredibly imaginative with the small stage space in McCrary Theatre, using secondary characters to weave in set pieces and lighting to offset the neutral space. Actors held Cinderella’s birds on sticks and one even became a golden harp, a unique comical touch. 

The best prop was the person-built carriage: with two actors holding parasols as wheels and the actors in the “carriage” holding doors, Cinderella's stepmother and wicked stepsisters were off to the ball. To create the feeling of a deep and dark wood, Lighting Director Bill Webb used dark purple lighting, direct spotlights for the characters, and often ended each story with a faded spotlight that had shadows in the shapes of leaves. 

Act One was definitely the stronger of the two acts, with high energy and powerful performances from Jack, the Baker, and the narrator especially. 

The Witch, played by Hannah Ellowitz, showed powerful characterization and stole every scene she was in. Ellowitz also showed off a great rendition of the classic, “Beans, Beans, nothing but Beans!” rap style song, which almost requires Hamilton-intense pronunciation skills. 

The Wolf, played by Timothy Brausch, was another stand-alone part. Although he was only on stage for a couple of scenes, his agility and quick, smooth choreography melded together to create a feline-centric performance. Agony, the song is sung by both Cinderella and Rapunzel’s princes about how hard it is to be single, is always a highlight. Nathan Meyer (Rapunzel’s Prince) and Brendan Coulter (Cinderella’s Prince) did not disappoint, being so overdramatic in every scene that they had the audience begging for more. 

With a 15 minute intermission, Into the Woods runs long at 2 hours and 45 minutes. Act Two deals heavily with the moral repercussions of the character’s choices in the first act, and its themes are more about trying to teach the audience a lesson than letting them have a good time. With cautionary tales about disobedient children and the cost of a lie, many character storylines became hard to follow. I also felt that some events, mainly the deaths of Rapunzel and Jack’s mother, were unclear and brushed off. 

Despite the small chaos in Act Two, Into the Woods was an overwhelmingly wonderful experience. Theatre is truly for everyone–from the theatre geeks who know every word to the friends who were dragged along and promised a fun Friday night. There were audience members of all ages: college students, Elon alumni, members of the Elon community. To have your own come-to-Jesus theatre moment and experience the magic that is Elon theatre, make sure to follow @elonperformingarts on Instagram! 

Photo by Gabriela Rivas-De Leon