Presented March 31-April 3, 1993 at Centrepointe Theatre, Nepean, Ontario, Canada

INTO THE WOODS

Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim - Book by James Lapine

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The plot of INTO THE WOODS is novel indeed. Steven Sondheim and James Lapine have intertwined the plots of some favorite fairy tales in creating a single even bigger one. The first act opens with the stories of Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella, and the Baker and his wife. These latter two are the folks from whom Red Riding Hood gets her goodies, and they are the focus of the story. The wife must enter the woods to assemble the ingredients for a potion required by their neighbor, the Witch, to remove a curse preventing them from having a child. In their search, the Baker and his wife meet up with Jack, Red Riding Hood, and the Wolf, as well as Cinderella, Rapunzel, and their respective Princes. These characters are all busy with their own fairy tales, but each possesses one ingredient for the potion. By the end of Act One, the curse is lifted, Jack kills the giant and is rich from stolen gold, the Wolf is killed, each damsel gets her respective Prince, and the Witch is transformed by her potion into a beauty. All should live happily ever after, right? Well, almost.

Act Two finds our mostly happy cohorts forced into the Wood again to kill the giant's wife, who has come down to earth on an errant beanstalk to get revenge for her husband's untimely demise. A good deal of bickering and finger-pointing ensues. Unfortunately, some of the characters get stepped on in the process, but the group finally bands together to dispose of the giant's wife, allowing the remaining characters to pick up the pieces of their lives. Like all fairy tales, there are some overt messages in all this that we are invited to take home with us.

(Source: Bondaryk, Joseph E., The Tech, Volume 112, Number 12. Published Friday April 10, 1992.)

PRODUCTION TEAM

THE CAST

THE ORCHESTRA

VIOLINChris Fraser, Elspeth Lacy
VIOLASarah Ross, Jasin Van Eyk
CELLOMary Raths
BASSMark Haney
FLUTEJorden Kaplan
CLARINETTanya Bernard
BASSOONDoug Cumming
FRENCH HORNTessa Hamilton, Allison Clark
TRUMPETNeil Wright
PERCUSSIONDavid Stachon, Elena Lee
PIANOJohn Mayhood
SYNTHESIZERGilles Levesques
REHEARSAL PIANISTJohn Mayhood