Cast of “Into the Woods”

Cleverly and absurdly twisted, intertwined, and set to music, now playing at Open Stage is the Broadway musical “Into the Woods,” by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine, directed by Open Stage’s Stuart Landon.

Unless you were raised in the woods, you’ve picked up enough Hans Christian Anderson and Brothers Grimm fairy tale plots that you’ll easily follow this fairy tale mash-up, with jokes and references wrapped through the play like vines through a forest. It’s a long story on an unmarked path with no breadcrumb trail. Still, you’re unlikely to get lost.

Woven into the story is the theme “wishes,” with the Baker (Robert Campbell) and the Baker’s Wife’s (Alexis Dow) wish for a child driving the main plot. The Witch (Stacey Werner) sends them on a quest for specific items to craft a potion she wishes for, with the promise to lift the childless curse from the Bakers’ house.

The couple’s quest leads them into the woods, where they stumble into other assorted fairy tale heroes and personified animals. They all sing their way through the woods, clutching their shawls and aprons or riding their stick horses, in pursuit of fulfilling their own wishes.

The soundtrack for “Into the Woods” serves as the main storytelling vehicle to bring out the actors’ emotions, developing their characters and powering the multiple stories through the journey. The play is well cast with strong and seasoned actors, with each able to carry their own tunes and styles, yet still find complementary harmonies with singing partners.

The appropriately sinister Witch brings out the dichotomy of a villain layered with the vulnerability of a woman terrified of both losing her child and herself. You can pick out their trademark flinty vocals in any group song, and they especially shine in the powerfully dark solos “Witch’s Lament” and the accusatory “Last Midnight.”

Werner’s duet with Rapunzel (Gabrielle Dina), “Stay with Me,” is a heavy song about a mother protecting her child from the big, bad world. Werner pulls their vocals from deep within, showing the Witch’s fear and ferocious mama bear qualities. Dina’s girlish vocals give the sharp contrast needed in the mother/daughter relationship.

Dina’s performance as a young girl is completely convincing, with her higher-pitched voice, cutesy mannerisms, and pigtails. If “To Catch a Predator” were still on air, it could easily be her next acting role. Despite her adorable charm, she looks terrifying running with a knife.

Dina doubles as Little Red Riding Hood, performing the lighter half of the duet “Hello, Little Girl” with the Big Bad Wolf (TJ Creedon). It’s a disturbing song about child abduction that Creedon huffs and puffs life into with his breathy voice. The delivery is smarmy in every way, with Creedon even howling at the end in perfect character.

Seriously, that song had me thinking I should protect my daughter by locking her in a tower with no door.

The characters’ many sorrows and struggles shine through in their individual singing styles. Both in her many duets and her solo “On the Steps of the Palace,” Cinderella (Chloe Acquaviva) has a sweet lilt in her singing voice, with a wistful naivete that slowly diminishes as she grows older and her burdens become more worldly. As she becomes surer of herself, she becomes less so about her Prince Charming (Creedon).

Creedon’s performance made me both squirm as the Big Bad Wolf and laugh just as hard as Cinderella’s Prince. In the song “Agony,” a duet with Rapunzel’s Prince (Keel Warner), Creedon and Warner play off each other’s comic timing, combining emotive singing with hilarious facial expressions.

The Campbells’ duets tug at the heart and showcase their chemistry. Most touching are “Maybe They’re Magic” and “It Takes Two.” Especially funny is the line “The end justifies the beans,” after purchasing a cow from Jack.

Two solos skipped into my typically villainous heart, for both the storytelling and the excellent singing skills. As Jack, Tyler Shadle delivers the heartbreaking “I Guess this is Goodbye,” when he sells his cow/best friend (Warner). In her Little Red Riding Hood character, Dina performs “I Know Things Now” about being disillusioned.

Although playing more minor characters, Chris Krahulec gets an honorable mention for belting out the dual roles of Jack’s Mother and Cinderella’s Stepmother, Ethel Merman-style, and Chris Gibson for an emotional delivery during his half of the duet “No More” with Campbell. Although not in a singing capacity, the talented Nick Werner even steps away from his keyboard a few times to hilariously double up as other characters.

Although fairy tales are traditionally children’s stories, this “Into the Woods” adaptation carries a parental advisory label. Some of the mature content and bad decisions take a dark turn down the wooded path. Also, the stage itself is a small space full of big voices and lots of action. Some of the outbursts may put your little ones on sensory overload. No one will call you a witch if you leave them home at your gingerbread house (with a sitter who isn’t an evil stepmother, of course) to protect them from these cautionary tales.

While we’re on the subject of cautionary tales, here’s mine… Although Act 1 is what Director Stuart Landon describes as “a self-contained story, much like the Jr. version,” this play has an Act 2. Don’t be like this reviewer and walk out the double doors at intermission, raving to your plus-one about how hysterical and well sung this play is, thinking Act 1 was all they wrote.

Grimmer and dimmer than Act 1, Act 2 contains new wishes, heavier consequences and moral dilemmas for the kingdom, and poses the question, “Are the characters really living happily ever after?” Act 2 was so worth the walk of shame from my car, parked in a land far, far away.

“Into the Woods” runs until March 11 at Open Stage, 25 N. Court St., Harrisburg. For more information and tickets, visit https://www.openstagehbg.com/show/woods.

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