Reviewed by Judy Richter
Broadway By the Bay has successfully met the
challenge of producing a Stephen Sondheim musical for the first time in a long time. It's
"Into the Woods," the master composer-lyricist's clever collaboration with
librettist James Lapine. They weave together four fairy tales -- Cinderella, Little Red
Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Rapunzel -- then throw in some new
characters, namely a witch, a narrator, and a baker and his wife. Even Snow
White and Sleeping Beauty become involved, at least peripherally.
In
the first act, several characters have to venture into the woods and overcome
obstacles to achieve their goals. Once they've achieved those goals, they can
live happily ever after -- at least until the end of the first act. The second
act turns darker as the characters cope with wishes that have come true and
with new challenges, dangerous challenges. During the entire process, much
self-discovery takes place. It's this aspect of the show -- along with
Sondheim's wonderfully intricate lyrics -- that makes it more suitable for
teenagers and adults than for young children. Several members of the younger
set were seated near me on a Saturday night and just couldn't sit still. One
considerate family took their restless child home at intermission.
But
for the older set, especially Sondheim admirers, BBB's production moves
brightly along, thanks to Brooke Knight's canny direction and a top-flight cast, especially
Mindy Lym as
Cinderella, Linda Piccone as Jack's long-suffering mother, Paul Araquistain as the Baker, Lee Ann Payne as the Baker's Wife, Alanna
Pinell as the
bratty Little Red Riding Hood, David Sattler as the lecherous Wolf and
Cinderella's vain prince, and Elise Marie Cordle, occasionally channeling Bernadette
Peters, as the Witch. Also noteworthy are Marc Jacobs as the Narrator and Mysterious
Man, Nick Balian as
the dunderheaded Jack and Evan Boomer as Rapunzel's Prince.
Rick
Reynolds
expertly guides the orchestra through Sondheim's complex score, but some of his
tempos are just a bit too fast for the singers to clearly enunciate the lyrics
with their puns, rhymes, alliteration and other literary devices. The women are
sometimes undermined by Bill Carrico's sound design, which makes some of them sound shrill.
Or it just might be the less than perfect sound system at the San Mateo
Performing Arts Center. It's a cavernous space, so both sound quality and
sometimes the sense of intimacy can suffer.
The
show isn't heavy on dancing, but Robyn Tribuzi's choreography is a plus, as is Chad
Bonaker's
lighting. The set is from Starlight Theatre Company. The costumes come from The
Theatre Company.
Overall,
this is a successful venture that can make one hope for more Sondheim from BBB
in the future.
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