With soprano arias, eclectic costuming, and intricate set design, the theatre department’s production of Into the Woods transported audiences out of the Purple Valley and into the world of the Brothers Grimm. The musical, written by James Lapine and composed and lyricized by Stephen Sondheim ’50, elaborately interweaves various Western fairy tales. The production, directed by Visiting Lecturer in Theatre Michael T. Williams, unfolded at the ’62 Center for Theatre and Dance last Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Into the Woods is broken up into two acts, with a total run time of approximately two hours and 45 minutes. The first act follows each of the characters’ journeys into the woods, as the title suggests, and generally follows predictable story resolutions. Cinderella, played by Emma Hennessy ’26, finds her Prince Charming, played by Daniel Chanis Carrizo ’29. Little Red Riding Hood, played by Miriya Yeung ’29, is eaten by, and subsequently rescued from, the Wolf, also played by Carrizo. Jack, played by Avram Shapiro ’28, gets the beans, climbs the beanstalk, and returns with heaps of gold. The entire story, however, is driven by a baker, played by Dash Alschuler-Pierce ’28, and his wife, Emily Singer ’28, as the couple seeks to break the curse of childlessness cast on them by the witch, played by Maya Ray ’29.
Act I concludes happily ever after, with the stories tied up neatly — or so it seems. Following the act’s final song, “Finale: Ever After,” the narrator, played by Ben Zobian ’27, appends a cheeky “to be continued.” The latter portion of the musical follows the characters as they navigate the consequences of their so-called happy endings.
Williams explained in his director’s note that he chose Into the Woods for its relevance to the lives of young people at the College. “Like the characters who venture into the woods, students here are in the midst of journeys that begin with wishes and end with discoveries — sometimes joyful, sometimes painful, always transformative,” he wrote. “Fairy tales promise happily-ever-after, but Sondheim reminds us that growth rarely follows a neat path. The woods test us, stretch us, and ultimately teach us how to live with one another.”
Sondheim, who turned these rote fairy tales into something far more human, died in 2021. At the College, he was active in Cap & Bells, and in the Class of 1950 yearbook, he was voted most versatile, most brilliant, most likely to succeed, most done for Williams, and most original. He wrote the lyrics for his first two Broadway shows, West Side Story and Gypsy, just seven years after graduating. “A lot of Sondheim’s music is … emotional portraiture,” Perde said. “That’s what a lot of the songs in Into the Woods are trying to get you, a better sense of the characters in another way.”
The theatre department requires majors to participate in a minimum of four productions during their time at the College. Like many shows, Into the Woods drew from veterans of the College’s theatre scene, as well as students who were simply interested in joining the production.
Putting on a musical of this scale required an intense artistic process, explained Abdiel Perde ’28, who played Rapunzel’s prince. “Our director, he gave us all actor homework at the beginning, which is basically to do those things like come up with your character name, find out how old you are, describe yourself, the adjectives, things of that nature,” he said. “So [when performing] I just go over those questions and try to center myself, and try to leave behind AP [Abdiel Perde].”
Part of the challenge of acting is making every choice seem natural and appropriate, Alschuler-Pierce explained. “I think about the lines, and I listen to who I’m talking with, who’s in the scene, and I just listen to the words and abide by the text,” he said. “And before doing that, I arrive at the scene, I try to ground myself and make sure that I’m present and that I’m focusing on what’s at hand.”
“A song is no different than doing a monologue,” Alschuler-Pierce continued. “It’s yours, and in a musical, you’re [still] thinking on the line.”
Rehearsing with costumes, set, and tech makes getting into character more natural, Shapiro said. “I always find it easier to act once all of the technical elements come through,” he said. “It’s so superficial, but in the rehearsal process, it’s just so much harder to immerse yourself, somehow, when all of the other stuff isn’t there, and then once it is there, you can yourself believe it more.”
Costuming for the show was extensive: Many of the pieces were hand made by the student-staffed costume shop, and each outfit was customized for the character, Perde explained. His costume, which included a brightly colored cape complete with a frill, heightened the absurd characterization of the prince.
Some of the roles and costuming even took inspiration from pop culture, according to Marlene Ruiz ’29, who played Florinda, one of Cinderella’s stepsisters. “When we were imagining how we wanted our characters to be, the director really wanted [the] step family to be like the Kardashians,” she said. “They’re a little bratty, a little pretentious, but it’s still kind of ridiculous.”
The set was also elaborate, made almost entirely of books. Tomes lined the railing of the balcony, framing a construction almost entirely plastered in pages. In a particularly impressive feat, the Wolf in Little Red Riding Hood’s grandmother’s house lay in a roll-out bed that hid in the walls of the set.
According to Ruiz, joining Into the Woods helped her lay down roots during her first semester at the College. “I’m used to theatre, and it was kind of my passion project in high school,” she said. “So it’s a nice thing that can help ground myself for this first semester.”
Perde’s favorite parts of the production process were spending time with his fellow cast members and supporting their hard work. “I love the community aspect of it,” he said. “As a cast, we’ve been able to build our own family because of this show… Then to also present the work together [to] other people is really rewarding.”
For Williams, the opportunity to work with dedicated students has been a highlight, he explained in an email to the Record. “The cast, crew, and creative team approached the material with such generosity and imagination, and the support from the campus community and the ’62 Center for Theatre and Dance has been remarkable,” he wrote. “It’s been a privilege to make something this ambitious together.”
Editor’s note: Kai Stevens, Julia Karp, Jane Su, and Juno Pelczar are members of the Record editorial board and were involved in the production of Into the Woods. They were not involved in the writing or editing of this article.
