ReAct does princely job with fractured fairy tales in Sondheim's 'Woods'

By Richard Wallace
Special to The Seattle Times

	DAVID HSIEH Kim Anh Yanda, left, as Rapunzel and Crystal Dawn Munkers as the witch in the Repertory Actors Theatre production of the Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine musical "Into the Woods" at the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center.
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You have to admire Repertory Actors Theatre's spunk. When hard financial times might dictate caution and downsizing, ReAct is going bold — presenting the Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine musical theater classic "Into the Woods," with a cast of 20 and a seven piece orchestra.

The play, one of Sondheim's most popular — winning a Tony for best score in 1988, and another for best revival in 2002 — is an intricate chamber musical, plotting the adventures and misadventures of some of our favorite fairy-tale characters.

Smoothly staged by ReAct artistic director David Hsieh, the show opens literally by the book — three large story books (created by set designer Craig Wollam) open their covers and a trio of story lines are set into motion with the spirited opening number, "Prologue: Into the Woods."

Two stories we know by heart — Cinderella and Jack and the Beanstalk. The third sets the comic table: In order for his wife to conceive children, a baker must secure for a witch four things: a cow as white as milk; a cape as red as blood; hair as yellow as corn; and a shoe as pure as gold. And where shall these things be found? In the woods, of course.

Along the way, other characters appear — all beautifully clothed by costume designer Carl Bronsdon — a woeful Rapunzel locked in her tower; Cinderella's father and horrid sisters; two conceited princes; a very bouncy Little Red Riding Hood and a lascivious, svelte wolf decked out in tails.

Theater review "Into the Woods," by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine. Thursdays-Sundays May 6-30, The Repertory Actors Theatre, Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center, 104 17th Ave. S., Seattle; $12-$18 (206-364-3283 or www.reacttheatre.org). Note: Subject matter is appropriate for families with older children.

The convoluted first act ends happily ever after, so satisfying and positive the show seems as complete as a well-knit sweater. In the second act comes the unraveling. True love changes partners; a giant's wife takes devastating revenge; and some bittersweet lessons are learned by all.

Sondheim's score, ably conducted by musical director Jim Fisher, is sparkling — although sometimes his band's spirited playing muffles Sondheim's witty and winsome words.

Staying on top of a Sondheim lyric can be a hit and miss proposition for ReAct's high-energy cast. Happily, a number of actor/singers seem perfectly at home in Sondheim territory. As Jack, Eric Ankrim shows lots of comic pizazz with "Giants in the Sky." Emjoy Gavino, singing "On the Steps of the Palace," gives us a lovely Cinderella with some steel in her. And Kristen Hurst, as the baker's wife, is outstanding with whomever she is singing — especially when it's her big-hearted husband, well played by David Ige. Her solo "Moments in the Woods" is the show's vocal highlight.

And let's not forget to mention that creepy, elegant Wolf (Christopher J. Anderson) and those preening princes Timothy Glynn and Sean P. O'Bannon. Their duet of "Agony" in Act 1 and its disillusioned second act reprise are perfect bookends to an enjoyable musical treatise on innocence lost and maturity gained — the story we all have to live out, sooner or later, for better or for worse.

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