PRODUCTION
Book: James Lapine
Music and lyrics: Stephen Sondheim
Directed by: Moisés Kaufman
Musical director: Curtis Moore
Production stage Mgr: Chad Zodrow
Set Designer: Narelle Sissons
Costume Designer: Clint Ramos
Lighting designer: Japhy Weideman
Sound designer: Andre Pluess
CAST
Euan Morton as Narrator Kip Niven as Mysterious Man/Cinderella’s Father
Michelle Ragusa as Witch
Lauren Worsham as Cinderella
Tina Stafford as Jack’s Mother/Cinderella’s Mother/Granny/Giant Voice Melinda MacDonald as Cinderella’s Stepmother Claybourne Elder as Cinderella’s Prince/Wolf Dana Steingold as Little Red Riding Hood
KC Comeaux as Jack Brynn O’Malley as Baker’s Wife
Brandon Sollenberger as Rapunzel’s Prince/Father Zachary Prince as Baker Lauren Braton as Rapunzel
Katie Kalahurka as Stepsister/Snow White
Katie Karel as Stepsister/Sleeping Beauty Patrick Du Laney as Steward
Zackary Hoar as Boy
VENUE
Kansas City Repertory Theatre
Spencer Theatre on the UMKC campus
4949 Cherry Street 64110
Kansas City, MO
ABOUT THE SHOW
Opening Date: Friday, September 11, 2009 at 8:00pm
Closing Date: Sunday, October 4, 2009 at 2:00pm
Into the Woods is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. It debuted in San Diego at the Old Globe Theatre in 1986, and premiered on Broadway in 1987. Inspired by Bruno Bettelheim's 1976 book, The Uses of Enchantment, the musical intertwines the plots of several Brothers Grimm fairy tales and follows them further to explore the consequences of the characters' wishes and quests. The main characters are taken from the stories of Little Red Ridinghood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel, and Cinderella, tied together by a more original story involving a baker and his wife and their quest to begin a family, most likely taken from the original story of Rapunzel by the Brothers Grimm. It also includes references to several other well-known tales.
Source: adapted from Wikipedia.org
Synopsis
Into the Woods is the imaginative account of what happens when the lives of new and old fairy-tale characters dramatically and humorously come together. Cinderella, Jack (of bean-stalk fame), Little Red Ridinghood, and the Baker and his Wife set out for the forest on a quest to find "happily ever after." Along the way they meet Rapunzel, a Wicked Witch, a lascivious Wolf, vengeful Giants, a couple of charming Princes, and their own destiny. With wit and wisdom, the authors have given us a parable about the loss of innocence, the joys and sorrows of adulthood, and the price paid for getting the things you really want.
About Into The Woods
Although Sondheim's Into the Woods is inspired by [...] now-familiar fables collected by The Brothers Grimm, it is not a sanitized version of fairy tales set to music. Rather, it is a complex examination of what lies beneath the fairy tales. As originally told, these fables were often dark and foreboding. Over the centuries, however, they have been turned into morality tales for children. Analytical psychiatrist Carl Jung, and many others, believe the fables speak to the fundamental nature of the human psyche and it is this dark side of the stories that Kaufman will explore.
Source: Infozine.com
Musical numbers
Act 1
Prologue: Into the Woods ....................................... Company
Hello, Little Girl ....................................... Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood
I Guess This Is Goodbye ....................................... Jack
Maybe They're Magic ....................................... Baker's Wife
I Know Things Now ....................................... Little Red Riding Hood
A Very Nice Prince ....................................... Cinderella and Baker's Wife
Giants in the Sky ....................................... Jack
Agony ....................................... Cinderella's Prince and Rapunzel's Prince
It Takes Two ....................................... Baker and Baker's Wife
Stay With Me ....................................... Witch
On the Steps of the Palace ....................................... Cinderella
Ever After ....................................... Narrator and Company
Act 2
Prologue: So Happy ....................................... Company
Agony (Reprise) ....................................... Cinderella's Prince and Rapunzel's Prince
Lament ....................................... Witch
Any Moment ....................................... Cinderella's Prince and Baker's Wife
Moments in the Woods ....................................... Baker's Wife
Your Fault ....................................... Jack, Baker, Witch, Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood
Last Midnight ....................................... Witch
No More ....................................... Baker and Mysterious Man
No One Is Alone ....................................... Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Baker and Jack
Finale: Children Will Listen ....................................... Witch and Company
Source: www.ibdb.com
About the 1987 Broadway musical
Into the Woods premiered on Broadway in 1987 and received ten Tony Award nominations and won for best score, best book and best actress in a musical. Since that time, the show has had numerous productions including a 1988 national tour, a 1990 London staging and a 2002 Broadway revival which won Tony Awards for best revival of a musical and best lighting design.
1988 Tony Award® Best Book of a Musical
1988 Tony Award® Best Original Score
1988 Tony Award® Best Actress in a Musical
1988 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Musical
1988 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Book of a Musical
1988 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical
1988 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical
1988 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Lyrics
1988 Theatre World Award
Sources: www.broadwayworld.com and www.ibdb.com
Links
Official site
www.kcrep.org
Selection of articles
Theatermania.com (August 18th 2009) Claybourne Elder, Euan Morton, Brynn O'Malley, Michele Ragusa, et al. Set for KC Rep's Into the Woods
Broadwayworld.com (August 18th 2009) Kaufman Directs Morton, O'Malley, Ragusa & More In KC Rep's INTO THE WOODS, Runs 9/11-10/4
Playbill.com (August 18th 2009) Kaufman to Direct Morton, O'Malley, Prince and Ragusa in KC Rep's Into the Woods
Infozine.com (August 19th 2009) Moises Kaufman Directs Sondheim Musical at Kansas City Repertory Theatre
