Seeing the curtain go up on the St. James Theatre’s revival of the late Stephen Sondheim’s magnum opus, Into the Woods, is a jarring experience. Rather than being in the pit, the orchestra is entirely on stage, in full view of the audience. The rest of the stage is quite bare, aside from a number of small props. At first, it looks clumsily and hastily thrown together. Then the music starts and the story begins.
The star-studded cast brings the show to life and animates the plain stage. We see the curtain open on three of our favorite classic fairy tales. On one side of the stage, Cinderella, played by Hamilton alumna Phillipa Soo, is pleading with her family to let her come with them to the prince’s ball. On the other side, Jack (Cole Thompson) of eventual beanstalk fame is begging his mother (Aymee Garcia) not to make him sell his best friend, Milky White, the family’s cow.
Between them at center stage, a barren Baker and his wife, played by Brian d’Arcy James and Sara Bareilles, are visited first by Little Red Riding Hood (Julia Lester) and then by an old witch, played by Patina Miller, who tells them that she put a curse of childlessness on their family as punishment for the Baker’s father stealing from her garden. To break the curse, she says, they must bring her the ingredients for a special potion.
And so, all our characters independently venture into the woods for various reasons — to sell the cow, to go to the festival, to break the curse — meeting vicious wolves and falling in love with handsome princes (Gavin Creel and Joshua Henry) in the process.
As they begin their journeys, the set comes alive, with trees flying in from above the stage. Though the moment wows the audience, the show does not rely on it to draw the people in. From the first time the characters sing in unison during the opening number, audiences can not help but smile. That is the greatest strength of this revival: It knows it has an incredible cast and just lets their performances animate the show.
Thompson and Lester, the younger actors in the production, hold their own among the celebrity and broadway-baby leads. Though their solos are entertaining, their acting especially shines through. Lester plays Little Red’s becoming wise beyond her years after her encounter with the wolf particularly well, and her presence on stage is comedy gold.
Creel and Henry are equally as great in their princely parts, doing great justice to the song “Agony.” Similarly, d’Arcy James nails the emotional depth for the role of the Baker. Miller makes a wicked witch who imprisons her daughter and curses others a sympathetic character and hits the comedic parts of the role perfectly.
The best part of the show, of course, is Bareilles. Every note she sings is enthralling, especially her big number, “Moments in the Woods.” It should be unsurprising that a world-famous singer is talented at music. Praise of her singing certainly should not discount her acting, which is delightful.
Overall, the revival is a wonderful tribute to Stephen Sondheim, who passed away in November. Although he is gone, he left us the gift of his music, and it is entirely appropriate that we continue to perform it. The production’s strictly limited engagement ends August 21, so fans had better see it before it’s too late.