Displaying items by tag: Into the Woods

Kokandy Productions is pleased to conclude its 2024 season with an immersive production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's classic Into The Woods, the first Chicago storefront production of the beloved musical in over a decade. Directed and choreographed by Producing Artistic Director Derek Van Barham with music direction by Nick Sula, Into The Woods will play October 10 – December 22, 2024 at The Chopin Studio Theatre, 1543 W. Division St. in Chicago. Tickets are now on sale at kokandyproductions.com. 

Journeying Into The Woods are Kevin Webb and Sonia Goldberg as The Baker and The Baker's Wife, Stephanie Stockstill as The Witch, Madison Kauffman as Cinderella, Kevin Parra as Jack and Anna Seibert as Little Red. Pulling double (or more) duty are August Forman as Narrator/Mysterious Man, Shea Hopkins as Cinderella's Prince/Wolf, Makenzy Jenkins as Rapunzel's Prince/Steward, Ismael Garcia as Rapunzel/Florinda, Britain Gebhardt as Jack's Mother/Lucinda and Emily Goldberg as Cinderella's Stepmother/Mother. The company of players is completed by swings Gabby Koziol, Jackson Mikkelsen, Halli Morgan, Michael Penick, Julie Peterson, Elizabeth Rentfro and Evan B Smith.

Escape into a fantastical fairytale adventure where wishes come true, but not always for free. A trove of storybook characters' paths intertwine as they chase their deepest desires through an enchanted forest. However, once they receive their happily ever after, the unintended consequences of granted wishes unravel their worlds.

Weaving a euphoric score including the songs "Giants in the Sky," "On the Steps of the Palace," "No One Is Alone" and "Children Will Listen" with a darkly humorous book, Into the Woods is a sophisticated musical twist on beloved childhood fables.

"What will we find when we wander into these woods?" asks director and choreographer Derek Van Barham. "A company of players, a beloved musical and a little magic. Our hope is that by re-orchestrating for 2 pianos and a cast of 12 (half of them doubling) we can focus on the intimate and immersive nature of the show, capturing the desperate need to be seen, to be remembered and to gather together to share (and receive) a good story."

Music Director Nick Sula adds, "Many of the characters in this musical are introduced in pairs - The Baker and The Baker's Wife, Jack and Little Red, the two Stepsisters, the two Princes - so it felt natural to include the music, the musicians and the instruments themselves as a mirror of that. Our team of three pianist/orchestrators collaborated to create a unique sound with a two-piano, four-(or more!)-hand approach that features a duo of acoustic grand pianos. We are delighted to share the full depth and breadth of Stephen Sondheim's music with our audiences in this hauntingly majestic and intimate re-imagination." 

The production team includes G "Max" Maxin IV, (Scenic Design and Lighting Design), Rachel Sypniewski (Costume Design), Matt Reich (Sound Design), Mike Patrick (Sound Consultant), Jakob Abderhalden (Properties Design), Chels Morgan (Intimacy Choreographer), Syd Genco (Makeup Design), Keith Ryan (Wig Design), Ariana Miles and Evelyn Ryan (Orchestrators), Nicholas Reinhart (Production Manager), Shane Roberie (Casting Associate), Lynsy Folckomer (Sound Engineer), Ryan Stajmiger (Assistant Director), Kendyl Meyer (Stage Manager), Ethan Colish (Assistant Stage Manager).

PRODUCTION DETAILS:

Title: Into The Woods

Book by James Lapine

Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

Directed and Choreographed by Producing Artistic Director Derek Van Barham

Music Direction by Nick Sula

Cast (in alphabetical order): August Forman (Narrator/Mysterious Man), Ismael Garcia (Rapunzel/Florinda), Britain Gebhardt (Jack's Mother/Lucinda), Emily Goldberg (Cinderella's Stepmother/Mother), Sonia Goldberg (The Baker's Wife), Shea Hopkins (Cinderella's Prince/Wolf), Makenzy Jenkins (Rapunzel's Prince/Steward), Madison Kauffman (Cinderella), Kevin Parra (Jack), Anna Seibert (Little Red), Stephanie Stockstill (The Witch) and Kevin Webb (The Baker).

Swings: Gabby Koziol, Jackson Mikkelsen, Halli Morgan, Michael Penick, Julie Peterson, Elizabeth Rentfro and Evan B Smith. 

Musicians: Ariana Miles (piano) and Evelyn Ryan (piano).

Location: The Chopin Studio Theatre, 1543 W. Division St., Chicago

Dates: Previews: Thursday, October 10 at 7 pm, Friday, October 11 at 7 pm, Saturday, October 12 at 7 pm, Sunday, October 13 at 5 pm, Monday, October 14 at 7 pm, Sunday, October 20 at 5 pm, Monday, October 21 at 7 pm, Thursday, October 24 at 7 pm and Friday, October 25 at 7 pm

Press performance: Saturday, October 26 at 7 pm

Regular run: Sunday, October 27 – Sunday, December 22, 2024

Curtain Times: Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7 pm; Sundays at 5 pm. Please note: there will be added performances on Wednesday, November 27 at 7 pm and Monday, December 9 at 7 pm; there will not be a performance on Thursday, November 28 (Thanksgiving).

Tickets: Previews $25 (with code PREVIEW). Regular run $45 general admission, $55 reserved seating. Students/Seniors $35. There will be a limited number of $15 tickets (with code ARTIST) available to artists for each performance. Tickets are on sale now at kokandyproductions.com.

About the Artists

Derek Van Barham (Director/Choreographer, he/him) is the Producing Artistic Director of Kokandy Productions. Directing credits include Children of Eden in Concert (Broadway In Chicago), Spring Awakening (Flint Rep); Sweeney Todd, American Psycho and Head Over Heels (Jeff Awards and Jeff nomination, Kokandy); The View Upstairs (Circle Theatre); Miracle by Dan Savage, Poseidon (Hell in a Handbag). Choreography credits include Evil Dead (Jeff nomination), Coraline the Musical, Ghost Quartet, Shockheaded Peter and Coraline the Musical (Black Button Eyes). He was previously named one of Windy City Times' 30 Under 30, and one of Newcity Magazine's 50 Players 2024. MFA: CCPA/Roosevelt University. derekvanbarham.com | IG @dvbarham

Nick Sula (Music Director and Orchestrations, he/him) is an award-winning pianist, arranger and music director. Music Direction credits include the Jeff Award-winning production of Sweeney Todd with Kokandy Productions, for which he earned the Jeff Award for Outstanding Music Direction; Anything Goes with Porchlight Music Theatre [Jeff nomination]; Ghost Quartet [Jeff nomination], Nevermore, Amour, Coraline (Black Button Eyes Productions); Myths & Hymns, The Glorious Ones [Jeff nomination], Pippin (BoHo Theatre); His & His, Boys in Briefs, Broadway at the Broadway (Pride Films and Plays); Merrily We Roll Along, Head Over Heels, The Pajama Game, The Pirates of Penzance (CCPA). Nick can be heard performing with vocalists at theaters and cabaret venues around Chicagoland such as Davenport's Piano Bar and Skokie Theater. As a professor of musical theatre he serves as a music director, instructor and vocal coach at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University.

About Kokandy Productions

Founded in 2010, Kokandy Productions seeks to leverage the heightened reality of musical theatre to tell complex and challenging stories, with a focus on contributing to the development of Chicago-based musical theatre artists, and raising the profile of Chicago's non-Equity musical theatre community.

The company's artistic staff is comprised of Derek Van Barham (Producing Artistic Director), Scot T. Kokandy (Executive Producer) and Adrian Abel Azevedo & Leda Hoffman (Artistic Associates). The Board of Directors includes Preston Cropp, Scot T. Kokandy, Danielle Sparklin and Katie Svaicer. 

For additional information, visit www.kokandyproductions.com. 

We are all lucky that we’ve gotten to live at the same time and in the same timeline as Stephen Sondheim, possibly the most influential and important composer and lyricist in modern Broadway history. From his most popular musicals — Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Into the Woods, his lyrics for West Side Story — to his more obscure — Anyone Can Whistle, Company, Follies — he’s left a wealth of lyrically and musically rich songs for us to study and enjoy.

The Stephen Sondheim Tribute Revue, directed and produced by 4 Chairs Theatre founder Lauren Berman, showcases songs selected thoughtfully and with care from the catalog of the late, legendary composer, with a talented ensemble featuring Kaitlin Feely, David Geinosky, Lyndsey Minerva, Brian Member, Denise Tamburrino, and Michelle Tibble, accompanied on piano by Tyeese Braslavsky. 

The selected songs range from Sondheim’s early works, like 1962’s A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and Anyone Can Whistle from 1964, even his very first musical Saturday Night, to his later, more well-known works such as Sweeney Todd and Sunday in the Park with George.

Pictured: Michelle Tibble and Denise Tamburrino

Each of the ensemblists has a clear, powerful voice, creating the perfect canvas for which to display the complex and varied works of Sondheim. Sondheim always emphasized the importance of trained, mindful vocalists throughout his career — he felt that singing should enhance acting, not the other way around. The emotion comes first, always, and the music and lyrics are there to prop up that feeling, take it out of time for a moment and examine it. These actors deliver on just that.

Highlights for me included ensemblist Denise Tamburrino’s solo performance of “Send in the Clowns” from A Little Night Music. Possibly one of Sondheim’s most performed standalone songs, “Send in the Clowns” sardonically comments on the bad timing of love by a woman who’s experienced the ups and downs of it. Tamburrino’s rendition brings the right amount of restraint to the reflective song, letting the emotions on her face and pauses between phrases speak just as much as the lyrics.

Pictured: Brian Pember, Lyndsey Minerva, and Denise Tamburrino

Other highlights were the selections from Company (inlcluding the frantic "Getting Married Today" performed with tact by Lyndsey Minerva, Denise Tamburrino, and Brian Pember) and Into the Woods, Sondheim’s fairy tale-gone-wrong musical from 1987, which included two of the more moving, clear-headed tunes from the show: “No One Is Alone” and “Children Will Listen”, the former sung by the whole ensemble and the latter by Michelle Tibble and David Geinosky.

And finally, another Sondheim gem is uncovered with Kaitlin Feely’s performance of “The Miller’s Son” from A Little Night Music, a song about fantasy and its clash with reality, one of many examples of Sondheim's songs that has stood the test of time and was, in fact, ahead of its time with its witty lyrics and shrewd observations of life.

As Lauren Berman writes in her director’s note, “There are musicals, and then there are Stephen Sondheim musicals.”

The Sondheim Tribute Review by 4 Chairs Theatre is playing at the Skokie Theatre - Performing Arts Center through August 18, 2024. Tickets can be purchased on the 4 Chairs Theatre website. 

Stephen Sondheim warns to be careful what you wish for in one of his most beloved musicals, Into the Woods. The 2022 New York City Center Encores! Broadway revival became a revolving door for some of today’s biggest musical theatre stars. The run included Sara Bareilles, Cheyenne Jackson, and Brian D’Arcy James. The National tour, which features most of the original revival cast, makes its stop in Chicago at the James M. Nederlander Theatre. Fulfilling a lifelong dream, husband and wife Sebastian Arcelus and Stephanie J. Block lead this cast in the roles of the Baker and the Baker’s Wife. Unfortunately, due to illness in the cast, the Chicago run opened with Ximone Rose as the Baker’s Wife. Rose proved to be a worthy understudy for Block.

Into the Woods in some ways was the first time Grimm’s fairy tales were intermingled to tell an alternative version of the stories we know so well. Since then, there have been numerous books, movies, and TV series to attempt the same idea. Into the Woods may feature fairy tale characters, but it’s not a kids show. The script asks the big question, what happens if every single character got their wish? And the unintended consequences of getting what you think you want.

Into the Woods showcases some of Sondheim’s most beautiful music, and co-writer James Lapine’s most inventive storytelling. This stripped-down version almost looks like a staged concert with the orchestra playing on stage amidst the action. The minimal set and monochromatic costuming allow for the music to be front and center. With voices like Montego Glover as the Witch and Gavin Creel as Cinderella’s Prince and the Big Bad Wolf, this production soars to the rafters.

There are some plum roles in this show, but none are probably as rewarding as the Witch. Originated by Bernadette Peters in 1987, many big names have filled the cape including Meryl Streep in the 2014 film. Though, you may never again experience the kind of roaring applause and cheering (often reserved for pro sports games), that audiences gave Montego Glover after her hair-raising interpretation of The Last Midnight. The show was held for a few extra seconds while the audience brought down the house.

Gavin Creel as Cinderella's Prince/Wolf and Katy Geraghty as Little Red Ridinghood in 'Into the Woods at James M Nederlander Theatre through May 7th

 
Despite some understudies filling in, there’s not a glimmer of imperfection in this cast. Ellie Fishman went on as Cinderella where she really shines in the show’s final scene. Other than Fishman and Rose, the entire cast performed as listed in the Playbill. Katy Geraghty skipped off with most of the evening’s biggest laughs as Little Red Ridinghood. And of course, any chance you get to see Gavin Creel on stage, take it. He does a great job creating two distinctly different but hilarious characters in the Wolf and Prince Charming. He brings a physical humor that’s only occasionally upstaged by the puppet cow Milky White, helmed by Kennedy Kanagawa. 

There’s so much to love about this definitive revival of Into the Woods. Anyone who’s ever had the misfortune of sitting through a bad community (or high school) production knows that when done poorly, it can be a slog. This production moves along at quite a clip in part to its staging, but it’s a welcomed pace. No moment or song, or sweet section of music overstays its welcome. This Into the Woods would make its creator proud.

Through May 7th at Broadway in Chicago. James M Nederlander Theatre. 24 W. Randolph St. www.broadwayinchicago.com/show/into-the-woods

Just on the heels of a very successful run of The Sound of Music, the three-hour production of Stephen Sondheim's Tony Award winning Into the Woods at the lushly appointed art deco Paramount Theatre is here to delight another round of theatregoers. Simply stunning and jam-packed with talent and energy, Paramount gives us another production to rave about. Upon entering the theater, the enormous set by designer Jeffrey D. Kmiec, with romantic and powerful lighting by Jose Santiago, is a spectacle to behold with its beautiful stately trees and fairy tale castle towers which dazzles the eye and ignites the audience's senses.

Into the Woods is a slightly adult version of a mashup of Brothers Grimm fairy tales that is really a metaphor for venturing out into the world and in everyday life on new paths to find happiness and love. Mixed together in this epic and humorous adventure are characters and plot lines from Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel.   

Although this is clearly an ensemble piece with a large and exciting cast, the play is held together and given a continuous depth of meaning by its Narrator, played by outstanding character actor Larry Yando (he also doubles as Mysterious Man). I went to college with Yando at the Goodman/DePaul School of Drama back in 1987 and now all Chicago audiences know and love his work as Ebenezer Scrooge in Goodman Theatre’s long-running Christmas favorite, A Christmas Carol.

The production contains numerous catchy Sondheim musical numbers including its title track that opens the show along with "Our Little World", "Ever After", "No One Is Alone" and the very funny “Agony” wonderfully performed by Cinderella's Prince (Alex Syiek) and Rapunzel's Prince (Devin DeSantis) – in perhaps the one of the shows funniest scenes. Another standout for me includes outstanding vocal performances from Cinderella, played with great humor by Hannah Louise Fernandes who questions why she is "running from a Prince?” after her fairy Godmother used magic to help her attend the ball. Also, Little Red Riding Hood, played by the sardonic and ruby-lipped Lucy Panush, is adorable throughout. Panush is forever changed by her encounter with the lusty Wolf who sniffs her as if she is a tasty pastry and she recalls with misty wonder how being "swallowed by the wolf" let her fall into a deep dark place that she surprisingly found quite fascinating. 

Paramount Theatre’s Into the Woods features (from left) Stephen Schellhardt as the Baker, Will Koski as Jack, Natalie Weiss as the Witch, Hannah Louise Fernandes as Cinderella and Lucy Panush as Little Red Ridinghood. Photo by Liz Lauren.

The show is bursting with talented performances throughout and peppered with brilliant comedic and singing performances including that of Sarah Bockel as the Baker’s Wife, Will Koski as Jack and Natalie Weiss as The Witch. Its story is fun and has a twist around every corner while the extraordinary set and lighting/sound effects keep us smack dab in the middle of an enchanted world like no other.

The music throughout is impressive and big. I always love to walk down at the end of a show to see the orchestra in the pit, and this large gifted group of musicians led by Music Director/Conductor Kory Danielson are a character in their own right. And the music that comes from an orchestra of this size is something you can feel pulsing in your heart as the play takes the audience through all "the feels" from joy to loss, sensual longing to satisfaction and everything in between. 

Into the Woods has so many great characters and intertwining storylines, each with their own moral lesson, that there is something everyone can relate to at every age, whether it is the joys and disappointments that come with leaving home, reckoning with your parents’ goodness or mourning the loss of a loved one.

I highly recommend this outstanding and exciting, colorful and dramatic production for audiences between the ages of 12 to 91 (the age Sondheim passed away in 2021) who are seeking a rich, quality and satisfying night out at the theater. 

Into the Woods runs through March 19th at the Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Ave., in Aurora. For tickets visit paramountaurora.com or call 630-896-6666.

I’ve said it before and I’ll surely say it again: We Chicagoland theatergoers find ourselves wandering through — lost in, even — a fairyland of shows and venues and world-class talent. And never was that more evident than when I experienced the Writers Theatre’s current production of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods, directed by Gary Griffin.

The show, of course, is part of the Broadway canon, beloved by so many and sure to please. And the theater, with its in-the-round set transformed by Scott Davis into something both sensational and sinister, promised the same as soon as I ventured into its woods found my seat therein.

But, as I’ve said before and will surely say again, it was the cast that performed the most magic, that inhabited the characters who are Sondheim’s wondrous woods’ inhabitants and explorers and tragic tales. As strong as any cast I’ve ever seen, here or elsewhere, this was an all-star ensemble of Chicago’s artists and actors.

Set by Writers Theatre artistic director Michael Halberstam (as narrator) and conductor/pianist Charlotte Rivard-Hoster’s three-piece orchestra, the stage becomes a world that reveals one fantastic character after another — characters fantastic since their creations centuries before, but made even more so by those now portraying them.

Lucy Godínez’s Little Red Riding Hood is bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, but winkingly so, letting the children of all ages watching her that this fairytale land isn’t what we remember it to be. Michael Mahler (who I last admired for his Jeff-winning musical direction of 2018’s The Buddy Holly Story) grounds us as the longsuffering but steadfast Baker. And Ximone Rose’s Cinderella is equally spellbinding whether grubby from soot or gowned for the ball. Each of the stars is a force to be reckoned with.

The force those characters all must reckon with, however, is Bethany Thomas’ Witch. From beginning to end, whether hunched over in rags or wowing with her presence and her voice, Thomas is the star of the show. Even when surrounded by sights and sounds that would catch eyes and ears and turn heads in any other setting, Thomas is the focus whenever she’s onstage. Sure, that comes with the role. But Thomas’ talent magnifies the inherent star power the Witch possesses. She’s imposing, enthralling, enchanting.

But so, too, is the ensemble that populates the Witch’s world. Brianna Borger grounds the woods in the real, human world as the Baker’s Wife. William Brown brings gravity (and a bit of gaiety) whenever his Mysterious Man appears. Mary Poole’s a hoot (or a moo?!) as Milky White. Ryan McBride and Alex Benoit bring the princely racket with both renditions of “Agony.” And just as riotous are Cinderella’s kin, played by Kelli Harrington, Nicole Armold, and Molly Hernandez (like Mr. Mahler, also part of Buddy’s Jeff-winning ensemble).

So, be assured that this production is one that not only that does right by Sondheim, but gives his classic a stunning and unique interpretation. And, as I’ve said before and I’ll surely say again, the fact that this unique interpretation is available to us Chicago theater lovers — and performed by the unique gathering of talent we are so blessed with — is magical, indeed.

At Writers Theatre through September 22nd.