A Summer with Frog and a Wolf in the Woods

It’s been a busy theatrical week for our family (not an unusual statement, I realize). Louisa, Sebastian and Elias all started Young People’s Theater Workshop on Monday – a three-week day camp run by the Northfield Arts Guild – and Steve’s free time has been consumed by late-night rehearsals for his second show of the summer, Into the Woods, which opens tomorrow at the Paradise Center for the Arts in Faribault.

The show is directed by Gary Briggle, a well-known professional actor and director from the Twin Cities, and it’s a joint production of the Northfield Arts Guild and the Paradise Community Theater (click here to read a Faribault Daily News article about the production, and click here for ticket information).

Into the Woods is a Stephen Sondheim musical that premiered on Broadway in 1987 and was revived on Broadway in 2002. Although its cast of fairy tale characters includes Rapunzel and Cinderella, it’s not a show for kids – unlike the show Steve acted in earlier this summer, A Year With Frog and Toad, a Merlin Players production that also was performed at the Paradise.

Steve as Man Bird in A Year with Frog and Toad.

A Year With Frog and Toad is a lighthearted musical about friendship; it’s based on a popular children’s book series. Into the Woods is a darker exploration of parent-child relationships, of growing up and learning to accept the consequences of your actions, and of an individual’s responsibility to a greater community – not exactly themes easily grasped by younger children (or some adults). That’s why I was surprised to learn that Disney is making a film version of it (read more about that in this Wired article).

Anyone who’s familiar with Sondheim should not be surprised by the dark themes, however; this is the same man who wrote Assassins, a musical about people who have tried to kill U.S. presidents, and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, a musical about a barber who kills people and has them made into meat pies. 

Steve’s character in Into the Woods is the villainous Wolf, but instead of wearing a wolf costume he’ll be wearing black leather – which makes it all the more creepy as he stalks Little Red in the woods. See why I said it’s not a show for kids! He also is sporting special facial hair for this role, inspired by Hugh Jackman’s role as Wolverine in the X-Men movies. I’m not sure how he’s explaining this transformation to his nursing home patients this week!

Steve’s sister Beth is in the show, too; she plays the multiple roles of the Granny, Cinderella’s mother and the Giantess. It’s been fun for two former stars of the Eldora-New Providence High School stage to be in another show together. Beth directed the first show Steve ever did for the Arts Guild, The Sound of Music, and they haven’t done a show together since Guys and Dolls.

The Wolf is no match for Granny

My kids are familiar with Into the Woods because we saw the junior version several years ago at the Northfield Middle School. We have the album from the 2002 Broadway revival, and even though they went through a phase when they played the first act constantly, I still enjoy the music and the clever, intricate lyrics. I think my favorite song might be "No One is Alone," although I like different songs for different reasons.

I may discover a new favorite tonight when the kids and I attend a preview performance for families. It will be fun to go “... into the woods, and out of the woods,” but given the length of the show, I doubt we'll be “... home before dark.”