Into the Woods.

One of Stephen Sondheim’s best-known musicals, Into the Woods tells a rather complex story of a childless baker and his wife and their quest to begin a family, their interaction with a witch who has placed a curse on them, and their subsequent encounters with other storybook characters during their journey.

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This one was an exercise in trust and commitment. The concept of nationally renowned stage director Joel Ferrell took a peripheral character in the piece (the Narrator) and made it an integral and constantly interactive force in the play, facilitating the “traffic of the stage,” shifting of the set, conjuring light changes, and distributing props. As Ferrell himself said to me, “Nothing happens unless the Narrator makes it happen. Thus, when the characters turn on him and take him out of their story, it is clear they have sealed their own fate.” The concept had never been taken this far, and special permission from the royalty holders had to be attained.

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As we began to stage the musical, I had no idea how I was going to remember not only the 5 roles I had to take on (one of which was a puppet!), but all of the action that I had to facilitate. The first act is 90 minutes long, and I truly never stopped. I was genuinely terrified that I would simply not be able to remember it all. With time and repetition (and a written “track” that I created--nine single-spaced pages long FOR THE FIRST ACT ALONE), though, it eventually became a long and fluid dance that kept me on my toes the entire time. I learned early that, if I disengaged even briefly, I would be lost. 

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The director’s gamble paid off. BIG TIME. I had no idea how effective it was until I experienced the audience response to it in preview performances. I could feel the major connection they had to the Narrator (it certainly helped that the costume designer dressed me like Fred Rogers!) and how reliant they were on him to navigate the story. Even to remind them of the moral of “actions always having consequences.” They perceived him as a friend (Joel had me onstage twenty minutes before the show began putting together large Lego houses) with whom they had a great familiarity and comfort. I received, with every performance, the largest ovations I have ever received as an actor for any play I have done. At the first preview, I was literally overwhelmed by it. 

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If I ever directed a production of the show, it would be very hard not to steal the concept!