It has been recently announced
that Vancouver will host the 2011 North American Outgames. We want to know
what you think. Do you support the decision to host the Outgames in
Vancouver?
Let's face it - Sondheim is tough.
He makes his singers do things that no sane composer might otherwise do (except
maybe in real opera). And this is where it gets dangerous as you need a clever
director and a great cast to get the most out of a Sondheim show.
Into the Woods is no different. The intricacies of the music, the
myriad of interlocking storylines and the sheer volume of words in this fun take
on fairy tales makes for a very tough show to perform. Fortunately, for the
most part, the cast does an admirable job in handling everything that Sondheim
can throw at athem.
Combining such diverse fairy tales as Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack
and Beanstock, and others – into a single story is a terrific premise. And to
mix things up even more, what if the clichés that we come to expect from the
characters within these beloved fairytales are sometimes turned on their head?
Take Prince Charming for instance, what happens if he is not so, well,
charming? You get the idea. Sondheim takes some very familiar characters,
whips them into a frenzy within this single story and voila, we have Into
the Woods.
Standouts of the show include Linda Quibell as the Witch who even after losing
her powers and becoming a “normal” person still has the appropriate edginess of
someone wondering if they made the right choice to give up on the dark side.
Katey Wright as The Bakers Wife is somewhat uneven but really shines in her solo
bits of “No One is Alone” at the end of the show. And Ingrid Nilson as Little
Red Riding Hood brings a bit of insanity to her role that is such a delightful
twist, in a serial killer kind of way, to the naivety of our childhood memories
of Little Red Riding Hood.
We had hoped for so much more from the Prince Charmings and although Ryan Reid
and Jonathan Winsby definitely bring a slight bent to who we think a Prince
Charming should be, it is Winsby who steals the show from his brother Prince but
only because he also plays double-duty in the absolutely delicious, although
brief, role of the Wolf. Director Peter Jorgensen must take much of the blame
for this though as he had such an opportunity with Reid and Winsby.
Where this cast really shines is in the ensemble numbers. It is obvious that
with the help of the entire cast they have the confidence and ability to handle
Sondheim. Unfortunately though, Sondheim doesn't give them that many
opportunities as a chorus.
At almost three hours in length, Into the Woods not only tests the
actors but it also tests the audience in this very, very long show. Maybe once
the new Vancouver East Cultural Centre is opened in a few years, Patrick Street
Productions will remount the show and, hopefully, with new seats it won’t be as
uncomfortable to sit this long.
As the inaugural show for the newly formed Patrick Street Productions, this new
team could not have chosen a more difficult show to let Vancouver audiences know
what they are capable of and we can only assume things will get easier for them
with future show choices.
Into the Woods plays at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre through
March 29th. Visit the VECC website for information and tickets at
http://www.ticketmaster.ca/artist/803902.
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