Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods” turns everything you know about fairy tales on its head.
The musical, which Forest’s Ivy Mountain Players will perform this weekend, weaves the plots of several fairy tales — including “Cinderella,” “Jack and the Beanstalk,” “Little Red Riding Hood” and “Rapunzel” — together with an original story about a baker and his wife, who desperately want to have a baby.
The first act sticks closely to each tale, with Jack defeating the giant, Little Red Riding Hood surviving a wolf’s attack, and both Rapunzel and Cinderella getting their men.
The second act is all about the consequences of their actions, and “it doesn’t turn out to be happily ever after,” says Lynchburg native James Ballard, a senior at James Madison University and the production’s musical director.
Here, Cinderella’s Prince Charming cheats, and the wife of the giant shows up, seeking revenge for her husband’s death.
Ivy Mountain founders Ballard and Liz Butler, the play’s director, chose “Into the Woods” back in March, after Butler came across the soundtrack on her iPod.
“It’s Sondheim,” says Butler, a junior theater major at Lynchburg College. “Sondheim is very hard to sing, (and) we have lots of people who can handle his music.”
They also liked that it was more family friendly than their inaugural production, last summer’s “Reefer Madness.”
Once again, the entire production is student-run, with Ballard, Butler and company doing everything from directing and casting to promoting and recruiting community members for the show. This year, the cast is a mix of high school and college students and community members.
Performances are scheduled for 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and 3 p.m. Sunday at Jefferson Forest High School. Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for students, and they can be purchased at the door and at www.lynchburgtickets.com.
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