REVIEW – Into the Woods: A Magical Journey of Fairy Tales, Twists, and Laughter!

By Lloyd McDonald

“Into the Woods” — part of HCA Tristar’s series Broadway at TPAC — is sure to entertain and delight! This Tony Award-winning performance — complete with the Broadway cast reprising their roles — is a dramatic, comical retelling of several fairy tales that we loved as children with a twist. . . their worlds collide in soap operatic fashion! The story opens with the Baker and the Baker’s Wife wishing they could have a child. Enter their neighbor, the Witch (presumably the one from Hansel and Gretel). She reveals she put that curse (among others) on the Baker’s family causing them to be barren as retribution for her grievances with the Baker’s father for pilfering food from her garden.

After this revelation, the Witch tasks the Baker and his wife with finding four items that she needs to cast a spell to return her to the youthful beauty that she misses. In exchange for collecting these ingredients, the Witch will undo the spells she cast on the Baker’s family. Finding the four items: a white cow, a red cape, some golden hair, and a shoe is when our characters’ worlds collide.

In their quest to get these items, the Baker and the Baker’s Wife wander Into The Woods to start searching.

First running into Jack, they find some old beans in the pocket of a coat the Baker’s father left him upon his death. Quickly they trade five of these beans to the naïve Jack for his beloved pet cow. When he gets
home, Jack’s mother angrily throws the beans out. Overnight, they sprout, growing and growing to
reach the Giant’s house in the sky.

Next, the Baker follows the angsty teenaged Red Riding Hood to Grandma’s house where he finds The Big Bad Wolf napping in Grandma’s bed. Putting two and two together, he concludes that the wolf has eaten Red and Grandma. He promptly cuts the Wolf open and rescues Red and Grandma. Out of gratitude Red gives the baker her coat (at his request) and has Grandma make her a new red coat — complete with lining and trimmed with wolf fur no less.

While they are continuing to wander Into The Woods the Baker’s Wife finds Rapunzel and entices her to lower her hair from the tower, where she collects a lock of Rapunzel’s golden hair.

Traveling further Into The Woods, the Baker’s Wife encounters Cinderella who is short one shoe. The Baker’s Wife quickly offers to trade their remaining bean and her own pair of shoes for Cinderella’s single shoe. Cinderella gladly accepts, as running through the woods in two pumps is treacherous; however, running in one pump is just “flat” out dangerous. Cinderella tosses the bean as she thinks it is worthless.

As Act 1 draws to a close, it looks like everyone is going to live happily ever after. The Witch recaptures her youth and beauty, losing her powers in the process. The Baker and his Wife have a bun in the oven. Jack and his Mother have pilfered lots of wealth from Giants who live at the other end of the beanstalk. Red is happy with new her coat. Rapunzel found her Prince Charming who rescued her. Cinderella is off to be a queen with her own Prince Charming — the brother of Rapunzel’s prince.

As Act 2 opens the audience discovers there is trouble in paradise — for everyone. Things go sideways as
Jack and his mother get a little greedy with Jack continuing to pilfer gold from the Giant. As the Giant comes down looking for his stolen items, Jack chops down his bean stalks, bringing The Giant to an
untimely death.

Angered, the Giant’s Wife comes down the beanstalk from Cinderella’s bean and begins looking to avenge her husband’s death, destroying the whole kingdom in the process. As the unfolding story draws to a close, the fairytales continue getting jumbled in a true comedy of errors. Cinderella and Rapunzel’s princes see Sleeping Beauty and Snow White and start questioning whether they are with the right beauties.

Finally, the characters realize that “happily ever after” is not all it has cracked up to be, and true happiness lies somewhere between the life they had and the seemingly perfect life they all wanted.

This show is suitable for the whole family and everyone will enjoy this more realistic take on the stories we all know. Take the walk Into The Woods and be ready to laugh and be entertained. But don’t laugh too hard or you’ll miss the next punchline.

KNOW BEFORE YOU GO

DATE: May 23-28, 2023
LOCATION: Andrew Jackson Hall
STARTING AT: $39
TICKETS: https://cart.tpac.org/overview/12583