Review: INTO THE WOODS Makes A Brief Appearance in Lakeway, TX.

Lakeway Activity Center plays host to Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's fantastic musical comedy INTO THE WOODs. Beginning with the words, "Once Upon a time", the combination of twisted fairytales that follow, present moral lessons for all ages to enjoy. Pulling premises from the stories of Rapunzel, Jack and the Bean Stock, Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella, our characters collide in the woods attempting to fulfill their dreams, or more specifically, their wish. The wish of the village's baker and his wife tie these tales together. Years before our story begins, the bakers neighbor, The Witch, placed a curse on the baker's family to always be a barren one - leaving the baker and his wife unable to have children. The curse explained by The Witch, was a way to punish the baker's allegedly deceased father, for stealing greens and beans from her garden to serve his wife's outrageous appetite for vegetables during pregnancy. (Who knew that pregnant women can crave a healthy alternative to Whataburger?) Revealing the curse may be broken if the baker and his wife attain items the other characters possess, the curse may be reversed in three days' time. Into the woods our characters venture, searching for their prince, grandmothers house and the possibility of a child.

This magnificent musical comedy made a brief appearance in Lakeway, Texas over the first weekend of November at The Lakeway Activity Center. Tackling such a grand musical within a space that is not a traditional theatre is quite an undertaking for The Lakeway Players. While the challenges of performing in this space are present with the choppy entrances and exits of the players, there are tables set up for the patrons, prepared with food and wine, which make for a fantastic night out with good company.

The cast in this production of INTO THE WOODS was steady with a handful of standout moments from key performers. Luckily for the audience, Lizzy Neiman (playing the Baker's Wife) and Ray DeJohn (playing the Baker), are the actors driving the plot and twisting the fairytales. Neiman has great presence and serves Sondheim's rhythm very well through her musical numbers. DeJohn complimented the story and represented a man the audience could root for. Neiman and Dejohn provided great energy through the building moments in the show. Brenham Adams (playing Jack) and Lauren Bacher (playing Cinderella) also deliver good performances through singing talent and comedic timing. If the bakers are the driving characters in INTO THE WOODS, The Witch (played by Cathy Rose) is the ribbon tying all the characters together. Unfortunately, Rose's performance of this iconic role was underwhelming and uncomfortable, with low-energy performances during musical numbers. This is quite a shame, because the role of The Witch deserves to shine within this modern fairytale.

The material by Sondheim and Lapine is an incredible piece of theatre - The Lakeway Players stick very true to the script with little variation in the way of new gags or surprises. This served as a good formula for most of the show staying with the punch lines provided by Sondheim, however the directing and staging struggled at the larger pinnacle scenes. Instead of creating tension and building to a grand reveal, the storytelling suffered from a lack of focus and technical preparedness. However, the audience (including children) will follow this story easily and enjoy the moments, as the baker's wife laments "even and now and then a bad one."

The Lakeway Players dinner-style theatre was fun and a great way for the community to come together. The facility was fantastic and extremely family friendly. Although it is not a classic theater setting, INTO THE WOODS was enjoyable as you repeat, "Into the woods, then out of the woods!" while leaving the auditorium.

INTO THE WOODS

BY James Lapine & Stephen Sondheim

NOV 2nd - 4th 2017

THE LAKEWAY PLAYERS

LAKEWAY ACTIVETY CENTER

Photo Credit: Barbara Calderaro

http://www.thelakewayplayers.com/

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