Into the Woods Preview

by Jenn McKee, Ann Arbor News, Thursday, September 11, 2008

Witches are getting some serious vindication these days.

Gregory Maguire's novel-turned-stage-musical "Wicked," for example, redeemed Oz's Wicked Witch of the West; but even before that, Stephen Sondheim's "Into the Woods" - now being staged by the Ann Arbor Civic Theater - presented a fairy tale witch who was, at heart, a well-intentioned, overprotective mother.

"One of the most poignant songs that she sings is called 'Children will Listen,'" said Jihan Woods, who plays the role. "Her character ... realizes, just as I think a lot of parents do, that you can steer your child in the right direction, and you can give them everything that you think is love for them. But in the end, they're going to make the decisions they feel necessary, and whether the outcome is good or bad, your children still listen to you."

With a book by James Lapine, "Woods" - which premiered on Broadway in 1987 - combines the narratives of different fairy tales (Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, and Rapunzel) with the quest of one cursed couple who wish to have a baby. In the first act, the tales play out the usual way, while Act Two concentrates on what happens beyond "happily ever after."

"On the surface, it seems sort of silly to have a bunch of fairy tale characters running around the woods, carrying out plot," said director Sam Pazicni. "But what I realized ... is that these fairy tale characters bring more of a human element to a musical than most others do. ... What this show does, amazingly, is take seemingly unrealistic characters, these fairy tale characters that we all know, and give them very, very human wants and needs. I want a baby, I want to be rich, I want to be beautiful."

The witch is made human too, of course, and thus falls victim to external pressures.

"By no fault of her own, she's thrown into portraying a character that everyone assumes that she should be, so she, in the beginning of the show, is the archetypal witch that everyone believes her to be," said Woods. "But really, she has a very good heart, ... and she is the only character in the show who is a realist. She sees things for what they are; she doesn't cut corners; and she deals with tragedy as it strikes her. But she really deals with life head-on."

If Woods sounds like she's campaigning for her character, it may be because we've all got politics on the brain as the national political conventions play out in prime time. And indeed, Pazicni now views "Woods" through a similar filter.

"The message of the show is incredibly appropriate for what the nation and the world is feeling at the moment," he said. "The general message is ... if you are selfish and if you go after things with only your own best interests in mind, things don't tend to work out. But if you work as a group, although you might go through some bad times, the ending is much more fruitful and positive."

Jenn McKee can be reached at 734-994-6841 or jmckee@annarbornews.com.