A twisted fairy tale: "Into the woods" draws inspiration from the Brothers Grimm

It is a story about everyone's favorite fairy tale characters, such as Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, the Big Bad Wolf and Jack and the Beanstalk. But any thoughts about a perfect Disney ending need to be put on hold. The musical "Into the Woods" is based entirely on Brothers Grimm fairy tales where the endings are not what you would expect.

Southeast Missouri State University's Department of Theatre and Dance will bring James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim's fractured fairy tale "Into the Woods" to life when it opens the 2011-2012 season in the Donald C. Bedell Performance Hall at the River Campus.

The cast list includes an ambivalent Cinderella, a bloodthirsty Little Red Riding Hood, a Prince Charming with a roving eye and a witch who raps. Many other characters will be found onstage, including the baker and the baker's wife, two characters created by Lapine and Sondheim.

"This show is fabulously an ensemble show," director Amy Fritsche said. "Every single person goes into the woods. Every single person has an experience in the woods, and almost every single person is changed by their experience that happens to them."

The Tony award-winning musical ties together several familiar Brothers Grimm fairy tales into an original plot. The characters' wishes are granted at the end of Act 1 to make it a traditional comedy, but Act 2 takes on the essence of a Brothers Grimm fairy tale where the story is dark and tragedies occur.

"The characters are so complex and nothing is as it seems," Fritsche said. "It's like life. You have to be careful what you do and be careful how you go about it because consequences happen."

The music and lyrics were written by Sondheim. According to Fritsche, Sondheim thinks musicals should convey lessons, and many lessons can be learned while watching this show.

"There's a lot to learn from 'Into the Woods,' and I hope that Cape can grasp that message that's coming from our show because that's what we are doing it for," said Hannah Moore, a senior musical theatre major who plays the witch. "Our theatre department loves this show because we can tell people a story, and we can give back with what we do on stage."

According to the faculty, cast and crew of the musical, the rush of a five-week preparation period has been a lot to handle, but the music has been the most complicated part of the process.

"Sondheim is a musical genius," Fritsche said. "If there is one person who I would equate to Shakespeare in the musical theatre world, it is Sondheim."

Freshman musical theatre major Olivia Lynn plays Rapunzel. In addition to the intimidation of being the only freshman female in the cast, she also believes the music is a huge task.

"He [Sondheim] has the most beautiful and intricate pieces," Lynn said, "but to put them together in this amount of time is difficult, and to perfect them and get them with characterization and passion behind it, as well as getting the notes and the rhythms, it's very intimidating."

According to Fritsche, "Into the Woods" lacks a lot of dancing because typically Sondheim and choreographers don't seem to mix.

Choreographer Hilary Peterson said her biggest challenge is finding where she can enhance the work and add choreography where it may not have originally been intended.

"The show, although it doesn't have as much dance as other [musicals] might, it's still a great show, so you still should check it out for the singing aspect of it," Peterson said. "The singing and all the other production elements that go into it are going to make this a great show."

Moore said that there are many reasons why the community should come enjoy the show.

"It's a fun show," Moore said. "It's scary, it's happy, it's sad, it's fun and there are always emotions. It's just like a roller coaster. It's just as good as going to see any movie, and it's also really fun to come see the local talent and support our school."

"Into the Woods" will begin at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 28 through Oct. 1 and also at 2 p.m. on Oct. 2. Tickets are $3 with a Southeast I.D. and range from $17 to $20 for the general public. They can be purchased from the River Campus box office or from any MetroTix outlet.