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Amy Adams and Donna Murphy shine in Stephen Sondheim's fairy tale musical

BY MICHAEL SOMMERS

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

OFF BROADWAY REVIEW

The original “Into the Woods” in 1987 and its Broadway revival in 2002 were presented with storybook looks. Their designs differed somewhat, but both productions handsomely illustrated the fairy tales so wisely fractured into a cautionary musical for adults by writer James Lapine and composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim.

The enjoyable outdoors staging of “Into the Woods” that opened on Thursday at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park more or less throws away the storybook approach and adds a smart concept that underlines the musical's theme regarding how parent-child bonds endure whether we like 'em or not.

If you have read so far, probably there is little need to relate here how the musical brilliantly mashes up the sagas of Cinderella, Rapunzel, Little Red Ridinghood and other classic characters with the new-minted Baker and his Wife tale as they deal with challenges driven by the Jack in the Beanstalk yarn.

Let's simply declare “Into the Woods” a fine, enduring musical and describe the Public Theater's latest show at the Delacorte.

A virtually silent but striking new framing device by director Timothy Sheader and co-director Liam Steel for this revival begins with a modern-day boy, troubled by conflicts at home, apparently running away into the woods.

Digging some toy figures from out of his backpack, the kid assumes the role of the Narrator, which typically is played in the show by a senior actor.

This makes wonderful sense. Why should a fairy tale fantasy not be told by a child?

He says, “Once upon a time --” and Sondheim's music kicks in and there we go.

Lapine's language for the Narrator is sufficiently youth-friendly and the sight of a kid in an orange hoodie watching his dreams (and second-act nightmares) unfold before his eyes lends fresh resonance to the musical's deeper theme, which is realized very tenderly in the show's closing moments.

This production, which is based upon a previous outdoors staging in London by Sheader and Steel, is further distinguished by a lovely woodland setting designed by John Lee Beatty (with Soutra Gilmour, who did the London version) that merges Central Park's background greenery with onstage foliage.

Lit with smoky drama and mystery by Ben Stanton, this dense, multilevel forest affords the characters many nooks in which to play hide and seek, while a rustic spiral staircase at center instantly sprouts into a gigantic beanstalk when the actors perched on it open up green umbrellas.

Mostly dressed in funked-up modern fashions by Emily Rebholz that wittily suggest their storybook characters, a capable company mostly does very well by Lapine's ingeniously-plotted story and Sondheim's marvelous score.