Review: INTO THE WOODS—Musical Theatre West @ Carpenter Performing Arts Center

A Witch, a Wish and Fairy Tale Agony

APRIL 2, 2025—LONG BEACH

The fairy tale forest of INTO THE WOODS has suddenly grown a lot thicker. This 1987 musical by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine, which stirs up the shadows of classic bedtime stories, was never what you’d call uncrowded. But Director Kari Hayter’s revival, which opened March 28th at Carpenter Performing Arts Center (courtesy of the highly esteemed and award-winning Musical Theatre West), has added a whole new bramble of interpretive undergrowth.

Whether reinventing a creepy Victorian horror story (“Sweeney Todd”) or considering the mating habits of swinging singles (“Company”), Mr. Sondheim has never been one for easy happy endings. True, it’s a bright and beckoning path that cuts through the fairy-tale thicket of whimsy and woe, yet this path is no mere trail of bread crumbs.

Madison Claire Parks, Janna Cardia, Marisa Moenho and Aya Sheridan in Musical Theatre West's Production of INTO THE WOODS, Now Playing at Carpenter Performing Arts Center through April 13.

Not that writer Mr. Lapine doesn't provide enough intellectual ambition and theatrical flair (with a bit of David and Goliath tossed in). His latest incarnation has charming story-book scenery by Tom Buderwitz, a beautiful group of accomplished stars, optical illusions and even a winsome white cow to delight the eye. The humor swings between dry Sondheimesque urbanity and a goofiness that recalls the Fractured Fairy Tales of the old ''Rocky and Bullwinkle'' shows.

Derek Manson, Cayman Ilika and Amanda Angeles in Musical Theatre West's Production of INTO THE WOODS, Now Playing at Carpenter Performing Arts Center through April 13.

In this mythic mashup of Rapunzel (Camryn Hamm), Little Red Ridinghood (Amanda Angeles), Jack the Giant Killer (Davide Costa) and his critical mother (a dithery Bree Murphy), we find a childless Baker (Derek Manson) and his outspoken and wayward Wife (Cayman Ilika) who are informed by a quivering, quavering, vindictive witch (Daebreon Poiema) that their barrenness is a result of her curse. They can cure it by journeying into the woods — that scarily inviting place where protections and inhibitions are removed — and retrieving key items from various fairytales in progress. The reliable and winningly endearing Wayne Bryan plays the reconceived world-weary and worldly-wise Narrator, doubling as the Mysterious Man (who also seems to have gone a little around the bend).

Derek Manson, Cayman Ilika and Daebreon Poiema in Musical Theatre West's Production of INTO THE WOODS, Now Playing at Carpenter Performing Arts Center through April 13.

Ms. Poiema (who gets to shed the cumbersome moss, mold and hornwort grotesqueness for a dazzling goddess gown midway through) sings appealingly, and is excellent in conveying the cool, pragmatist side of her character when crisis looms, providing the necessary stridency to bring numbers like ''The Last Midnight'' to a Broadway-size climax. Ms. Angeles’ Red Ridinghood, played as a young, been-there Selena Gomez-ish look-alike, who isn’t as tough as she thinks she is, has come up with a stylish caricature that also feels affectingly real.

Richard Bermudez and Antwone Barnes in Musical Theatre West's Production of INTO THE WOODS, Now Playing at Carpenter Performing Arts Center through April 13.

The evening also features two deliciously drawn performances from Madison Claire Parks (as Cinderella) and Richard Bermudez (as her Prince) that capture exactly the right balance of archness and anxiety. And there are moments that pierce the heart as no other musical this season does.

Derek Manson and Cayman Ilika in Musical Theatre West's Production of INTO THE WOODS, Now Playing at Carpenter Performing Arts Center through April 13.

The self-possessed Ms. Parks sings like an angel. But her character is convincingly of this earth, combining poise, bewilderment, and even manipulation. Beneath her scullery maid exterior is a schemer who strategically deposits a shoe on the palace steps while fleeing at midnight. With her avid jack-o'-lantern smile, Ms. Parks is not your classic Cinderella, but a sly, modern go-getter plotting her future. But when her Cinderella finally does land the Prince, she discovers to her surprise she doesn't really want him after all.

Madison Claire Parks in Musical Theatre West's Production of INTO THE WOODS, Now Playing at Carpenter Performing Arts Center through April 13.

Like Ms. Parks, Mr. Bermudez gives you character and cartoon in one breath (also playing the Wolf). His fatuous Prince (quite possibly a direct forerunner of the caddish royal beefcake in “Frozen”) is an expertly rendered medley of vague heroic flourishes with an Adam Pascal-like tenor to match. It is perfectly put to use in a very funny number called ''Agony,'' a witty ode to obscure objects of desire, performed with Antwone Barnes as Rapunzel’s Prince. These preening dandies bellyache about the pain of the yet-unconsummated romantic chase as they cavort over every glen and dale in the forest (reminding me of Matthew McConaughey beating his chest in The Wolf of Wall Street”).

Camryn Hamm and Daebreon Poiema in Musical Theatre West's Production of INTO THE WOODS, Now Playing at Carpenter Performing Arts Center through April 13.

Great numbers like “Giants in the Sky,” “Agony,” of course, and “Moments in the Woods” do what enduring fairy tales do: they give precise form to the longings, wonder and sorrow that life inspires in us. Like much of Mr. Sondheim’s work, they feature seemingly meandering melodies that coalesce into revelation.

Madison Claire Parks and Richard Bermudez in Musical Theatre West's Production of INTO THE WOODS, Now Playing at Carpenter Performing Arts Center through April 13.

Another fan favorite, “No One is Alone,” becomes the anthem of the show, a double-edged lullaby. It acknowledges that everyone is ultimately alone, although the shared understanding of that isolation makes life bearable.

Among the key players in the drama are Ms. Poiema’s Witch (who kidnapped Rapunzel as the fiercely protective mother figure), and is the baby sister of the Baker who lives next door, and the spunky, dagger-wielding Little Red Ridinghood who steals pies from the bakery before skipping to Grandma’s house in the dense wildwood.

Madison Claire Parks, Richard Bermudez and Company in Musical Theatre West's Production of INTO THE WOODS, Now Playing at Carpenter Performing Arts Center through April 13.

Rapunzel and the Witch are not the musical’s only parent and child in conflict. Jack and his strict mother (Ms. Murphy), irate that he traded a cow for some magic beans, are continually at odds. The characters closest to their fairy tale origins are Cinderella’s stepmother (Janna Cardia) and stepsisters, Florinda (Marisa Moenho) and Lucinda (Aya Sheridan). With the exception of the Giant and a hungry Wolf (once again, a sensational Mr. Bermudez) who devours both Granny (Christine Negherbon) and Ms. Angeles’ Little Red Ridinghood in a fun, backlit/scrimmed scene, these mean girls and their avaricious mom are the only genuine baddies. Everyone else is shaded somewhere between good and not-so-good.

This is an exceptional show that everyone should see. But it is Mr. Sondheim's score, burrowing from its bright, sardonic surface into the shadowy, thorny recesses of the conflicted heart, that has endured into happily-ever-after posterity,  bringing on the magic at all levels. Gloriously orchestrated by Jonathan Tunick, the gorgeous music has never sounded more eloquent. So put your trust in Mr. Sondheim and follow the music. It will take you somewhere wonderful.

MUSICAL THEATRE WEST AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/PRODUCER PAUL GARMAN PRESENT, INTO THE WOODS; Music and Lyrics by STEPHEN SONDHEIM; Book by JAMES LAPINE; Originally Directed on Broadway by James Lapine; Orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick; Directed by KARI HAYTER; Musically Directed by ANTHONY ZEDIKER; Choreographed by CHRISTINE NEGHERBON; Scenically Designed by TOM BUDERWITZ; Technical Director KEVIN CLOWES; Lighting Designer BRANDON BARUCH; Sound Designer CECE SMITH; Costume Designer ELIZABETH A. COX; Wig Designer GARRETT RUIZ; Prop Designers MELANIE CAVANESS & GRETCHEN MORALES; Production Stage Manager TALIA KRISPEL; Asst Stage Managers JULIAN OLIVE & AUDREY COLINDRES.

STARRING: AMANDA ANGELES, ANTWONE BARNES, RICHARD BERMUDEZ, WAYNE BRYAN, JANNA CARDIA, DAVIDE COSTA, ERIKA MIREYA CRUZ, PENNY DAVLIN, CAMRYN HAMM, CAYMAN ILIKA, DEREK MANSON, BRIAN KIM MCCORMICK, MARISA MOENHO, BREE MURPHY, CHRISTINE NEGHERBON, MADISON CLAIRE PARKS, DAEBREON POIEMA, AYA SHERIAN, MIC HAEL J. WASHINGTON, JOSHUA JUN.

INTO THE WOODS runs from March 28th through April 13th, 2025 at CARPENTER PERFORMING ARTS CENTER in Long Beach. Thursday, April 3rd at 7:30PM, Fridays & Saturdays at 8PM, Saturdays at 2PM, Sundays at 1PM. For Tickets, visit www.musical.org

Chris Daniels

Arts & Entertainment Reviewer

The Show Report

Photo Credits: TAKE creative