‘Into the Woods’ opens Friday in Waupaca

By Robert Cloud

Rapunzel, performed by Katie Anderson, lets down her long hair to the Witch, played by Lori Bauer. The Waupaca Community Theatre is presenting “Into the Woods,” a musical based on the fractured retelling of Brothers Grimm fairy tales. Robert Cloud Photo

The musical “Into the Woods,” will open at 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 24, at Waupaca High School.

With music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine, “Into the Woods” is a dark comedy where wishes come true with catastrophic consequences.

The Waupaca Community Theatre will present “Into the Woods” at 7:30 pm. Friday and Saturday, July 24-25; and at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, July 30-Aug. 1. A matinee performance is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday, July 26.

Tickets are $12 for general admission and available at the Waupaca Area Chamber of Commerce in downtown or at the door before each performance.

Based on the stories of the Brothers Grimm, “Into the Woods” is a web of fairy tales reconstructed for adults. Its main characters are drawn from “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Jack and the Beanstalk,” “Rapunzel” and “Cinderella.”

In Act I of “Into the Woods,” a Baker and his wife wish to have a child, Cinderella wishes to attend the King’s Festival, and Jack wishes his cow would give milk. The characters journey into the Woods where, after a complicated series of plot twists and turns, Act I ends with everyone living “happily ever after.”

Act II opens with all the characters happy, but still wishing for more. It ends with lots of bodies, bitter disappointment and the moral that everyone is responsible for the choices they make.

“It is a 10-year revival for us,” according to John Kelley who is directing this summer’s play. “Four cast members are returning – though in different roles. Everyone else is new.”

Cast members for “Into the Woods” include Dave Larson as Narrator, Emma Kelley as Cinderella, Justin Schilling as Jack, Linda Trepasso as Jack’s Mother, Luke Harger as Baker and Kira Morrissey as Baker’s Wife.

Other members of the cast include Tamara Jacquet as Cinderella’s Stepmother, Anna Kirk as Florinda, Aubrey Schroeder as Lucinda, Jerald Hurst as Cinderella’s Father, Alexa Johnson as Little Red Ridinghood, Lori Bauer as Witch, Carmen Riebel as Cinderella’s Mother/Granny, Gene Badgley as Mysterious Man and Isaac Baumgart as Wolf.

Katie Anderson plays Rapunzel, with Robin Zabler as Rapunzel’s Prince, Isaac Baumgart as Cinderella’s Prince, Jesse Jankowski as Steward, Holly Saunders as Giant, Nikky Weise as Snow White, Lily Zabler as Sleeping Beauty and Liz Kelley as Milky White.