Entertainment
Signature Theatre remembers Sondheim with iconic musical
As we strategy the one-year anniversary of Stephen Sondheim’s dying on Nov. 26, Signature Theatre performs his iconic musical “Into the Woods” in Shirlington, Virginia, beginning Wednesday and working by means of Jan. 29.
WTOP’s Jason Fraley previews ‘Into the Woods’ at Signature Theatre (Half 1)
There are Broadway “giants within the sky” after Stephen Sondheim’s passing final yr.
As we strategy the one-year anniversary of his dying on Nov. 26, Signature Theatre will carry out his iconic musical “Into the Woods” in Shirlington, Virginia, beginning Wednesday and working by means of Jan. 29.
WTOP caught up with actors Alex De Bard, who performs Little Pink Using Hood, and David Merino, who performs Jack of Jack and the Beanstalk, for a enjoyable preview of the manufacturing.
“Alex and I had been in a present collectively at Signature final yr once we bought the information of Sondheim’s passing,” Merino instructed WTOP. “We had been in a manufacturing of the musical ‘Lease.’ My character in ‘Lease’ had a little bit tribute line to Sondheim, calling out his identify in an inventory of issues that the Bohemians love. I bought to say, ‘Sondheim!’ The entire viewers erupted.”
Certainly, each time that Signature’s inventive director Matthew Gardiner stops by WTOP, all of us sing the praises of Sondheim to the purpose that the 2 at the moment are inextricably linked.
“Signature is certainly one of many first issues that pops into my head after I consider Sondheim,” De Bard instructed WTOP. “All of us really feel Sondheim[‘s] vitality within the room on a regular basis. ‘Into the Woods’ was the primary musical that they did within the new area. Once we stroll by means of the hallways, they’ve posters. ‘Into the Woods’ is the primary one that you just see.”
Written in 1987, the story interweaves Brothers Grimm fairy tales (Little Pink Using Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel, Cinderella) with the story of a childless baker and his spouse. A witch guarantees to carry their curse of infertility if they will discover “the cow as white as milk, the cape as purple as blood, the hair as yellow as corn, and the slipper as pure as gold.”
“It’s all your favourite traditional fairy story storylines that begin out fairly separate,” Merino stated. “It’s combining these storylines on this vortex of battle and drama that we name ‘The Woods.’ What begins out to be simply one other enjoyable, surface-level fairy story turns into a number of huge reflections and metaphors for all times classes … traditional morals twisted into grownup themes.”
Elevating James Lapine’s e book is the long-lasting rating by Sondheim, together with memorable songs like “Giants within the Sky,” “No One Is Alone” and “Kids Will Hear.”
“‘Giants within the Sky’ is certainly a favourite — David sounds superb,” De Bard stated, to which Merino added: “OK, OK. ‘Keep With Me’ makes me cry virtually each time.”
Scenic designer Lee Savage brings all of it to life visually by making a magical woods that intrudes upon the intimate dwelling setting — all with the stage ground on an incline.
“Image an previous Victorian-era dwelling,” Merino stated. “The nursery/living-room space is the setting that we’ve for everything of the present, however think about this room overgrown by the skin world round it, the character round it. We’ve got vines rising into the home windows and tree limbs jutting by means of partitions, cracked partitions, uncovered slats within the partitions and floorboards.”
On this dynamic area, colourful characters sport dazzling apparel, together with the brightest Pink Using Hood conceivable due to costume designer David I. Reynoso.
“All of our costumes are so unimaginable,” De Bard stated. “My cape is among the brightest reds I’ve ever seen in my life. I didn’t assume a purple might be so vibrant. It’s the reddest of reds and the best way that it shines throughout the stage, I find it irresistible, I like it. We had been additionally given permission to make use of the wolf’s cloak from the 2007 manufacturing … so there may be historical past on my again.”
There’s even a shock Hollywood star voicing the booming big in Act 2.
“Though this isn’t an individual that’s ever proven on stage, it is a individual I’ve seemed as much as since I used to be a child and is an icon: Phylicia Rashad will get to voice our big, which is so thrilling! We’ve already gotten to take heed to her recordings and it’s so epic,” Merino stated.
WTOP’s Jason Fraley previews ‘Into the Woods’ at Signature Theatre (Half 2)