Menier Chocolate Factory is currently home to Fiasco Theater’s Off-Broadway production of the Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine musical, Into The Woods. This company of actor-musicians demonstrates story-telling and ensemble work at its finest. The 10 performers multi-role excellently, with a particularly amusing turn from bearded Andy Grotelueschen, transforming between Jack’s female cow Milky White with a baby’s milk bottle for an udder, to an Ugly Step-Sister with a floral curtain rail as a dress, as well as playing Rapunzel’s cock-sure prince on a hobby horse.Creativity is at the fore-front of Fiasco’s production, with a fluttering feather duster as the golden-egg laying hen, the ability to use almost any object as a musical instrument from bucket to autoharp, and a simple yet effective use of shadows and megaphones for the giant’s widow in the second act. Derek McLane’s stripped-back set is rural, woody and textured. Resembling the shattered insides of a piano, the thick ropes that line the back of the stage, appear like piano wires, but also give an impressive sense of the trees of the vast Woods, complimented by the green hues of Christopher Akerlind’s lighting design.
Musical director Evan Rees on piano is placed centre-stage, and the simplicity of the instrument allows the knotty, overlapping texture of Sondheim’s music and lyrics to shine through. Thanks to a strong cast of singers, every song is brought to life with excellent solos and harmonies. Vanessa Reseland’s delivery of Witch’s Lament is genuinely moving and Jesse Austrian as the Baker’s Wife has a beautiful warmth and honesty, which makes her a joy to watch throughout the show.
The production, co-directed by Ben Steinfeld and Noah Brody, could have become knowing and self-loving but Fiasco keep it just on the right side of cheeky and playful. There’s a strong sense of improvisation to the performance, making this version a refreshing and raw alternative to the recent polished Disney film. The company all bounce off one another, each bringing something unique to the ensemble, and there’s an overwhelming sense of togetherness that holds this wild and interwoven story together.
The smart and welcoming St James Theatre near Victoria Station has just been acquired by Andrew Lloyd Webber and will become an incubator venue for new musicals in the new year. Before that happens there's plenty of musical revivals to come, modern classics Rent and The Last Five Years are scheduled for new productions following a production of mine in the main house and it's neat little cabaret bar is currently home to an intimate staging of The Stripper, an infamous flop from the 1980s with lyrics by Richard O'Brien who wrote The Rocky Horror Show.