Once upon a time

Kaleigh Graham is Red Riding Hood and Michael Gaty is Wolf in DalTheatre Productions' Into the Woods. (Nick Pearce Photo)

Ever wondered what happens after "and they all lived happily ever after"?

It seems at the end of every fairytale, the baddies get what is coming to them and the good ones are rewarded when all their dreams come true. It is a comforting concept for a children?s
bedtime story but as we grow older we learn to be cynical — professors call it "critical thinking" — and to question whether this is really how life turns out.

In his musical Into the Woods, composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim does just this. The first act interweaves the tales of many familiar storybook characters — Jack (and the beanstalk), Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Little Red Riding Hood, who all manage to solve their predicaments and are ready to live happily ever after. But hold on — it's only intermission.

Through Act II, the going gets a lot tougher for our fairytale friends. I will not say anymore on that subject though, because you'll have the chance to find out for yourself what "ever after" truly entails when DalTheatre?s production of Into the Woods takes to the stage. The play runs November 23 to 27 at the Sir James Dunn Theatre in the Dal Arts Centre.

I got to sit down during tech week with members of the cast — students of the fourth year acting program — to discuss the experience of bringing Sondheim?s complex fairytale
world to life.

The actors explain the pace of the rehearsal process (just over a month long) has been that of a professional production — in other words, exhaustingly fast. Despite the fact there were rehearsals six days a week, the actors still had to devote a lot of time on their own to learning music, lines and blocking.

“This would never have come together if we hadn?t done our homework,” says Helena Pipe, who plays Jack?s Mother. In fact, on suggestion by cast member Ben Irvine (who plays the Baker), the students unanimously decided to forgo November?s new ?study? day for extra rehearsal time.

Into the Woods is truly an ensemble show. “If one person is off, we?re all lost,” says Katie Dorian, who plays wicked stepsister Florinda. One of the biggest challenges of the
show seems to be fitting together all the little pieces that come from having so many characters and story lines intertwined. When the cast first moved from individual scene rehearsals into runs of the show, Ms. Dorian says it was like “getting something from Ikea without the instructions and you wonder how all the pieces will ever fit together.”

She assures me everything is assembled smoothly now. In fact, Ms. Pipe loves the ensemble nature of the show, claiming that her favourite part is “hearing everyone come together and sound like a company.”

Both Jonny Thompson (the Narrator, and Mysterious Man) and Michael Gaty (the Wolf, Cinderella?s Prince) identify Sondheim?s music as the hardest challenge during the rehearsal process. For both of them, Into the Woods is their first-ever musical. “I would not have imagined how different being in a musical would be from a play,” says Mr. Thompson.

Although all the fourth year students have already benefited from a year of private singing tutorials as part of the acting program, Mr. Gaty is one of two third-year students who were asked to join the cast. “My previous singing experience included the shower and in the car, no training whatsoever,” he explains. I found this very hard to believe when I heard Mr. Gaty sing a sultry and sinister preview of Hello Little Girl, the Wolf?s song to Little Red.

Though learning the music was a challenge, the actors all agree that it made it easy to develop their characters. “Sondheim?s composition is so specific,” explains Mr. Gaty, “Everything is there for a reason.” Ms. Dorian agrees, saying, “you can tell everything about your character by the music.”

In terms of the show?s target audience, the actors say in chorus: "everybody!"

“Kids can associate with the fairytales, but the morality plays to an older audience,” says Ms. Dorian. “There are definitely jokes and... innuendos that adults will get and kids won?t,” adds Mr. Thompson.

Dal News student writer Ellen Denny is in her third year at Dalhousie, working toward a combined honours BA in music and theatre.