Anything but Grimm: Countryside Community Theatre’s “Into the Woods,” at North Scott High School through August 6

I’d seen the passable movie, as well as the static-y VHS copy of the original Broadway cast, but Countryside Community Theatre’s new production of Into the Woods was my first time seeing the show live – and of those three options, live is certainly the way to go. Directed by Tom Walljasper, Countryside’s latest production is a lot of fun and a great excuse to get out of the crushing summer humidity.

The book by James Lapine asks the question: “What if all of the Grimm fairy-tale characters were neighbors?” Cinderella meets Jack (of the Beanstalk) meets Rapunzel meets Little Red Riding Hood in this musical by the late Stephen Sondheim. The only non-fairy-tale characters are the Baker (AJ Weber) and his wife (the radiant Megan Warren), a couple who want to have a baby. A wicked Witch (Jenny Winn), however, has cursed the Baker’s entire family with infertility, and in exchange for lifting the curse, the Witch tasks the Baker with obtaining a grocery list of fairy tale items.

Meanwhile, the other characters move along their expected fairy-tale routes. Little Red Ridinghood (Krianna Walljasper) goes to see her granny and is set upon by a Wolf (Topher Elliott). Jack (Casey Scott), pre-beanstalk, must sell his only friend, the family cow, so that he and his mother (Katherine Zerull) can continue eating. Cinderella (Emily Winn) wants to go the ball, but is blocked by her nasty Stepmother (Bonita Howes) and equally mean Stepsisters (Joie Stoefen and Amira Siddique). And we learn all this in just in the opening number! Everyone consequently heads off Into the Woods, where they cross paths with one another, and with even more wayward fairy tales.

If this sounds busy, it never feels that way. Sondheim is the king of lyrically dense work, and a musical moment is never wasted. Anytime Countryside's wonderful 15-piece pit begins to play, the production soars. And the cast is more than up to the task, with a slew of strong singers guided by the fantastic music direction of Ryan K. Riewerts. It’s clear that a lot of work went into the diction, and Bret Churchill’s sound design blended the voices so beautifully that I never felt lost, even when multiple characters sang over one another, which happens seemingly always. While there were a few technical hiccups during Friday’s performance, there wasn’t anything that hampered the fun, and there was a lot of fun.

Even the storytelling itself, thanks to lots of clever direction by Walljasper and some truly inspired prop selection by Miranda Richards. Ashton Charfaurous' scenic design is also effective, turning what could pass for an Iowa farmstead into a rural village in a single scene change. Plus, the entire back wall is left visible so it can be lit by vibrant projections, designed by Churchill, that help set the tone, mood, and location of each scene. And the costumes by Bradley Robert Jensen are, of course, splendid as always.

As for the cast, there’s a lot of talent here, with more shining moments than can be adequately listed. Standouts on Friday included Weber and Warren, Scott and Zerull, the Winns, the perfectly cast Krianna Walljasper, and David Wilkinson and Croix Baker as snobby Princes.

Director Walljasper employs a framing device here that I’m still unsure how I feel about. Before the show has begun, a young girl (Sophia Marmion) wanders the stage, clearly bored and unhappy. Her father (Chris Tracy) enters and asks her to come in for dinner. Being an angsty adolescent, she refuses. To placate her, Dad begins to read her a fairy tale. As he does, the pit plays, the farmstead becomes the woods, and the story begins. From there on, both the girl and her father remain on stage, with him as narrator and her as spectator.

The narrator is already a preexisting part of the book; it’s the inclusion of a daughter – and de facto audience member – that differentiates Walljasper's production. I like how this change re-frames the story and better highlights its themes of family and child raising. But it’s hard to explain what I didn’t like about the change without getting into spoilers, so I’ll leave it at this: There comes a moment in the second act in which the script itself changes the context of the narration, which recontextualizes Walljasper’s recontextualization. And then, when the story ends, we in the audience now have to reckon with it all being “just” a story, which is a distant cousin of everything being a dream ... which is a personal pet peeve.

All that being said, I’d rather see a choice that doesn’t resonate instead of a choice I’ve seen time and time again, so hats off to the production team for being brave enough to try something new. And one person’s yuck is another’s yum, so don’t let the previous paragraph deter you from experiencing a lot of great work. If you’ve ever enjoyed a Sondheim musical, be it on stage or on Spotify, Countryside's Into the Woods is a wonderful show to see. It’s a new take on a classic piece, filled with fantastic performers.

Countryside Community Theatre's Into the Woods runs at the North Scott High School Fine Arts Auditorium (200 South First Street, Eldridge IA) through August 6, and more information and tickets are available by visiting CountrysideQC.org.