During summertime, one of my favorite places to let my hair down is the Solvang Festival Theater. It’s evident from the outdoor venue’s current production, Into the Woods, that long-haired legend Rapunzel (played by Elizabeth Martinie) occasionally shares my sentiment.
Stairs are not an option when it comes to reaching the top floor of Rapunzel’s residential tower, one of the many settings brought to life by scenic designer Jason Bolen for the Pacific Conservatory Theatre’s (PCPA) latest star-studded offering in Solvang. As gorgeous as each of Bolen’s sets are, some of the show’s most memorable, unseen locales and plot points rely entirely on sound effects or music—a testament to composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim’s signature prowess.
We never see Jack’s (Rhys Avants) beanstalk that stretches above the clouds, but it’s not hard to visualize the young adventurer’s perilous travels during songs like “Giants in the Sky,” or empathize with the show’s various fairy tale characters as a vengeful giant (voiced by Anna Magri-Moore) stomps along the lands, leaving a trail of destruction behind her. We hear each earthquake-inducing footstep, but we never see the culprit for ourselves.
Into the Woods takes place in a shared universe (not unlike Marvel’s cinematic universe) where fable and storybook dwellers co-exist. Their individual journeys constantly intertwine with one another and ultimately deter each character from the “happily ever after” ending we’ve come to expect from these kinds of stories.
The main plot thread that ties this fractured musical together follows a baker (George Walker) and his wife (Emily Trask), who learn that a witch (Lexi Rhoades) has placed a terrible spell on them, which prevents the couple from ever having children. This revelation leads the duo on a wild MacGuffin chase to retrieve four items that the witch is demanding in order to lift the curse.
The first item is “a cow as white as milk,” which brings the couple to bargain with young cattle huckster Jack, who ultimately settles for a handful of “magic beans.” Next on the shopping list is “a cape as red as blood,” just like the cape Little Red Riding Hood (Ekaterina Bouras) is known to wear. Little Red is on her way to her grandmother’s house when she crosses paths with not only the baker, but an iconic Big Bad Wolf (Yusef Seevers) as well.
After the baker and his wife are separated in the forest, the latter sets out to retrieve the third item, “hair as yellow as corn,” on her own after she discovers Rapunzel’s tower. She then attempts to get the fourth item, “a slipper as pure as gold,” upon meeting Cinderella (Gracie Jurczyk), who sports a pair of golden heels rather than the glass slippers Disney fans are accustomed to.
Every performer featured in PCPA’s Into the Woods brings their A game to the production, some while playing more than one role. Seevers is perfectly devilish as the Big Bad Wolf, especially during his musical number, “Hello, Little Girl,” but steals the show even more while playing a charming prince who courts Cinderella.
The only agonizing thing about “Agony,” a hilarious duo between Seevers and Garret Haven (who plays an equally charming prince in pursuit of marrying Rapunzel), was straining myself to stop laughing long after the song ended.
Send magic beans to Arts Editor Caleb Wiseblood at cwiseblood@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Aug 25 – Sep 1, 2022.