"Into the Woods" Brings Fairy Tales with a Twist to Everett

I don’t know much about the theater.

I’ve read a few plays in my day. When I think theater I think of people in cravats and evening gowns, sipping martinis. I'm into it.

So I was excited when I got free tickets to Village Theatre’s opening night production of Into the Woods. Who would I bump into there? Would I emerge a more cultured person? Is it overkill to rent a cummerbund? I should probably rent a cummerbund.

Friday night.

The Village Theatre marquee is lit up. All of the seats are packed.

My wife and I settle into new plush seats as the lights come down.

Into the Woods is a musical written by Stephen Sondheim. Sondheim is probably the most famous writer of musicals, a guy who won eight Tonys (one of them for Into the Woods) and penned lyrics for a little play called West Side Story.

The first thing I notice: the sets and costumes are incredible. They are all built, sewn, and bedazzled by Village Theatre.

The Issaquah version of the Into the Woods production finished on Sunday night. The company moved the entire set to Everett this week (rotating stage platform and all) and got everything assembled in five days. Amazing.

Act 1 begins with familiar fairy tale characters as they are being drawn into unfamiliar territory. There's Jack of Jack and the beanstalk, an idle daydreamer who lives in poverty. There's a naive Red Riding Hood trying to get to grandma, and a Cinderella paralyzed by anxiety and indecision.

These characters and others all must set out into the forest to chase their desires, confront their fears, and try to break a few curses along the way.

The storybook set is a fantastic forest of crooked ladders, spiral staircases, and paper lanterns. All of it spins and morphs before your eyes as the play progresses.

Sondheim's upbeat music propels the plot forward even while careening into dissonance as the characters face peril and moral quandaries in their quests.

The acting and singing in this production were top notch. Each syllable of alliterative lyricism rang through the theater. Every song brought down the house.

There is a brief intermission about an hour and a half into the show. My wife and I hit up the upstairs wine bar for a glass of cab. I highly recommend this. In addition to wine there is beer, coffee, and snacks on tap.

Act 2 brings the characters back to the forest. They have completed their quests in act 1... or have they? Are they truly living happily ever after?

Into the Woods will be running through November 19. Frankly the show was above and beyond what I had expected.

Do yourself a favor and go get lost in these fairy tales with a twist.

Cummerbund optional.

Get Tickets

Village Theatre
2710 Wetmore Ave.
(425) 257-8600