Chattanooga State celebrates a Sondheim classic
To be considered a fairy tale, most of these “tales” require happy endings. However, while there are happy endings, there are also stories behind those happy endings that led those characters to their happily ever afters, and that’s exactly what the musical “Into the Woods” will show you this weekend at Chattanooga State.
“Into the Woods,” which was written by James Lapine and features the music and lyrics of Stephen Sondheim, is a musical that tells the tales of the Brothers Grimm and several other Charles Perrault fairy tales, notably “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Jack and the Beanstalk,” “Rapunzel,” and “Cinderella.”
More specifically, the performance tells the story of the baker and his wife and the tasks they must complete in order to reverse a curse placed on their family line by a witch.
Chattanooga State’s production of “Into the Woods” is directed by Jennifer Arbogast-Wilson, Professor of Music at Chattanooga State. The choreography for the show is done by Lindsay Fussell, and the show features both Chattanooga State students and alumni as cast members.
“We’re doing the original version. It’s kind of about, well, it’s about fairy tales. It’s a bunch of them. There’s one new fairy tale that they created: The baker and his wife. And they want to have a baby, but they find out that this witch cast a spell on his family, that they will be barren for the rest of their family line,” Arbogast-Wilson explained.
“So she tells them, in order to get the spell lifted, they have to go into the woods and get the hair as yellow as corn, the cape as red as blood, the cow as white as milk, and the slipper as pure as gold.”
The show includes a notable cast of 25 members and a 15-piece orchestra, conducted by Darrin Hassevoort. The cast started rehearsals in January, and Arbogast-Wilson said they have been incredibly dedicated to their roles.
“We auditioned back between Thanksgiving and Christmas some time, and then we cast the show. We start with the semester; we rehearse three nights a week, and it’s great. The music is super hard, but it’s super fun,” Arbogast-Wilson said.
“[The music] has definitely been the most difficult part of rehearsals, though. Stephen Sondheim, the composer, writes some of the most intricate music for musical theatre, and it’s rhythmically challenging, so it’s been a really good stretch for everyone involved, and they’ve worked really hard.”
In regards to the music, Arbogast-Wilson said the way in which Sondheim composes is to write the lyrics first, and then he comes up with the melody to fit the lyrics. However, she also explained that, while challenging, the way in which Sondheim composes his scores makes for a more musically-interesting performance.
“Sondheim writes [his music] the opposite way; he writes the words first, and then he thinks about how the character would say that, then he writes the melody line to go with how the character would inflict that in speech,” said Arbogast-Wilson. “So the melodies make very little sense, and the rhythms are patterned after speech instead of patterned after music.”
The show itself is about three hours long, including a 15-minute intermission. Arbogast-Wilson said the first act is essentially a show within itself because it’s an entire fairy tale. As the second act begins, the show delves into the consequences of the actions of the main characters on their quest to lift the curse from their family line.
While the first act is definitely suitable for all audiences, the second act deals with issues of morality and how our choices impact others, which may not make it as suitable for younger children.
“It’s not horribly raunchy or dark or anything like that. You see one of the murders, but it’s comedic. You don’t see anyone get crushed or anything. It’s not what you would expect from a Disney fairy tale, though,” Arbogast-Wilson explained.
“We’ve said we only recommend it for middle school and up, and even at that point, you know, we posted that we understand that every family is different, so we encourage you to not just take the characters at face value but to read about the show and make sure it’s okay for your kids.”
Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for children, students, and seniors. If you’ve ever wanted an opportunity to see the intersection of some of the most beloved fairy tales with a modern, mature twist, then you definitely don’t want to miss Chattanooga State’s “Into the Woods.”
Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s “Into the Woods”
Friday & Saturday, 7:30 p.m., Sunday, 2:30 p.m.
Chattanooga State Humanities Theatre
4501 Amnicola Highway
(423) 697-2431
chattanoogastate.edu