New Village Arts occupies a 100-seat theatre set alongside the Coaster commuter rail station in downtown Carlsbad. Its stage is wide but not very deep, so it’s not a likely candidate for a musical. But, NVA keeps pushing the envelope, and to their credit they make Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods work in that space.

Into the Woods is probably Mr. Sondheim’s most-staged show. When it debuted at the Old Globe about 25 years ago, critics wrote that it featured one of the most brilliant first acts ever written for musical theatre, and that claim is still true. The problems come with the second act.

Steve Gunderson & Melissa Fernandes

^{Courtesy photo Daren Scott}

Drawing on psychiatrist Bruno Bettleheim’s classic book, The Uses of Enchantment, Mr. Sondheim uses “the woods” as a metaphor for the fears that must be overcome and the dangers involved in pursuing wishes and dreams. Taking familiar fairy tales such as “Jack and the Beanstalk” (featuring Trevor Sanderson as Jack and Sandra Ellis-Troy as his mother), “Cinderella” (Sarah Errington), “Little Red Riding Hood” (featuring Hannah Rose Kornfeld as Red Riding Hood, Randall Dodge as the wolf, and Virginia Gregg as Grandma), and “Rapunzel” (featuring Karenssa LeGear as Rapunzel and Derek Smith as her prince) and mixing them with his own creation, a story of a childless Baker (Steve Gunderson), his wife (Melissa Fernandes), and the witch who lives next door (Devlin), Mr. Sondheim sends them all into the woods at the same time, overlapping their stories in the process. As managed by the Narrator (Manny Fernandes), the characters manage to work through their anxieties, both real and imagined, and have a prospect for living happily ever after by intermission.

Of course, this is a Stephen Sondheim musical, so no one can be allowed to live happily ever after, and in Act 2, everything comes tumbling down (sometimes, quite literally). Mr. Sondheim, the man who wrote so insightfully about the nature of close relationships while claiming that he had never been in love, compensates for his harsh dose of reality with two of his most beautiful songs, “No One is Alone,” and “Children Will Listen,” but the damage is done.

The fact that NVA’s production works as well as it does is a credit to director James Vasquez and NVA resident set designer Tim Wallace. The fact that it looks beautiful in the process is a credit to lighting designer Jason Bieber, costume designer Shirley Pierson, and resident properties designer Bonnie Durben. Mr. Wallace, in particular, took the challenges of the limited space and created a layout that allowed the same spaces to double and triple as different locations without confusion. Mr. Vasquez played traffic cop effectively, keeping the characters coming and going and the scenes moving and flowing into each other.

Ideally, each member of the large cast would be a strong solo singer and adept at creating a memorable character, as Into the Woods is an ensemble show for solo performers. Unfortunately, the quality of NVA’s company varies significantly. Mr. Gunderson (so wonderful as Wilbur Turnblad in Hairspray this past summer) and Ms. Fernandes (ditto as Helen Sherman in NVA’s The Seven Year Itch) anchor the production well as the Baker and his wife, while Mr. Fernandes, Mr. Dodge (as both the wolf and Cinderella’s prince), and Ms. Kornfeld are also standouts. My biggest disappointment was with Devlin, in the role played on Broadway by Bernadette Peters. Devlin is known best for her cabaret performances, but she hasn’t shaped either her portrayal or her singing to the NVA space. Sometimes, less is too little (as was the case with Ms. Errington, whose characterization and singing were too timid all evening) but more often less is more. To be fair, Devlin took a fall at her first entrance, but she was able to continue. It is possible that I saw her at far less than her best.

Finally, the score is difficult, and more time could have been spent with the music. Except for the best singers (Mr. Dodge stands out in particular here), interpretations still needed work, and there were fairly severe pitch problems, particularly early on. Elan McMahan and Charlie Reuter were credited as music directors for the production.

Still, the NVA company is to be congratulated on its success with its first musical. I hope that the company will be encouraged to stage musicals in future seasons.

DOWNLOAD CAST AND CREDITS HERE