Review: Guthrie takes a fantastic trip 'Into the Woods'

Just as Taylor Swift was wowing the Twin Cities with her superlative Eras Tour, an enchanting musical opened mere blocks away from U.S. Bank Stadium.

The Guthrie Theater's "Into the Woods," up through Aug. 13, is studded with world-class talent. Director Sarna Lapine's fine staging delineates the individual threads of a braided narrative, then brings them back together in a thrilling whole.

Musical director Denise Prosek sets the relentless tempo, eliciting nimble performances from a cast that handles composer Stephen Sondheim's compound rhymes, tongue-twisters and unusual key changes with agility and aplomb.

Since its 1987 debut, "Woods" has been challenging and captivating theater audiences and artists alike. The masterwork by Sondheim and James Lapine, Sarna's uncle, is like a Venn diagram of interlocking fairytales. The Baker (Robert Knight) and his Wife (Madeline Trumble) are having trouble conceiving because of a spell cast on the family by an enchantress who wants to be beautiful again (Lisa Howard).

But if the child-pining couple could get a cow as white as milk, a cape as red as blood (like the one worn by Little Red Riding Hood), hair as yellow as corn (hello, Rapunzel) and a slipper as pure as gold (Cinderella, is that you?), then the witch's spell might be broken.

Lit evocatively by Donald Holder, "Woods" does not stop there but shows the complexities of these characters' lives in the supposedly "happy ever after."

Lapine's production takes place in Mikiko Suzuki MacAdams' pop-up storybook scenography, with two-dimensional tree trunks, an LED star curtain and props that include two majestic horses. The performers are dressed in Valérie Thérèse Bart's colorful and story-advancing costumes. The ones worn by Cinderella's stepsisters, for example, flare at the shoulders and hips while the Witch's costumes change from drab to glam.

The production blends musical theater and operatic voices into an aural mosaic. Knight and Anna Hashizume (Rapunzel) hail from the opera world and their training is evident in their breath control, projection and timbre.

Knight and Trumble form a gorgeous pair, with beautiful chemistry and touching warmth.

Emily Tyra soars as Cinderella, finding the heart and nuances of her modern princess and bringing down the house with her heartfelt rendition of "On the Steps of the Palace."

Trevor James, who plays Jack, makes one of the most challenging solo numbers in the show look easy. He displays spot-on-pitch and breath control when singing "Giants in the Sky."

There are standouts everywhere in these "Woods," including Kym Chambers Otto, who is wickedly witty as the Stepmother.

John Yi and Sasha Andreev excel as the two Princes, with a gorgeously entertaining duet on "Agony." Andreev also is ominously thrilling as the Wolf on "Hello, Little Girl." For his part, Yi is terrific as a tricycle-riding Milky White, and his cow's death scene is comedy gold.

This cast, anchored by Regina Marie Williams as the Narrator and the Mysterious Man, is exceptional through and through. Some deliver small but telling gestures, as is true of Cat Brindisi as the knowing stepsister Florinda and Max Wojtanowicz as the diffident Steward.

The knock on what may be Sondheim's most popular work is that while it is vivid and full of grabby metaphors, it is densely repetitive. The second act, especially, tells us something we already know — that dark places are dangerous.

But Lapine's "Woods" brings that message with charm, superb light and lots of delight.

'Into the Woods'

Who: Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Book by James Lapine. Directed by Sarna Lapine.

When: 7:30 p.m. Tue.-Sat., 1 p.m. Sun. with 1 p.m. matinees on select Wednesdays and Saturdays. Ends Aug. 13.

Where: Guthrie Theater, 818 S. 2nd St., Mpls.

Protocol: Masks required on July 9.

Tickets: $20-$94, 612-377-2224 or guthrietheater.org.