FOR those who might not have heard of this show, it is about characters from four of the Grimm Brothers fairytales - Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, and Jack and the Beanstalk.
We spend the evening following their tales, drawing in familiar characters such as Cinderella's step sisters, the first sister played by Becca Rennoldson, the second sister played by Laura Swinburne, and the mother played by Ann Simpson.
The princes for Cinderella and Rapunzel are played by Aron Armstrong and Jack Riley respectively, and their song ‘Agony’ is a delight.
Jack also plays a not very nice Mr Wolf, but then again Red Riding Hood is not all sweetness and light, and the grandmother's house scene is so inventive and a pure joy to watch.
The main principals had very fine solos in this production, with probably the best known being Children Will Listen, sung by Tracy McQuat. Sondheim's songs can be so difficult to present, but I thoroughly enjoyed them.
The first half of the show is light and funny setting out familiar stories and happy endings, while the second half is about the consequences of what has gone before and quite dark as the Giants’ wife, played by Sheridan Appleby, comes for revenge.
Lynne McTiffin, chair of Whitehaven Operatic Society, added: "We're delighted to be staging it, this will be the first time that this musical has been performed in West Cumbria.
"It's a Stephen Sondheim performance and it has been a bit musically challenging but exciting.
"We've got a great musical director and cast. So they're all excited, the rehearsals are going amazingly if not a little bit mad at times with all the characters from Little Red Riding Hood to Milky White The Cow."
Whitehaven Amateur Drama and Operatic Society are hosting their production of Into The Woods. The musical was originally written by Stephen Sondheim and will be performed at Rosehill Theatre this week. The performances will take place from November 1 until November 4, being shown at 7pm each day. There will also be a matinee performance at 1pm.
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