Kokandy Productions has hit a home run with its revival of the classic musical Into the Woods. You get an amazing cast of actors, singers, and musicians. You also get memorable songs, music and characters, while hoping everyone gets a happy ending in their fairytale.
Into the Woods concludes the 2024 season of Kokandy Productions at Chopin Theatre (1543 W Division St, Chicago, IL 60642). Into the Woods is one of my favorite Stephen Soindheim musicals, and entertains you from beginning to end. It also changes your perspective of traditional fairy tales, while being entertained by paths crossing of beloved stories of Cinderella, Rapunzel, Jack and the Beanstalk and much more.
You are invited to escape into a fantastical, fairytale adventure where fairy tales are not exactly what they seem. You learn the lesson that there can be unintended consequences for doing whatever it takes to achieve your deepest wishes and desires.
Kevin Webb and Sonia Goldberg as the Baker and the Baker’s Wife, including Stephanie Stockstill all carry the production in my opinion. They give strong, solid emotional performances. You can’t help but root for them, and hoping everything will work out in the long run.
Other standout performances are Madison Kauffman as Cinderella, Kevin Parra as Jack, and Anna Seibert as Little Red. Kudos to the rest of the talented cast who prove their amazing skills with several different roles including August Forman as Narrator/Mysterious Man, Shea Hopkins as Cinderella’s Prince/Wolf, Jonathan Allsop as Rapunzel’s Prince/Steward, Ismael Garcia as Rapunzel/Florinda, Britain Gebhardt as Jack’s Mother/Lucinda, and Emily Goldberg as Cinderella’s Stepmother/Mother.
The cast also boasts the talent of swings Gabby Koziol, Jackson Mikkelsen, Halli Morgan, Michael Penick, Julie Peterson, Elizabeth Rentfro, and Evan B Smith. Finally, musicians Ariana Miles (piano) and Evelyn Ryan (piano) are the supporting meat and potatoes of the musical score, with some of the best piano accompaniment I have seen in a long time. The way their hands and fingers move across the piano keys is mesmerizing.
The Chopin Theatre is the perfect place for this incredible production of Into the Woods. The small, intimate staging and setting brings the performers, musicians, music and audience all together. You are put into this immersive, fantasy world, experiencing the character’s stories with them. This is the production to see to properly end 2024!
October 10 – December 22, 2024 at The Chopin Theatre
Photos by Evan Hanover.
Tickets are now on sale at the Kokandy Productions website.
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