Like any good fairy tale, this one starts with four very important words: “Once upon a time.”
But “Into the Woods,” the Kenai Performers’ March musical, is not like other fairy tales. Director Hannah Tauriainen says that’s what makes it interesting.
“The first act is your typical, watered-down fairy tale where you have your heroes, there’s a conflict and then, at the end, everybody has their happily ever after," she said. "But the decisions they made to get to the happily ever after have consequences. And that’s when the strong dose of reality hits in act two, when everything’s going wrong and they’re trying to figure out how to deal with the choices they’ve made”
“Into the Woods” features a large cast of characters from well-known stories like Rapunzel and Little Red Riding Hood. Their storylines weave together over the course of the musical, which Tauriainen saw for the the first time as a teenager.
“I love it because the music is so difficult," she said. "It’s so hard. And I just felt that the Performers were ready for a challenge.”
Tauriainen pitched the musical to the Kenai Performers last year, in the depths of COVID. She didn’t know what the pandemic would look like today or what restrictions there might be on school spaces, so instead of setting up shop in the Renee C. Henderson auditorium at Kenai Central High School, they took to the stage in the Kenai Performers’ building on Kalifornsky Beach Road.
It’s a much smaller space than they’re used to for such a big show, with just 60 seats.
And for the first time in two years, the Kenai Performers cast will be accompanied by an orchestra. Instead of playing from below the stage in a pit, the orchestra is up high.
“One of the things that actors can sometimes fall into when you’re in the Renee C. Henderson auditorium and you have a pit is they love to look down at Kent [Peterson]," Tauriainen said. "And then the audience doesn't see your face, because you’re looking down at Kent to see if you’re on the music. And now, they naturally have to look up.”
Kent Peterson is conducting the orchestra. He said the up-high pit is a challenge.
The music for “Into the Woods,” too, is no easy feat. In typical Stephen Sondheim fashion, the score and lyrics are riddled with musical challenges.
“I studied more for this one than normal," he said.
Also unique to the show is the lack of a dance break.
“So it’s all the orchestra supporting the cast, or supporting the lyrics, Peterson said. "So that’s really different. Usually we get to cut loose at some point. And we don’t this time until the bows.”
Another factor of being in the smaller space is actors are face-to-face with their audience. They’re not wearing microphones, either. But the numbers — like the eponymous “Into the Woods” — are still larger than life.
Any good fairy tale also needs a magical backdrop. This one brings the forest indoors, including a mesh tree canopy, a large oak tree with moving branches and a beanstalk that “grows” up and down.
“Doug McAuliffe, our set designer, was like, 'I’m going to make a tree canopy,'" Taurianen said. "And I was like, “OK Doug. That sounds cool, if it happens.” And then one day we came to rehearsal and there was a tree canopy. And we all stood there, dumbstruck. I was just giddy.”
“Into the Woods” opens March 18 for a nine-show run.
You can get tickets at kenaiperformers.org.
