Calliope offers a magical, musical 'Into the Woods'.

• Author: Kolas, Paul
• Position: Living

Byline: Paul Kolas

'Into the Woods'

Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by James Lapine, directed by Ray Gaspari, music director James Haupt, choreographer Karen Jean White. At Calliope Theatre, 150 Main St., Boylston. Performances at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and at 2 p,m. Sunday, through Dec. 14. Tickets: $18 adults, $15 seniors and students. For reservations, call (508) 869-6887, or visit www.calliopeproductions.org. With Christina Pierro, Chuck Grigatis, Nicole Kirrane, Lisa Tierney, Patrick O'Brien, Linnea Lyerly, Heidi Choe, AJ Teixaira, Erik Gladwin, Anthony Masciangioli, Christine Guertin, Christie Console, Jennifer Riedell, Ned Cheesman, John Bausch, Matthew Cory, Dave Piperno, Katrina Whelan, Brook Gaspari and Savannah Rolfe.

BOYLSTON -- Calliope Productions couldn't have timed their staging of "Into the Woods,'' which opened on Thursday night, any more fortuitously. The film version, starring such high profile luminaries as Meryl Streep as the Witch and Johnny Depp as the Wolf, opens on Christmas Day, but it's highly doubtful that Santa will scold you for unwrapping this beguiling present between now and the closing matinee on Dec. 14.

Director Ray Gaspari has assembled an A-list of talent with the vocal prowess to address Stephen Sonheim and James Lapine's fractured fairy tale with great verve, finesse and feeling. It's a wildly ambitious bedtime story for adults, an instructive, witty, moving contrast of Act 1 fantasy and Act 2 reality. From its opening "be careful what you wish for'' premise -- the Baker (Chuck Grigaitis) and his Wife (Nicole Kirrane) wanting to have a child -- "Into the Woods'' explodes into an intricate portrait of recognizable human behavior.

"Happily ever after'' comes with a price for those who come out of the woods intact. To have their child, the Baker and his Wife need to lift the curse of infertility that the Witch (Christina Pierro) has placed upon them. To do that, they need to enter the woods, and find the ingredients to make a potion consisting of "the cow as white as milk, the cape as red as blood, the hair as yellow as corn and the slipper as pure as gold.'' It's a task much easier said than done, as Sondheim and Lapine employ the familiar tales of "Jack and the Beanstalk,'' "Cinderella,'' "Little Red Riding Hood'' and "Rapunzel,'' in very unfamiliar ways.

Gaspari's large cast works in remarkable unison to make this production a memorable addition to Calliope's long history. The...