THEATER REVIEW / ‘INTO THE WOODS’ : Wishes and Choices : Exploring the distinction, in the guise of an adult fairy tale, becomes the road map for a journey.

Learning the difference between wishes and choices is one of the hardest lessons we face in growing up. Our wishes come straight from childhood imaginings with their unbounded possibilities. Adult choices must be made within the narrower limits of realistic alternatives.

And more important, the choices we make have very real consequences--determining our careers, our loves, and even our own characters.

Exploring that all-important distinction in the guise of an adult fairy tale becomes the road map for a journey “Into the Woods,” in a wildly ambitious, sometimes uneven, but ultimately enchanting production from the Santa Barbara City College Theatre Group. Their version of the 1988 Stephen Sondheim-James Lapine musical successfully transports us to a magical kingdom where wishes may come true, but they don’t come free.

Don’t let the traditional simplicity of the fairy tale genre fool you. In this particular kingdom, composer/lyricist Sondheim and Lapine (book) cunningly weave the plots of well-known tales from the Brothers Grimm in an intricate interlocking tangle, where each character’s actions affect the outcomes of the others. So no dozing.

Prominently featured are Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Little Red Riding Hood, all linked by a newly minted tale about a Baker and his Wife seeking to lift a witch’s curse that left them childless. Their stories converge in the woods--the archetypal setting for rites of passage--where each character undergoes a test of character and a life transition.

Taking the unique narrative economy of the musical to its most dazzling heights ever, Sondheim crystallizes each transition in one of the show’s 21 songs.

Some are coming-of-age crossings: Red Riding Hood’s (Rebekah Andersen’s) loss of innocence at the hands of a lecherous wolf, young Jack’s (Even Caston’s) first venture from the comforting maternal sphere to self-reliant manhood in the Giant’s domain, and Cinderella’s (Julie Keatinge’s) nervous ambivalence over the princely embodiment of her romantic fantasies.

Of course, adults have their crisis points too--we’re never out of the woods. In learning to depend on one another in their quest, the Baker (James O’Neil) and his Wife (Katie Malloy) begin to understand the deeper levels of commitment in marriage (“I guess it will take two of us to get this baby . . .”).

The well-intentioned mistakes of parenthood are embodied in a witch (Mary Dombek) who in the ultimate act of overprotection keeps her daughter, Rapunzel (Lisa Ostendorf), locked in a tower. Yet her sadly lyrical “Stay With Me” aches with the wish to shield her child from the evils of the world, which parents can never do.

The most eloquent drama of generations plays out in the song “No More,” where, in his moment of deepest despair and loss, the Baker confronts the spirit of his father--O’Neill’s soul-searching delivery makes it the high point of the show.

Not all the songs are as successfully rendered. Sometimes the performers miss the deeper layers in their portrayals. To get the point, close scrutiny of the complex lyrics is often necessary--a tough challenge for first-time listeners.

Director Pope Freeman has managed the unenviable task of harnessing more than 20 amateur students into a cohesive ensemble, and by and large he’s succeeded. Michele Spears’ choreography proves engaging without overtaxing the cast’s ability. But the three-hour running time reveals a problem with pacing--the show should really be clocking in at 2 1/2.

Ann Bruice’s costumes lend suitably whimsical color and mythical character to the proceedings, but Patricia L. Frank’s scenic design only partly does justice to the intricacy demanded by the work--the telltale signs of budget cuts are all too apparent.

Musical Director David Potter coaxes a lush, full-bodied sound from a nine-member orchestra augmented with synthesizers (thank goodness they’ve kept a real bassoon, used with wonderful comic effect in Sondheim’s score).

At times it may seem to stroll instead of skipping down that forest path, but even so, this journey “Into the Woods” effectively covers the emotional spectrum. And it reasserts the wisdom of that old adage “Be careful what you wish for.” After the adventurers resolve their stories with their traditional happy endings in the first act, they must return to the woods in the darker second act to face the consequences of the choices they made to attain their wishes.

In the face of uncertainties and very real death, they find their only chance for survival is in the acceptance of human relatedness articulated in the show’s anthem, “No One Is Alone.”

And so for us, too, runs the none-too-subtle implication. If we cannot weather that rite of passage between the unconsciously acquired patterns of childhood to more responsible ways of relating we are doomed, as individuals and as a species. It’s time to grow up, and fast, because, as Sondheim and Lapine remind us at journey’s end, “It’s nearing midnight. . . . “

* WHERE AND WHEN

“Into the Woods” will be performed through Aug. 1 at the Santa Barbara City College Garvin Theatre, Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets are $12-$14. For reservations or further information, call 965-5935.