Less-Traveled Path ‘Into the Woods’ : Theater review: Cypress College cast is given a chance to explore the dark side of the work, and the result is richer characterizations.

“Into the Woods,” Stephen Sondheim’s fable-based parable about the dangers and joys of growing up, is not an easy show to put over. The biggest problem is James Lapine’s book, which not only is sketchy in characterization, but also suffers from Lapine’s usual confusion over seconds acts (see also, “Sunday in the Park With George”).

Director Diana Polsky, in her staging at Cypress College, takes the clever road by giving her actors license to explore the real and dark sides of their characters. This not only gives them more to work with, but also helps build the production’s subtext toward the actual darkness of the second act, when fairy tale characters such as Jack (of beanstalk fame), Red Riding Hood and Cinderella find out that life is much Grimmer than the original stories allowed.

Jack (Ryan Holihan) has an edgy temper here, which Holihan’s effervescence somewhat masks but which nevertheless helps to develop Act 2’s darkness. Kristen Maxon’s Little Red Riding Hood is an almost nasty child, and Maxon’s excellent belting delivery of her songs fits the image perfectly. The two princes--Matthew Budds for Rapunzel, James Freitas for Cinderella--both have princely vocal instruments, and their characterizations are as true to the male stereotypes (the princes are controlling and lecherous, respectively) as they can be. Brenda Ivelisse Pacheco is striking as the Witch, both while under an ugly spell and when she gets back her youth and beauty, and her rich contralto makes her songs sound better than they are, this being one of Sondheim’s weaker scores. The delightfully piquant Rachel Hart, with an equally piquant vocal sound, is a refreshingly blank slate as Cinderella, on which she builds a sort of blase ennui in Act 2. As the Baker and his childless wife, Rudy Martinez and Cynthia Acevedo are exceptional in their comedy turns and songs, particularly Martinez with his big, rich voice. A highlight is their rendition of “It Takes Two.”

*

This is a show with a very large cast. For the most part, their performances are charming and give insight into the shadowy psyche of Sondheim’s transformed fairy tale folk. But Milton Polsky doesn’t give much depth to his dual role as Narrator and Mysterious Man, nor does Meredith Seapy as Jack’s Mother, with her pointless fluttering, posturing and gesturing.

Mitchell Hanlon’s musical direction is sterling. He has an ear for Sondheim musical thrusts and hesitancy. Kaye Ragland-Vergona’s choreography sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t; she gives the Wolf (Freitas again) a Rum-Tum-Tugger flash, but her staging for the Trees, who follow the characters through the woods and back, is weak and scattered, without a conceptual core to make them valid.

* “Into the Woods” ends Sunday at the Main Stage Theatre, Cypress College Theater Arts Building, 9200 Valley View, Cypress. Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 3 p.m. $8. (714) 821-6320. Running time: 2 hours, 45 minutes.

Rachel Hart: Cinderella

Ryan Holihan: Jack

Rudy Martinez: Baker

Cynthia Acevedo: Baker’s Wife

Meredith Seapy: Jack’s Mother

Kristen Maxon: Little Red Riding Hood

Brenda Ivelisse Pacheco: Witch

James Freitas: Cinderella’s Prince/Wolf

Matthew Budds: Rapunzel’s Prince

Milton Polsky: Narrator/Mysterious Man

A Cypress College department of theater and dance production of the Stephen Sondheim-James Lapine fairy-tale musical. Directed by Diana Polsky. Assistant director: Ryan Holihan. Musical direction: Mitchell Hanlon. Lighting/property design: Robert Mumm. Costume design: Sharell Martin. Sound design: David Smith. Stage manager: Sharon Polsky.