Kevin Webb and Anna Seibert Photo by Evan Hanover

G "Max" Maxim IV's scenic and lighting design transforms the basement of the Chopin by papering over the six support columns that provide a de facto boundary for the stage in the round with storybook pages and wrapping them with beanstalk vines. The columns also provide space for hooks that accommodate the costume pieces that a number of ensemble members use to move swiftly from role to role.

The center of the set is dominated by the two grand pianos, which are separated by a low platform and flanked by a children's toy piano and miscellaneous objects suggesting a dreamscape. Cast members (and audience members) also use low seats built around the base of the columns, looking on and reacting to scenes they are not directly a part of, as do Ariana Miles and Evelyn Ryan, the two pianists. The characters also occasionally add to the music, thoroughly blurring the boundaries between characters, actor and role, audience and performer, and–indeed–reality and fairy tale.

Rachel Sypniewski's costumes echo this. There is an "out of closet" feel, overall, and yet each of the main cast has anchoring elements of their costumes that are quite carefully chosen, from Little Red's buffalo checked boots to Jack's Breton-striped top, from the green that dominates the Witch's costume to Cinderella's neat patchwork dress, everything is so well thought out that the audience doesn't need to (consciously) think about the important connections these elements make to class, gender, and other elements of identity. Syd Genco's makeup and Keith Ryan's wig design provide important support here, as well.

Also to Sypniewski's credit is the extent to which the costume design renders the shift from character to character for the ensemble almost entirely, but not quite seamlessly. This, too, reads as a deliberate choice, rather than a constraint. For example, Britain Gebhardt plays both Jack's mother and Cinderella's stepsister, Lucinda. Rather than insisting on a stressful quick change in an already difficult staging, Sypniewski signals the shift with a simple mob cap that Gebhardt occasionally dons even when she has begun singing in the new role. The changes occur in plain sight, because the characters are all versions of one another and versions of us, the audience.

Overwhelmingly, the orchestration for (mostly) two pianos works beautifully as a value add along the lines of everything about the staging and costumes. Every now and then, one of the pianists reaches inside to work on the strings of the piano directly when the score or the book calls for some specific percussion or string sound. The only song that seems to suffer even slightly might be the first iteration of "Agony" by the two princes. Otherwise, there's little to quibble with musically in the production.

The cast is great from top to bottom. August Forman's interpretation of the Narrator/Mysterious Man is particularly intriguing. They play the role(s) with a great deal of investment (rather than more common detachment and cool comedy) in the intertwining stories. This injects some urgency into the plot, which often gets lost in the beauty of the music. Forman is pleading, sinister, and tender by turns and really knits the emotional fabric of the show together.

Stephanie Stockstill's performance as the Witch responds to Forman's in ways that support this production in making its mark as an original and striking interpretation of the show. Although "Our Little World" is one of the more indifferent songs (so much so that many productions exclude it), here the audience is grateful for the time spent building the Witch's relationship with Rapunzel. Stockstill also makes full use of the cast's opportunities to connect directly with the audience as they circle the stage during the ensemble numbers that mark the major plot beats; in these moments, Stockstill conveys the Witch's desperation and the wounded soul that strands her in childish desires.

As the Baker and the Baker's Wife, Kevin Webb and Sonia Goldberg are a wonderfully convincing married couple, beset on all sides with worries. Webb has a tightly wound take on the character that complements Goldberg's grounded and bossy-by-necessity approach to their character. Both are wonderful singers, as well, though Goldberg's belting style gets occasionally extended to its limits (or, perhaps, the stripped down orchestration hasn't quite met their style where it really shines, as it no doubt does).

Madison Kauffman is an engaging, original Cinderella. Whereas the role can occasionally tend toward the jagged, Kauffman navigates the most challenging passages with ease. Dramatically, she also plays the role as slightly more gawky and goofy than is typical to great effect.

As "the kids," Kevin Parra (Jack) and Anna Seibert (Little Red) also offer strong, thoughtful and unique takes on the roles. Parra balances wounded and resilient with great skill, both dramatically and vocally. Seibert plays Little Red as shrewder, more observant, and less bratty than some performers, and like Kauffman, her voice fully realizes what Sondheim surely meant the role to sound like.

In the supporting cast, Emily Goldberg is a standout as Cinderella's Stepmother and Mother. Her voice is top notch, and she makes the comedic and dramatic beats of the two roles fully her own. As the Wolf, Shea Hopkins turns "Hello, Little Girl" into a full-on operatic villain song to great effect, and as Cinderella's Prince, the running joke of his smug mannerisms works from beginning to end. Jonathan Allsop does equally good work as the Steward and Rapunzel's Prince.

Ismael Garcia (Rapunzel/Florinda) and Britain Gebhardt (Jack's Mother/Lucinda) do much of the heavy lifting with their frequent shifts between characters whose roles have rather different vocal styles. Both actors more than meet the challenge.

Kokandy Productions' Into the Woods runs through December 22, 2024, at the Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division St., Chicago IL. For tickets and information, please visit kokandyproductions.com.