In Volume 2 of the Broadway musical satire series Forbidden Broadway appears a song called “Into the Words,” kidding Stephen Sondheim’s propensity for verbal gymnastics. I don’t know whether NextStop theatre company’s director and scenic designer (Evan Hoffman and Steven Royal, respectively) for Sondheim’s Into the Woods ever heard the spoof song, but they’ve done it more than one better. Entering the Industrial Strength Theater, the audience is greeted by an entire two-level library, complete with a metal spiral staircase between the levels, calling to mind Henry Higgins’ study in My Fair Lady. Only a few bare trees in the foreground suggest the presence of literal woods. For anyone familiar with the traditional staging of the show, the effect is startling: looks cool, but what are they going to do with it?

Literalism is, of course, not the point of Into the Woods, as it blends Sondheim’s and James Lapine’s takes on several traditional fairy tales; a made-up story about a baker, his wife, and a witch; and a darker story about what happens to the characters after the “happy ever after” ending of the first act. In his comments on the show in his book “Finishing the Hat,” Sondheim recounts an incident in which a group of patrons left the theater after Act 1, believing the show was over. Something similar appeared to happen on a smaller scale at NextStop Sunday afternoon. Suffice to say, much of the development of the show’s major themes — relationships between parents and children, community responsibility — as well as the most inventive and creative uses of the library set, occur after intermission.

Into the Woods is very much an ensemble show, a feeling emphasized by the fluid and sometimes intricate movement of the cast in the larger numbers. NextStop’s actors admirably filled both the larger and smaller roles. As the Witch, Priscilla Cuellar was possessive of her child, Rapunzel; vindictive toward the Baker, his father and his wife; and generally angry at the world. Cuellar gives her role a destructive energy but also has moving moments of sadness and loss concerning her child, singing tenderly in songs like “Stay With Me” and the “Witch’s Lament.” She belts in “The Last Midnight” and is more reflective in the “Children Will Listen” portion of the Act Two Finale. (Interestingly, the NextStop production omits the optional duet for the Witch and Rapunzel, “Our Little World,” Sondheim’s attempt at filling in the mother-daughter relationship.) Cuellar hits whatever emotional tone a given scene or song requires, and she manages well her physical transition from old crone to voluptuous glamour queen.

John Loughney and Katie McManus stand out in the key roles of the Baker and his wife. Sondheim comments in “Finishing the Hat” that he and Lapine intended these characters to represent the feelings and concerns of a modern urban American couple who just want a family and a peaceful life, but who find themselves in a fanciful medieval setting involving witches, giants, and princes. “I’m in the wrong story,” the Baker’s Wife comments in Act 2.

McManus makes the wife’s story one of the most gripping in the play, as she transforms from a wife longing for a baby to a full partner in the couple’s quest to someone who finds a balance between the “or” and the “and” in life, between the reality of daily life with her family in the village and living in the moment in the woods. McManus makes the song in which the Baker’s Wife articulates that transition, “Moments in the Woods,” the highlight solo of the production, not only with her strong, clear voice but with her face and body registering her character’s rapid changes of thought and emotion as the song proceeds.

Loughney teams well with McManus in “It Takes Two,” as the Baker discovers that his previous assumptions about his marriage don’t work so well in the woods. As his character deals with confusion and loss in Act 2, Loughney’s characterization gains depth, and his rendering of “No More” is superb, not only vocally but in showing his exhaustion and near-despair. Despite his own grief, he helps Jack, Cinderella, and Little Red form a new community to deal with a marauding giant and the changed world the characters now inhabit, in the beautifully sung “No One is Alone.” When the original production of Into the Woods opened in 1987, there was some criticism of this song as simply being a reworking of “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” written by Sondheim’s mentor, Oscar Hammerstein. While both involve giving comfort in painful situations, “No One is Alone” is a far more complex lyric, emphasizing the need for, and inevitability of, community, notwithstanding loss and error. It also includes a note of warning: “Careful, no one is alone.”

Jack (Sean McComas), the adventurous boy who climbs a beanstalk and kills a giant, does not have as great an opportunity for character growth as many of the others. He remains a boy who arouses the protective instincts of others, even when the Witch wants to feed him to a vengeful giant. McComas nails his exuberant first act song, “Giants in the Sky,” moving quickly from one side of the second level of the set to the other, and then on down to the playing area floor.

Cinderella (Brittany Martz) does get a longer character arc, from an oppressed girl to the dazzled wife of a prince to a courageous fighter in the war against the giant to disappointment in her wandering husband to becoming a nurturing member of the renewed community, taking on the care of the Baker’s baby. Martz traverses the arc with nary a misstep. Her songs, including “A Very Nice Prince,” “On the Steps of the Palace” (which reveals that this Cinderella is a very smart girl, deliberately leaving her shoe behind so that the Prince can decide whether to pursue her), and her portion of “No One is Alone” are performed as well as anyone could ask for, both in terms of sound and character.

Nora Palka is a very talented singer and actor, and she gives an excellent performance as Little Red Riding Hood. This was a point, however, at which I question director Hoffman’s choices. Palka’s Little Red comes off as a young adult rather than a precocious early adolescent, in consequence losing some of the nuances that make the character a delight. Her first act number with the Wolf (Scott Gaines), “Hello Little Girl,” is more explicitly about sex than usual — no subtext here. The Wolf is a hottie, and Little Red isn’t far into the number before she is running her fingers down his abdominal six-pack. Gaines sings his part of the number in an appropriately ravenous way.

Gaines also plays Cinderella’s prince, which gives him the most delicious comic line of the show: “I was brought up to be charming, not sincere.” He and Scott Harrison, who plays Rapunzel’s prince, team up tunefully in “Agony” and its reprise. Hoffman’s direction calls for them to act out their stylized masculinity in near-melodrama fashion, and their mirror-image blocking adds to the song’s comic effect.

Hoffman made the Narrator (Ryan Manning) a much more active part of the proceedings than in many productions, moving from one portion of the set to another, interacting with and reacting to the characters at multiple points, handing them props etc. In general, he was a much more noticeable and relevant Narrator than one sometimes sees. Danny Trippel was a fey, excuse-making bureaucrat of a Steward. The only relatively weak link in the cast was Blakeman Brophy as The Mysterious Man, whose performance was flat and not all that mysterious. He also suffered from being given an unfortunate wig.

The clarity of the performances permits an appreciation of some of the subtleties of Sondheim’s lyrics. For example, there’s “nice,” used in contrast to “good” by three female characters. Cinderella, as she is being mistreated by her mean girl sisters, recalls that while her mother told her to be good, her father told her to be nice. She comments later that “princes are nice” and has an entire song about “A Very Nice Prince.” Little Red notes that the Wolf seemed nice and that “nice is different than good.” In “The Last Midnight,” the Witch has the last word on the subject: “You’re so nice. You’re not good, you’re not bad, you’re just nice. I’m not good, I’m not nice, I’m just right.” While it wouldn’t be fair to say that Sondheim has an overtly feminist agenda, this language acts to emphasize that niceness — as a feminine trait valued by men in the patriarchal society of these folktales — may well limit the ability of women to be independent moral actors. And being responsible on one’s own for moral choices is of supreme importance to Sondheim in Into the Woods.

Franklin Coleman’s lighting design made extensive use of tightly focused area lighting, with often rapid cuing as characters moved about the set. There was a nice gobo effect of leaves projected onto the floor, an ominous red light from off stage left during the wolf scene, and a bright green light off stage right on the second level for the Witch’s exit at the end of “The Last Midnight.” Kathy Dunlap’s costumes were a visual treat: among others, lovely ball gowns for Cinderella and her sisters; a jacquard look for the princes; dark enveloping swirls of cloth for the Witch when we first see her (augmented by a suitably hideous upper face mask), then a low-cut black sparkly gown with a cape to match after she makes her transformation; a nice wolf fur stole for Little Red; a maroon velvet outfit for the Steward. Props, from all the books in the library (collecting which must have been a prodigious chore) to the very similar scepters of the Steward and Witch to items like Little Red’s goodies and her intimidating knife, are well-chosen.

Eric Kritzler’s sound design was a tale of the good and the bad. The good was in the well-chosen and well-timed effects, whether giant footsteps, a character getting squished, the cow electronically dying, baby cries, or twittering birds. The bad was the volume level of the amplification for the Elisa Rosman’s top-notch orchestra and the actors. It was LOUD, hardly necessary in a house where no one sits more than eight rows from the stage. Note to NextStop: a prudent audience member brings earplugs to a heavy metal concert. At a performance of a Broadway musical, thoughts of needing ear protection should not occur.

And what lovely things the production does with that library. The Narrator takes a book from the shelves to begin telling the story. Cinderella’s birds are books that are lowered from the ceiling area and flap open. Even Jack’s cow, often a two-dimensional cutout, becomes a book cart. In the second act, books fall out of the shelves as the giant attacks the village (the technical accomplishment of shaking the books loose on cue is impressive). The tree that topples to kill the Baker’s wife becomes a bookcase partly falling over and dumping its load of books. Actors have to make their entrances stepping over piles of fallen books, the debris of war. At the end of the second act, cast members come on stage and replace the fallen books on the shelves, as order is restored to their world, and most of the cast picks up a book to read until they must come downstage to sing their part of the finale.

It’s all compelling visual theater, and a very refreshing approach to staging the show, but it succeeds in being a good deal more than that. It says, to me at least, that the sum of our culture is contained in the stories we tell, and that the stories we tell — whether or not contained in physical books — make us who we are. Those stories are what we pass to our listening children. These themes are implicit in the writing of the show; NextStop’s production has found a very innovative way of making the themes tangible.

Into the Woods is arguably Sondheim’s most accessible show, one that has greater depth than a first viewing may reveal. I’ve seen the show many times, from the original Broadway cast through professional and community theater efforts of greater or lesser success. The excellence of the performances and thoughtful design elements make this production one I will remember.

Cast

• The Narrator: Ryan Manning
• Cinderella: Brittany Martz
• Jack: Sean Mccomas
• The Baker: John Loughney
• The Baker’s Wife: Katie McManus
• Cinderella’s Stepmother: Jennifer Lambert
• Florinda: Laura Fontaine
• Lucinda: Jaclyn Young
• Little Red Riding Hood: Nora Palka
• Jack’s Mother: Lynn Audrey Neal
• The Witch: Priscilla Cuellar
• Cinderella’s Father/Mysterious Man: Blakeman Brophy
• Cinderella’s Mother/Granny: Allizon Reggioli
• The Wolf/Cinderella’s Prince: Scott Gains
• Rapunzel: Suzanne Stanley
• Rapunzel’s Prince: Scott Harrison
• The Steward: Danny Tippett
• The Giant’s Wife: Kathie Lee Gifford

Production Team

• Director: Evan Hoffmann
• Music Director: Elisa Rosman
• Choreographer: Lorraine Magee
• Assistant Director: Kristen Pilgrim
• Production Stage Manager: Joan Lada
• Assistant Stage Manager: Laura Moody
• Scenic Designer: Steven Royal
• Scenic Associate: Adam Koch
• Costume Designer: Kathy Dunlap
• Costume Associate: Sue Gattoni
• Lighting Designer: Franklin C. Coleman
• Properties Designer: Sierra Banack
• Master Electrician: Brian Stefaniak
• Sound Designer: Eric Kritzler
• Sound Engineer: Stan Harris
• Scenic Painter: Michelle Urcuyo
• Make-up Designer: Kara Hogarty
• Co-Hair Designers: Sue Pinkman, Kat Brais, Laura Fontaine, Jaclyn Young
• Stage Combat: Kristen Pilgrim, Steve Lada
• Electronics Crew: AnnMarie Castrigno, Michael O’Connor, Max Frost
• Master Carpenter: William Gautney
• Carpenters: Jeff Boatright, Kevin Hunter, Ian Brown, James Finley
• Crew: Barbara Maltseva
• Season Artwork: J. Noah Rubin, Jason Pepping

Disclaimer: NextStop Theatre Company provided two complimentary media tickets to ShowBizRadio for this review.

Confident acting and smart direction make Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol a go-to production for those looking for something new and purposefully off-center during the Holiday season. It has the feel of story-telling around a warm camp fire; it is theater where the human-voice and gestures of one-actor (Ray Ficca) make the difference between just a same-old Holiday-themed show and something more. It is an active production with some pointed edges and humor to go along with its redemptive ending.

Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol is an adaptation of Charles Dickens’ 170 year old classic “A Christmas Carol” but with a twist. There are far fewer “Humbugs” uttered by Scrooge and less focus on Tiny Tim in the work crafted by playwright Tom Mula. The story is not centered upon Ebenezer Scrooge’s life, but that of Jacob Marley, his deceased, departed business partner. The show opens with those well-known words first penned by Dickens, that “Marley is dead. There is no doubt whatever about that. Marley is dead.”

From those words to “Scrooge? I have to redeem old Scrooge?” uttered by Ficca as Marley, the show lifts off with Ficca taking on 18 quite different characters, each with their own persona. Several of the different characters are deeply established through Ficca’s inflections, movements and mannerisms. He becomes the wagon-master narrator of the production bringing along Marley, Scrooge, Bogle, Fred, Fezziwig, Cratchit, a Record Keeper, The Shadow, and others.

Ficca is a twenty-year veteran of the stage. He has served as the President of The National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts in Washington, DC and is a member of the professional Actors Equity Association. Production director Rob McQuary is a multi-Helen Hayes Award nominee both as an actor and as a director.

In an earlier interview, director McQuay indicated that “We all know the classic tale of Ebenezer Scrooge and his miraculous redemption on Christmas Eve. But what about Jacob Marley, Scrooge’s departed, doomed, and chained business partner?” said McQuay. It is a “behind-the-scenes retelling of one of the most famous holiday stories of all time” from the perspective of Marley, Scrooge’s former business partner in the classic Dickens’ tale.

As written by Mula, the ghost of the departed Marley has a major journey of his own to make or he will be tormented forever. He is condemned, as well, to help Scrooge find a way to redemption. In some ways Mula uses Virgil’s “The Aeneid” and Dante’s “Inferno” as guideposts. Even taking one of Dante’s lines; well almost, “Here all hope is certainly abandoned.”

Ficca can makes words come alive with his gestures; especially colorful adjectives and the action of verbs. He can go from gruffness and remorse to effervescence and glee in a nano-second. And he does it over the two-hour length of the production, no easy feat at all, given that he is all alone on stage so near to the audience.

The set design (Jennifer McDuffee) for Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol is visually effective; consisting of three distinct play areas composed of risers, steps and furnishings allowing for action between, around and on to enliven the production.

The lighting (Steve Holiday) and sound design (Ben Allen) are invaluable to the audience’s enjoyment. Lighting gives an aura of winter darkness befitting the themes of the play. Sounds include well-placed echoes, with accomplished thunder, lightning and wind adding to the camp-fire charm of the production. Props include a joyous use of a metal chain as a noise maker and a “tinker-bellish” pink light. There is pre-show music that greets the audience including instrumentals of Christmas favorites played with hammered dulcimer and guitar.

The play is done in two acts. Act I speeds by in a quick hour with its comic effects and introduction of so many characters. And, it doesn’t take itself too seriously. Act II has a longer feel even with its shorter 45 minute run time. It has a more serious tone to it until the final black-out.

Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol illustrates that hope is always possible; that everyone deserves a second chance to open their heart at least a crack. It is well worth a trip to Herndon’s Industrial Strength Theater and the Dulles Corridor’s newest professional theater company.

Photo Gallery

Photos by Jonathan Harvey

Cast

• Ray Ficca

Production Team

• Director: Rob McQuay
• Production Coordinator: Jennifer Lambert
• Stage Manager: Laura Moody
• Assistant Stage Manager: Barbara Maltseva
• Technical Director: David Phelps
• Scenic Designer: Jennifer McDuffee
• Costumes: Kathy Dunlap
• Lighting Designer: Steve Holiday
• Sounds Designer: Ben Allen
• Properties Designers: Jennifer Lambert, Evan Hoffman, and Sierra Banack

Disclaimer: NextStop Theatre Company provided a complimentary media ticket to ShowBizRadio for this review.

Ushering itself in as the newest professional theater troupe in the Northern Virginia area, NextStop Theatre hits the boards with a breezy, playful nod to Alfred Hitchcock in its rendition of The 39 Steps.

Full of frenetic comedy sketches woven together as a take-off on an early film noir classic, The 39 Steps employs four actors in over 140 vastly different roles and impressions that require quick changes and energy levels that must involve a plenitude of caffeine before the performance. The production never takes itself too seriously in its anarchist salute: making mincemeat of Hitchcock’s penchance for whodunits having a wrongly accused man forced on the run.

Knowing old Hitchcock movies can be helpful, but it is far from necessary to enjoy The 39 Steps gags. Loving nostalgia and being in the mood for silliness and lots of ham by an engaging cast is the right mind-set for this escapist fare. The show was adapted by British comedian and playwright Patrick Barlow in 2005 from an original novel by John Buchan (1875-1940) and the later Hitchcock 1935 movie. The play came to America and Broadway in 2008 and won two Tony Awards.

So, what’s it all about? It is August, 1935. An unflappable Richard Hannay, while in London seeing some theater ends up trying to help prevent an organization of spies (the 39 Steps) from stealing top-secret information that would do harm to England. A counter-espionage agent is killed in his apartment and Hannay finds himself accused of the murder. He goes on the run, with a comely woman in involuntary tow, moving about England and Scotland. On their travels, they meet their share of high-speed chases, mistaken identities, close surveillance, and more murder. And, of course, a romance is kindled. Phew.

Director Hoffmann has cast a likeable quartet of actors to give audiences their share of laughter, giggles, and cheese. And that is the purpose of The 39 Steps; to take the audience away from the hum-drum and stresses of everyday real life. Under Hoffmann’s direction, the hard-working cast gives over to a merry chase, milking things at times, and breaking the theater’s Fourth Wall to bring the audience fully aboard. Most scenes are ready for prime-time, but, for some sketch scenes, pruning would do to reduce what can seem long-winded.

For the key role of the “keep calm and carry on” leading man, there is James Finley. He was most recently in Keegan Theater’s A Few Good Men. As in any good leading man in the 1930’s he has a pencil moustache, can hold his body in a “stiff upper lip manner” yet speaks his dialogue with the requisite jaunty air. His mild “Canadian” accent doesn’t falter and he never seemed out of control no matter what is happening. Most importantly, he presents himself with classy demeanor as the comic characters revolve around him.

Nick Rose, clown 2, plays an untold number of characters: usually those of a more nefarious nature, those requiring strong accents, and the ability to grin “with” the audience. He is adept at playing his most repellant characters for snickers. But, at times, his characters stay too long and laughter subsides into more soft, quiet grins. Originally from the Herndon area and involved in the founding of the Elden Street Players some twenty-five years ago, Rose is now working with the professional Cincinnati Shakespeare Company.

Evan Crump, clown 1, is known to local audience for taking on off-center, unusual characters and often enough female roles with delight. He is doing so again. That is a wonderful thing. A recent example was his work with 1st Stage as Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit. Crump is inspired as he plays for full whimsy, in a deadpan manner. He inhabits a character, rather than mocking or being derisive. He is just that character. This is no easy feat.

Crump and Rose together play a cornucopia of characters from a man with a photographic memory, to traveling lingerie salesmen on a train, train conductors, an evil professor, milkman, newsboy, cleaning woman, infirmed politicians to name a few. They also have some spiffy efforts as husband and wife. Their work requires them to quickly don costumes designed by Jenny O’Donnell including changing hats, clothing, and wigs.

Emily Levey plays several vastly different women characters including a secret agent and then Pamela, the growing love interest for Finley even though she does not at first believe in his innocence. She has expressive eyes and body language, especially when showing exasperation and belligerence. For this reviewer, one of her high points was in the crash of a toy airplane; it was just childlike delight. Overall Levey comes off as cutely feisty rather than sensual in her moments with Finley. Levey has appeared in local theater companies such as Keegan, Signature and Studio.

The set design by James Villarubia takes advantage of the interior space of the Industrial Strength Theater venue. It is transformed into the MGM studio prop room. There is an industrial look with well-stuffed shelves brimming with detritus that will be used in the production. There are hidden away areas, a second story and even a well-used exit door marked “no exit.” It is all contrived so that as the actors make their way across England, the moors, Scotland and various interior rooms, the audience is on the conceits. A scene of escaping from a moving train composed of a few crates is splendid.

Sound design by Stan Harris is on the nose. He has found and uses to lovely advantage the music of Hitchcock’s favorite composer, Bernard Hermann. Little snippets of themes from “North by NorthWest”, “Psycho”, ” Rear Window,” and more are there to make audiences prick up their ears in recognition.

So if you are ready for good-hearted chuckles, knowing glances, bright smiles or escapist merriment in a kind-of “no time to think” amusing caper, then The 39 Steps at Herndon’s new NextStop Theater is for you.

Photo Gallery

Evan Crump as Clown 2 and Nick Rose as Clown 1	Emily Levey and James Finley
Emily Levey as Pamela	Nick Rose, James Finley, Evan Crump and Emily Levey

Photos by Rebekah Purcell

Cast:

• Richard Hannay: James Finley
• Annabella/Pamela/Margaret: Emily Levey
• Clown 1: Evan Crump
• Clown 2: Nick Rose

Crew:

• Hair/Makeup: Kat Brais
• Lighting Designer: AnnMarie Castrigno
• Assistant Sound Designer: Brian Christiansen
• Production Manager: Susan d Garvey
• Sound Design: Stan Harris
• Director/Producing Artistic Director: Even Hoffman
• Props Designer: Keven Laughon
• Co-stage Manager: Laura Moody
• Scenic Painter: Katie Nigsch-Fairfax
• Costume Design: Jenny O’Donnell
• Technical Director: David Phelps
• Co-stage Manager: Alexis J. Rose
• Scenic Designer: James Villarrubia

Disclaimer: Next Stop Theatre Company provided two complimentary media tickets to ShowBizRadio for this review.

• The 39 Steps, September – October 2013
• Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol, December 2013
• The Twelve Dates of Christmas, December 2013
• Richard III, January – February 2014
• Into the Woods, May – June 2014

Schedule is subject to change due to performance rights conflicts or other issues. Specific dates of performances and auditions are yet to be announced.

The full season announcement:

Producing Artistic Director Evan Hoffmann is pleased to announce the first professional season for NextStop Theatre Company. “We have developed an exciting season that is focused on the idea of re-imagining ‘possible’,” said Hoffmann. “Unorthodox approaches to classic stories and ambitious challenges to the limitations of our intimate style of storytelling. This season will test every preconceived notion about who we are, how we create theatre, and what we are truly capable of as artists and a company.”

The season will kick off in September with The 39 Steps, adapted by Patrick Barlow from the novel by John Buchan and the classic film by Alfred Hitchcock. This critically acclaimed farce perfectly demonstrates how new life and energy can be infused into a vintage story through “the art of instant illusion-making that is theater” (New York Times). Under the direction of Evan Hoffmann, four actors will portray over 140 roles in this high-speed and hilarious spy thriller!

During the holiday season, NextStop takes on a brand new challenge as we present two regional premieres in rotating repertory. First up will be Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol, directed by 2013 Helen Hayes Award nominee Matthew Anderson. This one-man tour de force, by Tom Mula, takes a fresh look at Charles Dicken’s perennial holiday classic by asking, “what became of Ebenezer Scrooge’s previous deceased (and presumably doomed) business partner, Jacob Marley?”

Running at the same time, The Twelve Dates of Christmas, a new one-woman comedy by Ginna Hoben, provides a uniquely female perspective on the pitfalls of navigating “the most wonderful time of the year” as a single woman in our modern world. Up-and-coming DC area director Abigail Isaac will direct this funny and heartwarming tale, described as a holiday edition of “Sex and the City” for real people, with no Mr. Big in sight.

In February 2014, the incomparable words of William Shakespeare return to the Industrial Strength Theatre, as never before, in a new production of Richard III. Helmed by Dr. Lindsey D. Snyder of the Gallaudet University Theatre Department, this production will re-imagine the Bard’s “rudely stamp’d” monarch, not as a hunchback, but as a deaf man, in a bold new examination of the motivations of one of Shakespeare’s most notorious villains.

Finishing the regular season in May will be NextStop’s largest production of the year, as we transform the Industrial Strength Theatre into the dark and dangerous fairy tale world of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods. Hoffmann, who will again direct, explains that “some of Elden Street Players’ earliest triumphs were found in the creative re-imagining of epic musicals in our intimate 114 seat theatre, what better way to close out our first professional season than with this “giant” and powerful story about the quest for a better tomorrow and the unexpected lessons we learn along the way.