By Benjamin Heffner | Staff Writer
Image provided by Theatre at the Mount.
Correction 3/25/25: A previous version of this article omitted that Melissa Gates was an Early Education major. This has been amended.
Theatre at the Mount’s (TAM) latest production, Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods, brings together several classic Brother’s Grimm fairy tales, including Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Rapunzel. Their stories are all tied together in a storyline about a childless baker and his wife seeking to start a family who fall under the witch’s curse.
Gail Steele, theatre professor and director of Theatre at the Mount, said she chose the show as a gift to former longtime technical director Jeff Boisseau. “It was one of his favorite musicals of all time, although there were many other people who were interested,” Steele said.
The show was directed by David Allen Prescott, a TAM veteran who recently won a Boston BroadwayWorld Award for Best Actor in a Play as Felix in TAM’s Fall 2023 production of Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple. Prescott took a creative approach to the show with a vision he had developed over many years, choosing to set it in a museum, with the Narrator (Chris Cenotti), and members of the stage crew, playing museum workers. “I was inspired by the conceit used in Elton John’s AIDA, whereby the tragedy is softened by a modern-day second chance, when the ‘reincarnated’ lovers encounter one another in a museum,” Prescott said. He added that he was excited to direct the show because he believes it celebrates everything it is to be human. “It sets the stage with the hope and optimism of these characters who wish for a better life, which is then tempered by the reality of limitations, of the nefarious actions of others, and the unintentionally damaging decisions that they themselves make. It’s ultimately a stark reminder that to be human is to be flawed – but that we’re all doing the best we can with the tools we’ve been given.”
The performance features many veteran TAM stars, including Doug Dame as the Baker, Melissa Gates (currently an Early Education major) as the Baker’s Wife, and Taylor Lawton as Cinderella’s Prince. There are also a few newcomers, such as Christina Pierro Biggins as the Witch, Ben Cohn as the Wolf/Steward, and Rain Smallcomb as Jack. “Our veterans are very well known by our audience members who frequently attend shows here at TAM, and adding new members to our cast keeps that balancing act,” Steele said.
Chelsea Daniels, who recently starred as Maria in the 2024 holiday show The Sound of Music, plays Cinderella. After her mother passed away, her father remarried a miserable woman who made her the maid of the house. Despite Cinderella’s wishes to leave her home and marry a handsome prince being fulfilled, she still feels there’s something missing. “When I leave the prince and decide to live with the Baker, [Little] Red [Riding Hood] and Jack, I’m excited, but at the same time I’m still missing the sense of home I had with my mother and father.” Daniels said. “The last line of the show is my last ‘I wish’ because I never really get what I wished for in the end. My life has changed because I’m now more independent and can take care of myself.”
Prescott acknowledged the cast as “one of the most remarkable casts I’ve had the pleasure of working with,” as well as music director Senja Morgan and her orchestra for “playing some of the most complex and beautiful music written for the theatre.” Further, he says, “I’m very proud of the diverse group of voices that we’ve been able to assemble, and of the truly collaborative process it has been bringing this show to the stage.” Steele also acknowledged Morgan and her orchestra, which is one of the biggest for a TAM production in recent years. “Often, the orchestra overpowers the performance, but they [the TAM orchestra] completely blend in,” she said.
We asked Mount Wachusett Community College students about their thoughts on the production. Science Major, Jay Morris, acknowledged the acting and costuming. “The use of a wooden cow for a prop was smart so that they could carry it into and out of scenes. I also thought it was smart for them to look at the audience while talking to the giant,” he said. Kaylee Guyotte, an early education major, didn’t agree with most of the show’s morals, but still enjoyed the ending.
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