Stephen Sondheim
Paris based ‘Théâtre du Chatelet’ will show another musical by Stephen Sondheim in this season, none other than ‘Into the Woods’. From April 1st to April 12, David Charles Abell will conduct this beautiful piece in a staging by Lee Blakeley. In ‘Into the Woods’, Stephen Sondheim revisits fairy tales like Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, and Jack and The Beanstalk while bringing them into light against real life lessons earned from venturing ‘into the woods’.
After having seen various works by Sondheim, the audiences at ‘Châtelet’, who are now beginning to familiarize themselves with the works of the Broadway master of the musical, already know that Sondheim will not necessarily be taking it back down the nostalgic lanes of childhood.
All these tales are played out in the forest, a traditional setting for age-old feats that metaphorically represents, in this case, a society in which people of various ages, origins and conditions are encouraged to rub shoulders and try and live together. There is no moralizing stance in this work, but the author casts a human eye on our illusory quest for happiness, where humor and pastiche are ever present in the shape of songs inspired by nursery rhymes and tales in which we find the inimitable hallmark of Sondheim.
Listen, what the stage director Lee Blakeley has to say:
