En el Bosque/Into the Woods by Steven Sondheim [] Juarez Theater, Guanajuato

Purchase Tickets Online

When the composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim died on November 26, 2021, at age 91, his status as one of the greatest figures of the modern musical stage was secure. Two theaters had been named for him, one on Broadway and the other in London’s West End. Sondheim wasn’t lauded merely for his extraordinary gifts as a songwriter, but for his audacity. Traditional subjects held no interest for him. He gave us musicals about a pointillist painting (Sunday in the Park with George), a homicidal barber (Sweeney Todd), the westernization of Japan (Pacific Overtures), and historical figures bent on killing U.S. Presidents (Assassins).

His 1987 musical Into the Woods, with a book by James Lapine, interweaves the plots of multiple fairy tales – among them “Cinderella,” “Rapunzel,” “Jack and the Beanstalk,” and “Little Red Riding Hood” – into a dramatic exploration of what happens after “happily ever after.” Like the best fairy tales, the musical is highly entertaining, at times terrifying, and imbued with adult themes. The original Broadway production won the Tony Award for Best Musical, and ran for 765 performances. The show was adapted into a hit movie released in 2014, and it remains one of Sondheim’s most popular works.

On Friday, April 5, and Saturday, April 6, at Teatro Juárez in Guanajuato, Ópera Guanajuato will present a full production of Into the Woods in Spanish, with supertitles in English. Both performances are at 7pm. The 17-member cast is directed by Pablo Mezz and Mario Negrete. The music director is Roberto de Leon, who will be conducting a chamber orchestra made up of members of the Orquesta Sinfónica de la Universidad de Guanajuato.