New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
One of the best aspects of the arts is that they whisk us away to a place where there is only the performance, performer(s), and ourselves. For a brief hour or two, we get a respite from our worries, concerns and woes. A much needed and desired distraction whereby we are delightfully taken on a journey of music, poetry, art, or theater performance.
We get to relax and enjoy ourselves, perhaps for the first time that day, week or even that month! This break from the daily grind is healing for the soul, a chance to recuperate. No price can be placed on the experience.
Problem is that often it is because of that daily grind, that we forget to stop and smell the proverbial roses. The Japanese have a great saying “Careful you don’t draw the bowstring too tightly.” Work is an integral aspect of the American life and we can truck along working long days and months can pass by and we forget how important it is to put some slack on that bowstring. Taken a break allows us to recharge and be able to freshly tackle our projects and careers.
One of most popular ways to do this is to engage your brain, eyes and ears with theater performance. An internet search for theater will turn up a lot of hits and there are a number of venues to choose from, all offering a mixture of original creations, classics, and popular contemporary shows. An astounding variety actually.
One that has been around for 50 years – yes, five decades – is the student run UMass Dartmouth Theatre Company which has been pleasing audiences with their University level shows. While anyone in the community can participate in the shows, the performers are typically UMass Dartmouth students. Almost every single one of them are non-music majors – they are studying engineering, medical laboratory science, history, art, English, business and so on.
Their mission is to provide professional theater to the local community and they are celebrating their 50th anniversary with a spectacular classic and perennial favorite: “Into The Woods,” a multi-Tony Award-winning 1987 musical by librettist/director James Lapine and composer Stephen Sondheim.
The musical is based upon the plots of four of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales’ characters: “Rapunzel,” “Cinderella, “Jack and the Beanstalk” and a baker and his wife. While there are other characters included, the main theme revolves around these four.
The baker and his wife wish to start a family but find themselves infertile. They find out that this is because of their neighbor – a witch who placed a curse upon them because the baker’s father stole some vegetables, including six magical beans, from her garden. Magical beans sound familiar?
This witch really took offense with her beans being stolen and cursing the baker’s fathers entire line isn’t enough: she also stole the baker’s sister at birth – our Rapuznel. How to lift this curse so the baker and his wife can produce? Assist the old witch in finding four ingredients that she needs for a potion.
Of course, being a fairy tale, it can’t be as easy as making a shopping style list, not only does the offer come with an expiry of 3 days at the stroke of midnight, but the ingredients are vaguely described “…the cow as white as milk, the cape as red as blood, the hair as yellow as corn, and the slipper as pure as gold.”
Anyone familiar with the Grimm Fairy Tales can see with these clues that the other characters will eventually be introduced. Red Riding Hood needs bread to bring to her grandmother’s house, to which she will go to the baker for, wearing, of course, her red cape. Jack of beanstalk “fame,” wants to sell his cow to appease his mother’s desire for gold and the baker offers 5 magical beans that he found in his father’s jacket. Rapunzel is trapped in the witch’s tower where she was raised by the witch and Cinderella comes into play when the baker’s wife spots her at a festival wearing gold slippers – but she flees the festival to get home before the stroke of midnight.
I don’t do the tale justice, but suffice it to say that these stories are woven together in a thoughtful, clever way over two acts. It is done is such a brilliant way that the musical has been shown since 1988 across America, England, Australia, Japan, Singapore, France, Spain and many other countries. It has played on Broadway, been turned into a movie, won multiple awards, nominated for ten Tony Awards, and won three: Best Score, Best Book and Best Actress in a Musical for the original 1988 production.
While the tale is an absolutely fun and engaging one, what breathes life into it is the performance of the players. When you combine total passion for what you are doing with work ethic, and experience, you get inspired performances that are sure to please. The sets are high production and no expense is spared. The elaborate costumes rival anything you’d see in a Hollywood production.
The performers have been working since the end of September and rehearse amidst course schedules, exams, and other extracurricular activities which makes the high level of production even more astounding.
You can help support the arts at UMass Dartmouth by patronizing the production of “Into The Woods.” To celebrate the 50th anniversary, organizers have paired with Buffalo Wild Wings – print out the image of the “Teammate Card” and bring it with you on your visit from now through December 25th and 10% of your check will benefit UMass Dartmouth Theatre Company. A win-win – you support the arts in the community and get a belly full of mouth watering food!
285 Old Westport Rd
North Dartmouth, Massachusetts
November 10th-12th at 7pm, November 13th at 2pm.
Prices are $10 general admission and $5 student discount.
All performance will take place in the UMass Dartmouth Main Auditorium
Phone: (508) 999-8167
Email: umdtheatreco@gmail.com
Event Page: allevents.in/north%20dartmouth/into-the-woods
Facebook: facebook.com/UMassDartmouthTheatreCompany/
President: Fatima Fraga-Alvarez
Vice President: Lyndon Davis
Treasurer: Meghan Lynch
Secretary: Cheyanne Patterson
