Butler Lyric Theatre at Broad Ripple High School Auditorium
Stage director, Scott Robinson
Musical director, Matt Smart
Nov. 12-15

Stephen Sondheim plucked forth the music and lyrics from the book conjured up by James Lapine for a musical that opened in 1987, was revived in 2002 and has been a favorite for community and school theatres. There’s no happily ever after ending in this longish 3-hour shifting-moods story with a lighthearted, joke-behind-every-tree Act I turned into an upside-down melancholy, here’s-a-lesson-to-learn Act II. Challenged by the sound system, the troupe of Butler students relied on physical characterization to get their particular points across to add up to a "gigantic truth” [pun intended]: wishes come with consequences, everything has a price, ultimately everyone pays for the choices they make. Cinderella, Jack, Red Ridinghood, Rapunzel and The Baker and his Wife tangle into each other’s dis-satisfactions with sub-plots set into motion by a Witch with transformative powers and commented upon by a Narrator, doubling as a Mysterious Man who pleads: “How was I to know…” as an excuse to Jack’s defensive “It’s all your fault…” and collides with an admission by Cinderella’s Prince: “I was raised to be charming, not sincere” and the Baker’s Wife’s show-stopping, “I’m in the wrong story.” Luminous costumes contrasted the black woods setting. The orchestra, with Butler and BRHS students in the pit for Saturday’s matinee, ably mastered the conflict-laced arrangements. It proved a worthy first collaboration.