Covey Theater’s ‘Into the Woods’ returns intimacy to Sondheim’s fairy-tale musical (review)

Covey Theater’s ‘Into the Woods’ returns intimacy to Sondheim’s fairy-tale musical (review)

Our first stories are usually fairy tales, told to us as we sit on a parent’s lap or snuggle under the covers at bedtime. As children, when we settle in to hear a fairy tale, half our enjoyment comes from the closeness and intimacy inherent in storytelling. As adults, we respond to the fairy tale magic of Steven Sondheim’s “Into the Woods” even as it twists familiar characters, darkens their storylines, and distorts the conventional happy ending.