DEXTER, MI–Matthew Brennan, who directed The Encore’s 2017 award-winning production of Sweeney Todd, returns to direct a fresh, re-imagined and immersive production of Into the Woods. Brennan imagines this telling as a band of story-tellers come together to tell the cautionary tale of how wishes and words have consequences.

Into the Woods tells the story of the Baker and his wife who wish to have a child but learn that they are unable due to a curse that the Witch next door placed on the Baker’s family. The Witch sends them on a journey into the woods to collect items to reverse the spell: 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. The musical weaves together the fairy tale characters of Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and Cinderella, exploring the consequences of wishes and the unforeseen challenges that follow.

“There’s a reason fairytales are told over and over and passed down from generation to generation.” Says Brennan. “What happens when we strip what we think we know of these stories down to their humanity, see ourselves within them, and try to understand why we tell them over and over and in numerous variations and adaptations? If you love Into the Woods, come see us. If you’ve never seen Into the Woods, come see us. If you want to see one of the most remarkable and unique groups of superhumans reshape your perception of what these characters, stories, and music can do, come see us. This is not your mother’s Into the Woods… or maybe it is after all.”

Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s timeless musical masterpiece, Into the Woods, runs from February 15 – March 3, 2024 on The Maas Stage.