Be careful what you wish for …when you go into the woods
Fresh off her starring gig in comic parody Pride and Prejudice (*sort of), Amy Lehpamer reflects on the idea of ‘happily ever after’ in a Sondheim classic heading to QPAC.
There’s extra magic in the air when three of Queensland’s state performing arts companies join forces to reimagine a classic musical about fairy tales.
Queensland Theatre and Opera Queensland’s co-production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Into the Woods showcases the best of both worlds with a stellar crossover cast led by locals.
Amy Lehpamer, Nina Korbe, Kanen Breen, Tom Oliver, Irena Lysiuk, Carla Beard and Liz Buchanan will perform alongside interstate artists Ali McGregor and Justin Smith, to a pumped-up score harnessing the dramatic power of Queensland Symphony Orchestra.
“We’re having incredibly sumptuous arrangements, so it’s going to sound like the fullest Into the Woods that anyone’s probably ever heard orchestrally,” promises Lehpamer.
But one sound will boldly diverge from the standard heard throughout the Tony Award-winning show’s four-decade history – Australian accents. Show director (also Opera Queensland CEO and artistic director) Patrick Nolan’s distinctive choice to have artists use their native accents is a novelty that Lehpamer proclaims, “I really love”.
“That will be new to audience members who have listened to the cast recordings over and over again, and they’ll be hearing it differently for that reason,” adds Lehpamer. “It’s going to be big. It’s going to be rich and ours, and I think that that’s really special.”
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For those unfamiliar with the inspired epic, comprising Sondheim’s lyrics and music and Lapine’s book, it dissects the classic fairy tale promise of wishes coming true – and the consequences when they do.
The story centres on a baker (Smith) and his wife (Lehpamer), whose quest to break a witch’s curse of childlessness sees them encounter a roll call of beloved fairy tale characters – Cinderella (Korbe), Little Red Riding Hood (Beard), Jack, of beanstalk notoriety (Oliver) and Rapunzel (Lysiuk), the most famous of them.
What starts as a fun romp takes a dark turn in the second act, pulling back the curtain on “happily ever after” and reminding us that fairy tales represent both cautionary and aspirational fantasy.
‘the wonder and the potential and the idea of magic … is this concept that’s thrust upon her’
The Baker and Baker’s Wife are real-life people thrust into the magical world of the fictional characters.
“This is a really beautiful role,” Lehpamer declares. “She’s coming from a more real place (as) a flesh-and-blood person. She doesn’t really have magic in her life, so the wonder and the potential and the idea of magic and getting wishes granted is this concept that’s thrust upon her.
“It’s kind of like being thrown into that universe – what if Disneyland was real around you?
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“And so it’s really fun to play with that, trying to keep grounded in a world that is shining and glittering, and offering all of these things. And do you take the offer or do you not? And what are the consequences of that?
“I feel they represent home and that base and reality. It’s lovely to represent home. It’s a really enjoyable thing to play and be reminded of.”
As the mother of a young son, Lehpamer finds the role requires her to invest a lot of herself.
“A strong reflection of who I am and what I feel about the world needs to be put into that character,” she reflects.
Just last month Brisbane audiences saw the in-demand and versatile performer in a vastly different role and musical, the comic parody Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of).
It, like many of the shows she’s appeared in, was a jukebox musical. While acknowledging, “I love them, and the style obviously suits me”, the award-winning artist is relishing the nuances and depth of Sondheim’s work.
“There is a lot of joy and complexity and play that comes from a lyrical genius like Sondheim. And so you’re getting this opportunity to really delve deeply into this text, and play really complicated feelings within one song.
“I’m really enjoying that and the cerebral-ness of it and the problem-solving that these songs ask of you in real time. That’s been something I’ve loved working on and I’m looking forward to sharing with the audience.
“I love working with an audience. That’s the joy of it, and I’m really interested to see how they are affected by the story and where these different songs land.”
Into the Woods plays at the Glasshouse Theatre, QPAC, November 11- 21, and Empire Theatre, Toowoomba, December 3-4.
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