KINGSTON, R.I. ­— While there are only three midnights for the baker and his wife to find the cow as white as milk, the cape as red as blood, the hair as yellow as corn and the slippers as pure as gold, audience members have from April 20-23 and 27-30 to see the University of Rhode Island’s latest production of “Into the Woods.”

After legendary “Into the Woods” composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim passed away in 2021, Director Tracy Liz Miller said the University of Rhode Island (URI) 2022-2023 season was the perfect time to both honor his legacy and challenge students with the acclaimed and beloved musical. Miller said she also wanted to use this opportunity to let the design team create a one-of-a-kind world.

“The heightened text and complicated music [makes] it far more complicated than most traditional musicals, with darker and more complex themes, and not a lot of catchy ditties that would perhaps appeal to audiences that want an easier song-and-dance show,” Miller said. “It asks a lot of the audience, taking them on a journey that is unexpected and outside of a formulaic plot.”

Unlike most other musicals, “Into the Woods” has every cast member in a leading role, giving each URI student a chance to shine, Miller added. The play has 18 lead actors, 15 to 16 understudies, a production team of 35 designers, a 12-piece orchestra, technicians, managers, artists, and more.

“Everyone is a lead! Seriously,” Miller said. “Each actor has to fully invest in the complicated story in order for it to work.”

The Tony Award-winning musical intricately blends the plots of classic childhood fairy tales, weaving a plot together with Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Jack (of the Beanstalk). Act one follows a baker and his wife who yearn to start a family — only to be told they must undo the Witch’s curse. To break the curse, they have three days to bring the Witch Red Riding Hood’s cape, a lock of Rapunzel’s hair, Cinderella’s golden slippers, and Jack’s cow. Act two follows what happens after the seemingly perfect “happily ever after.”

David T. Howard, URI current chair of the theatre department, said Sondheim is considered one of the musical theatre industry’s greats — making it vital for URI theatre students to study and be well familiar with his work.

“Into the Woods is usually seen as one of the easier productions, but I find it to be just as complex and unexpected as his other works,” Howard said. “Maybe it is because this one focuses on stories that we think we know: we think we can relax and just listen to the funny songs? But he and (book writer) Lapine find a way to make you take notice. They take these characters we think we know and re-develop them into full fleshed humans. The process of approaching these characters is the same as you might with Shakespeare, or Williams, or Nottage.”

Howard said he hopes to see their students use Into the Woods as an opportunity to explore tone and song complexity.

“Sondheim’s work is complex, both in the language and music he uses,” Howard said. “It is always a challenge to mine the text, rhythms, and tone to discover what he has to offer the performer. His work is never just a pretty song, though there are many of those in his canon. But they are always used to develop the character and inform the audience of the complex human experience.”

Paula McGlasson, “Into the Woods” production manager and URI theater professor, said the students voiced high interest in wanting to perform the Sondheim classic piece — especially in its recent revival success at New York City Center, Broadway and ongoing national tour. In the classroom, she is currently teaching a class this spring semester focusing solely on the history of Sondheim’s work.

In her role as production manager, she “steers” the overall production, setting and monitoring budgets, organizes staffing and coordinates with the box office and front of house. After working on multiple Sondheim productions for URI Theatre, McGlasson said his work gives students a refreshing challenge to push their performance skills.

“Though the productions vary greatly, each reflects the words and music of a genius composer,” McGlasson said. “Actors are blessed to work on his music not only for the vocal challenges but for the acting monologues that his songs [and] lyrics reflect.”

What makes this production different from other productions of Into the Woods? McGlasson had a simple answer: “come and see.”

“If you are familiar with this show, you know that Act One and Act Two are very different,” McGlasson said. “The audience will be charmed and challenged by the themes that this production explores. It can make you laugh and think.”

Howard added that the production is going to focus on surprising the audience.

“There won’t be, at least that I know of, two dimensional trees littering the stage,” Howard said. “From what I have seen, Reneé Suprenant-Fitzgerald’s set is both inviting and full of surprises!”

After seeing the show, Howard hopes audiences will appreciate the hard work everyone from the Theatre department has put into bringing the show to life, from the actors on stage to the students behind the scenes working on scenery, stage management, costumes, lighting and sound. As for the performance itself, Howard notes, nothing is as it truly seems.

“It all feels safe and we know it will be happy-ever-after...until it isn’t,” Howard said. “It reminds us that challenges are ahead for all of us and that the things we wish for, may not be the things that we need.”

There is nothing like seeing live theatre and URI theatre students are the future of the arts, Miller said.

“We are creating the next generation of theatre-makers, innovative thinkers, creative individuals, disrupting preconceived notions, and enriching the learning experiences of all URI students and surrounding community…” Miller said. “Theatre students are arguably some of the most invested individuals in our society, as their arts mirror the human condition. So come on out and support their journey.”

“Into the Woods” is playing at the Robert E. Will Theatre in the URI Fine Arts Center, located at 105 Upper College Rd in Kingston.

Tickets are $20 for the general public and $18 for senior citizens and URI students, faculty and staff. Tickets can be purchased online or by calling (401) 874-5843. For more information on tickets and the University’s COVID-19 policy, go to the URI Theater Department ticket website.