Clive Cholerton has had several good ideas since taking over as artistic director of the Caldwell Theatre last year, but one of his best is the musical theater concert series.
“The whole thing about Caldwell has always been diversity of programming,” he says. “Although it’s very expensive to produce big musicals, we still want that to be a part of the vernacular of what we’re producing. This gives us an inexpensive way of doing it.”
It was only performers at music stands, with keyboard accompaniment and a few slide projections, but last fall’s concert of Stephen Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park With George was so well executed it made my 10 best list for 2009.
And what is Cholerton doing for an encore? He is reaching back into Sondheim’s bag of intricate, innovative shows to produce a concert of Into the Woods, the composer-lyricist’s interweaving of several Grimm’s fairy tales with adult, contemporary themes. It opens Friday night May 21) in Boca Raton and plays through Sunday.
In addition to being playful and entertaining, the show has plenty to say. Among other things, it cautions that “We live in a world that looks for pat answers,” notes Cholerton. “The first act delivers all the pat answers and then takes the wish that was fulfilled and says, ‘Careful what you wish for.’ That’s what I like about what it says, that happily ever after just doesn’t exist.”
Many of the cast members from Sunday in the Park — like Wayne LeGette, Melissa Minyard, Jim Ballard and Beth Dimon — are back, as the Caldwell builds its own informal musical repertory company. And that roster is expanding.
“Well, there’s this little chick named Margery Lowe, who I was able to bring in,” says Cholerton, who happens to be married to the Carbonell-nominated actress. “Honestly, and I can say this without bias, just wait until you hear her sing this music. That’s what Cinderella should sound like.”
If the cast looks a bit nervous tonight, that is because they will be singing this challenging score after just 3 1/2 days of rehearsal. “This is harder music than Sunday in the Park, believe it or not,” says Cholerton. “The rhythms are brutal, and the way the melody is overlaid atop the accompaniment on some of the songs is just impossible. It’s not so for every character, but that Wolf’s song (Hello, Little Girl), he might as well be singing a cappella, because he gets no help in terms of pitch from what’s played underneath it.”
Cholerton calls Into the Woods “probably one of the top three musicals that have ever been written. It’s intellectually stimulating, it’s hilarious and I can say unabashedly, you will never see a better collection of South Florida music theater talent.”

INTO THE WOODS, Caldwell Theatre, 7901 N. Federal Highway, Boca Raton. Tonight through Sunday. Tickets: $25-$35. Call: (561) 241-7432 or (877) 245-7432.