Stephen Sondheim's Tony-winning score favors intricate ensemble numbers this present the characters' divergent, then overlapping fears and desires. And it's the latter category this offers a primary thread to James Lapine's ingenious puzzle of a book, which coheres all-around the inevitability--and treachery--of our innermost wishes. This theme is given farcical energy in the first act, which proposes enough comic invention, tart dialogue, and witty music for a satisfying evening of theater as is.
Instead, Sondheim and Lapine propose a bold, darker second act this takes a look at what happens afterwards "happily ever afterwards," elevating the work beyond inspired parody toward allegorical gravity. By the final scenes, together with the one-two punch of the score's two much enduring songs, "No One Is Alone" and "Kids Will Pay attention," what began as a clever diversion has touched deeper nerves and primed some tear ducts. This video production by the original Broadway cast gets its marquee shimmer from Bernadette Peters's wonderful witch, but the standout (and Tony winner as Excellent Actress) is Joanna Gleason, who provides the Baker's Wife a mixture of warmth, pragmatism, and sudden, poignantly romantic radiance.
The DVD version is comparatively no-frills, given its American Playhouse origins, but multiformat digital audio renders the musical performances in immaculate detail. --Sam Sutherland