It's all in the Hair! A look at the classical fairy tale of Rapunzel

Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah….j/k (if you don’t get this joke, come see the show!)

Okay…I have a confession. I knew NOTHING of Into The Woods at all when I auditioned for it at Artes de la Rosa! (I kind of have a bad habit with doing that… I did the same thing when I auditioned for In The Heights!) I always sort of avoided this musical because I’m a fairytale/ Disney / Princess /Mermaid /Unicorn FREAK and didn’t want anything messing with my beloved fairytales. But the day would of course come when I would need to give it a chance, and I’m so glad I did. Not only is ITW truer to the actual Grimm’s Fairytales than any Disney movie could ever be, but it teaches a much deeper lesson – everything you’ve ever wished for may not be what you actually want.

 

Rapunzel & Jack!
Sarah with Jeremy Coca

So then which do you pick:
Where you're safe, out of sight,
And yourself,

but where everything's wrong?
Or where everything's right
And you know that you'll never belong?

 

 

Sarah Maria Dickerson at
the first reading of the script

Can you imagine your entire LIFE being alone in a high tower with no one to accompany you except a witch that claims to be your mother popping by to climb your insanely long hair every so often? It would be blissful ignorance to an extent, but the want for knowing what else is out there in the world would have to be so great. Rapunzel has one thing in the show that no one else has – she is The Witch’s one weakness. Rapunzel is The Witch’s world. She is the only one with the innocence to see her as nothing more than her mother – not a witch, not an evil villain, but the one person in the world who even exists to her. To have that when all the rest of the world shuns her is something she cannot lose. Hence, why Rapunzel is locked away from when she was a baby and can never leave the tower – if she left, she would learn the "evil" of the world –her mother is a witch, someone to fear. She lets Rapunzel believe that she needs nothing else in the world but her.

Backstage look at the press photo shoot!

But of course, The Witch’s over-protectiveness and control gives Rapunzel no life skills or way to cope with the outside world. If she ever left the tower, what would happen to her? The version of Rapunzel that most people know is very lighthearted - everything works out in the end, the magic hair OMG etc...but if you want to know the not-so-Disney outcome of Rapunzel’s life (and everyone else’s as well!) you may want to come see our production of Into The Woods.

I feel incredibly blessed to be given this opportunity to bring a new view of Rapunzel to the audiences of Artes de la Rosa and our beloved DFW theatre community. I hope to see you here at the show – be sure to come say hi to me afterwards and give me a hug! Much Love, Sarah



Careful the spell you cast
Not just on children
Sometimes a spell may last
Past what you can see
And turn against you...