Squeakie & Into the Woods

“Once upon a time…” Ever wonder what happens after happily-ever-after? A baker and his wife set off to remove a curse placed on them by a beguiling witch, and in the process find their lives interwoven with Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Jack (and his magic beans), Rapunzel, a wolf and a couple of princes as their paths cross in the woods. Bernadette Peters starred in the Tony Award-winning Broadway production of this enchanted tale of growth and self-discovery. If you think you know the stories from the Brothers Grimm, think again!

We’re taking Squeakie in to the vet to see about her eye. Charlie apparently brought home with him a condition called “Kennel Cough,” a sneezing and throat congestion similar to whooping cough in humans, and quite contagious. He’s now his usual active self, but Squeakie seems to have contracted it. Normally, like all calicoes, she talks all the time, in her typical squeakie tone, but now she just makes little quiet squawks with nothing much coming out, and her right eye has swollen and is discharging fluid. Without treatment, kennel cough can lead to pneumonia and death. Time to see the vet. As for Charlie, he’s just as crazy and strange as before. He likes to sleep in a cat bed we have on a living room chair. Most cats would curl into a ball when sleeping in such a bed. Not Charlie. He stretches out with arms and legs hanging out over the edge. Sometimes, he even sort of drips out, head down, front legs hanging. One little extra move and he’d tumble out and onto the floor. What a delightfully odd little person.

We just got our lineup for next season’s Arizona Broadway Theatre shows. Looks good, especially one I’ve wanted to see for a long time, Sondheim’s Into the Woods. I used this show in my American lit classes to demonstrate the kinds of theatrical tricks a set designer could use to create interesting stage effects. But besides the staging, the story and music is some of the best ever. It should be interesting to see how ABT chooses to stage it—the opening triple locations of Cinderella, Jack and his mother, and the childless couple; the Rapunzel castle, the giant, Jack’s beloved cow; the flights of one group or another through the woods; the witch’s transformation from ugly to beautiful. In addition to Into the Woods, we also have Oklahoma, Hello Dolly, Annie, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and 9 to 5. There are two more, Buddy (the Buddy Holly Story) and Trailer Park, but we’re going to skip those.