Page to Stage go ‘Into the Woods’ 

University of Connecticut students gathered into the Student Union Theatre to watch Page to Stage Productions’ rendition of “Into the Woods.” The musical, created by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine, was directed by Isabella Crawford, with two showings held at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Sunday, April 26. 

The first act intertwined famous characters from four fairy tales, “Cinderella,” “Jack and the Beanstalk,” “Rapunzel” and “Little Red Riding Hood,” into a Baker (Billy Lipinski) and his Wife’s (Marina Syed) quest to begin a family. The plot is driven by the couple’s adventures in getting four magic items so a witch (Bella Mercado) can lift a curse off them, with one item from each fairy tale. 

The second act culminates in the death of the Giantess who came down to earth in an act of revenge for her husband who died in Jack’s yard, but throughout we see each character dealing with new gripes and struggling with how to continue onwards after they reached their happily ever after. 

Muntasir Hussain, a sixth-semester computer science major, watched the show with a friend and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. 

“I just happened to tag along for the fun of it and ended up striking gold, like the gold chest in Fortnite meme,” Hussain said. He mentioned that he appreciated how songs from the first act returned in the second. 

“I liked how the music kept coming back in different ways later,” Hussain said. “Which made it feel like everything was connected instead of random.” 

Billy Lipinski, a sixth-semester political science and public administration double major, said the Baker was a dream role for him, thanks to his mom and aunt’s involvement in musical theater; his mother once played the Baker’s Wife. 

“They showed me this show, and I fell in love with it,” Lipinski said. “From that moment on, I wanted to play the Baker so badly.” 

Lipinski did a lot of research into his character, looking into past performances of the Baker in previous productions, but he also appreciated the efforts of Crawford in helping him get into character. 

“She [Crawford] did an excellent job of working with us to figure out who our characters were throughout the process,” he said. 

Working with this cast was a dream for Lipinski, and he said it was “my favorite cast that I’ve had in college theater.” 

“I think everyone just really knew their characters and really wanted to put on a good performance,” Lipinski said. “Because, I mean, you’re only as strong as your weakest link and we didn’t have any.” 

One of the songs Lipinski liked performing was “No One Is Alone,” as it let him probe his character and perform with Greg Mercado, who played Jack. 

“Getting to do that with him [Mercado] and kind of explore our characters in that scene together at the end of the show, was really a treat,” he said. “Greg, who played Jack, is so great, he is such a talented kid.” 

Lipinski said he hopes the audience will learn more about how to empathize with others, and how actions can have consequences. 

“I guess the big takeaway is to just put yourself in the other person’s shoes and remember that it’s not just about you. It’s about everyone going through things all at once,” Lipinski said. 

Hussain said he liked the idea of community that the show promoted. 

“The idea that ‘no one is alone’ shows that you need other people to get through difficult situations,” Hussain said.