Scrambled and re-imagined fairy tales are all over evening TV and the movies, so now is an ideal time to revive Stephen Sondheim’s 1987 hit musical “Into the Woods,” that mashes up Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel and Cinderella.
This weekend, the singer training initiative Mssng Lnks is staging the multi Tony Award-winning show at Roxbury’s Hibernian Hall with six professional vocalists and 17 young adults, a substantial number of whom hail from Dorchester and Mattapan.
In the pivotal role of The Witch (played in the 2002 Broadway revival by Vanessa Williams) is a former Mattapan and Dot resident Jermaine Tulloch. As a countertenor his voice is high enough to sing alto (traditionally female) parts. Now numbered among the professionals, last year Tulloch was in the supporting cast in the important role of Simone, the foe-turned-ally of the heroine in Mssng Lnks’ Boston premiere of Scott Joplin’s “Treemonisha,” the earliest extant opera by an African-American composer.
Tulloch joined Mssng Lnks in 2004 as a teenager at Boston Arts Academy and has gone on to study at institutions like Cambridge’s Longy School of Music.
Fostering promising talent like Tulloch is the life work of Sam Martinborough, the founder and Artistic Director of Mssng Lnks. In addition to directing the show, Martinborough will sing the role of The Wolf.
Mattapan resident Lucile Lea Rezil (Cinderella’s Mother) says, “I joined Mssng Lnks because I want to be the choir director of my church, Tabernacle Baptist Congregation, and I thought Mssng Lnks give me more advanced musical training. Besides, it’s a great way to make friends!”
Ashard Jones (Steward), who lives on the Dorchester-Mattapan line, recalls, “My choral director at Boston Arts Academy persuaded me to look into Mssng Lnks, and at my audition they liked what they heard. Last year I sang the male lead Edwin in Gilbert and Sullivan’s ‘Trial by Jury.’ Right now I’m majoring in Math at Bunker Hill, but I’m planning on studying music in grad school and the skills we learn from Sam like sight-singing will really come in handy then.”
Among the other Dot/Mattapan residents with significant roles are Ellie Lopes as Rapunzel and Xavier Lewis as Jack. Alana Parkinson plays Cinderella’s sister, Florinda; Shiesha Baker-Phillips is Little Red Riding Hood’s Grandmother; and Christopher Doman appears as the Mysterious Man.
Those who always suspected that “happily ever after” wasn’t the real end of the story can catch the show at Hibernian Hall tomorrow and Saturday April 28 at 8 p.m. and on Sunday, April 29 at 2 p.m. Admission is “Give as Able (No amount too small or too large).”
Suggested donation is $15. For more details, visit mssnglnks.org.
