PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The musical “Into the Woods” has been bewitching audiences on stage since 1987 and on film since 2014. Now, its latest Broadway production is stopping in Philadelphia on tour.
Some big stars in the theater world — Montego Glover, Stephanie J. Block, Sebastian Arcelus and Gavin Creel — performed in the limited run on Broadway and are continuing on the road. But many would say the real star of the show is a Muhlenberg College graduate who plays …a cow.
Kennedy Kanagawa portrays Milky White, an old cow who can’t produce milk. In this remixed fairytale story, Milky White’s owners are a mother and her son, Jack — as in “Jack and the Beanstalk.”
“The character was originally written to be a prop and is described as such in the script,” Kanagawa said of Milky White.
To bring that prop to life, the production enlisted James Ortiz to design the character as a puppet.
“It has been such a fun exploration of discovery,” Kanagawa said. “I actually have never done puppeteering before. So this was all brand new to me.
“[Ortiz] designed her to just be so endearing. She has the sweetest face. He has glazed her eyes so that in the light, they always look like they’re tearing. So she’s just perfectly pitiful and it’s very easy to love her.”
To create a lovable stage character out of a cow — an animal that doesn’t have much dynamic movement in real life — Kanagawa and Ortiz modeled Milky White’s movements after a dog or cat.
“The number of people that are like, ‘Oh my gosh, you reminded me of my pet at home,’ was really helpful in helping the audience see the relationship between Jack and Milky White,” Kanagawa said.
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In addition to those of the bovine variety, “Into the Woods” features well-known fairytale characters, including Cinderella to Little Red Riding Hood. The music and lyrics were written by the late Stephen Sondheim.
“Into the Woods” will be at the Miller Theater for a limited engagement, April 4 to 9. More information and tickets are available online.