With less than two weeks to go before the premiere of the Auburn Community Players’ production of “Into the Woods”, Stephanie and Dave Cox sat in front of the stage at the Auburn Avenue Theater.
It looked as if the theater had exploded. Props, either finished or in the works, littered the small space. Among the pieces were a fireplace, a stove and a two-foot tall papier-mâché cow.
“That was the craziest call I’ve ever made in my life,” said Stephanie Cox, explaining how she procured the cow from Smith Brothers Dairy.
“I called them up and said, ‘I know you have this great cow on your sign. Do you happen to have an old one that we could paint?’ ” she said. “And they called me back three weeks later and told me that they had a papier-mâché one we could use.”
For Stephanie Cox and her husband, Dave, directors of the newly-formed ACP, the procurement of the cow is indicative of the “community feel” of the theater group.
“It’s truly a community thing,” Dave Cox said. “We’re not a stand-alone (group) by any means. We’re leaning on the community.”
Stephanie Cox, who also serves as director of the downtown Auburn Children’s Dance Theater, was approached by the city and asked to form the theater group.
“They called us in February and really wanted to get something going in the Ave,” she said.
So Auburn Parks, Arts & Recreation turned to the creative couple. While Stephanie Cox manages her own dance group, Dave Cox works as drama club advisor and instructor at Rainier Middle School.
The pair immediately went to work obtaining royalty rights to a play.
After being denied the rights to several plays because of the community theater group’s late start, the ACP settled on “Into the Woods”, a musical by Stephen Sondheim that intertwines several Brothers Grimm fairy tales – such as “Little Red Riding Hood”, “Rapunzel” and “Jack and the Beanstalk” – exploring the results and consequences after they all lived happily ever after.
“To get a last-minute show is really challenging, but we ended up with ‘Into the Woods’, which is a favorite of mine,” Stephanie Cox said. “They twist each fairy tale just a little, so it’s different from what you’d expect.
“The thing I love about the show is that in the beginning they all start in their little, individualized compartments,” she continued. “The baker and his wife are taking care of themselves. Jack and his mother are taking care of themselves. And as they go through the story, they don’t really become successful until they work together as a community. And that’s how they resolve the conflict and the situation.”
Hammering a complex story such as “Into the Woods” – which features several different sets and a cast of about 25 – into eight short weeks has been a challenge.
“It takes some outside-of-the-box thinking on our parts to get this to work,” Stephanie Cox said.
Theater staff and other community drama organizations have been helpful.
“They’ve given us free reign in a lot of ways,” Dave Cox said. “(Theater operations coordinator) Jim Kleinbeck has been very accommodating and (Parks, Arts & Recreation’s) Jim Westhusing has given us whatever we need. We’ve also been able to borrow a lot from all three high schools drama clubs.”
Stephanie Cox added: “We’ve begged, borrowed and stolen from them. And (singer, actress) Robin Weakland and the Douglas family, who did the Avenue Theater, let us into their costume rooms. So there has been a lot of luck involved in this.”
The ACP plans to do up to two shows a year, beginning next spring.
“There is a big void left when the dinner theater closed down,” Stephanie Cox said. “A couple of other groups came in and tried to do things. … It’s a huge endeavor, but people really want it. It’s just a matter of getting it off the ground and getting it stabilized. It may take a couple years, and I’m hoping the city will continue to ask us to be involved.”
For Dave Cox, it’s as much about his own personal enjoyment.
“It’s fun for us, more than anything,” he said. “It’s great that the community wants this sort of thing. We’re just fortunate enough to be in a position to help them do this.”
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It’s show time
• What:
• When: 7 p.m., June 10; 7 p.m., June 11; 2 p.m., 7 p.m., June 12
• Where: Auburn Avenue Theater, 10 Auburn Ave.
• Tickets: $15 regular, $12 students, seniors. Call 253-931-3043 or visit www.auburnwa.gov/arts to purchase tickets online.
