2 princes: Gavin Creel, Joshua Henry trace journey 'Into The Woods' before national tour

Gavin Creel vividly remembers cast members huddled over scripts during moments off-stage at City Center, as the strains of Stephen Sondheim's "Into The Woods" continued around them.

"We were all like, 'What are my lines?' You've rehearsed a Sondheim show in 10 days and you put it up and you're like, 'Do I know what I'm saying?' It was insane. We would come running off stage and grab our scripts. I had cheat sheet index cards in my coat pocket," said the Tony Award winner.

"It's funny because I remember back to that time and how stressed out I was and I'm so relaxed now."

At least as relaxed as one can be doing a Sondheim production on Broadway. The run of "Into the Woods" has been nothing short of extraordinary. The original two-weekend production at City Center Encores in May transferred to Broadway for a summer run that has been extended multiple times. It closes on Broadway Sunday, Jan. 8, and will head out on the road for a national tour with much of the Broadway cast, including Creel ("Hello, Dolly!").

Creel said once the show moved to Broadway, he was more settled and able to play a bit with his roles of Cinderella's Prince and the Wolf. But the best part was "welcoming the new cast members who were not with us," he said, "and making them feel empowered and making them feel comfortable and being there for whatever way we could do for them."

He likened the experience to that of a roller coaster, which is electrifying on its own, but even better when you can share it with a friend for the first time.

One of those new Broadway cast members was Tony nominee Joshua Henry ("Carousel," "Violet"), who plays Rapunzel's Prince.

Creel called Henry "a walking god."

"I look at him up on stage and I'm like, 'Well, I'm better now because you're on stage," he said. "He's so good."

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Henry shared the praise. When they see each other during crossovers underneath the St. James Theatre stage, they take a second to high-five.

"Musically we have the same tastes, spiritually we have a lot in common," Henry said. "And I think we have a work ethic that we just always want to keep trying new things, and he loves to rehearse. He loves to to keep ironing something out, and I really connect with that."

Both princes are relishing the characters they get to portray.

As the Wolf, Creel said, "I come offstage most of the time and whoever's nearest me, I go 'I'm an idiot. I'm a total idiot.' It is freedom to explore mayhem and new ways of delighting and being wicked, in both roles. I find the Prince so deliciously salaciously naughty and self-absorbed in a way that makes perfect sense to me."

One of Henry's favorite moments comes at the end of the show when (spoiler alert), he enters the stage with his and Rapunzel's twin babies. Henry is the father of 22-month-old twins, along with a 4-year-old son.

"As fun as it is, it was an emotional thing to do something on stage that's happening in my real life," he said. "Every night I'm reminded about how precious (my children) are. And sometimes I don't get to see them when they go to bed because I'm doing this show, but it's a really cool reminder how sometimes life imitates art and vice versa."

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So what is that makes this production so special?

"I think what's cool about the show is it's always relevant," Henry said. "It's a really healing piece of musical theater. You see yourself in these characters, which are all fairy tales, but you see yourself whether you are a 10-year-old or whether you are midlife or you're older. You think about where you've been or where you want to go, and it makes you feel a little more seen."

"(The show's) entry point is something that's literally in the American and the international DNA of storytelling for children, the source material," Creel added. "So many musicals are made based on movies that we all know because we want something familiar. This is the most familiar — we don't even remember who probably first told us the story of Cinderella or where we first heard the tale of a Big Bad Wolf and Little Red. ... Somebody told us a story about these fables, these fairy tales, to teach us lessons about life."

Sondheim, who died in November 2021, looms large over the production, Creel said.

"People leaping when Cinderella goes 'I wish.' We hear screams before the lights snap up," he said. "That to me is Steve. Steve in the audience. He's in the intervals of our singing. The production is really simple. The show is obviously quite complex, but the production is so simple. There's nothing to it. I can only believe, besides yes, it's a great collection of people and it's exciting to see them together and a beautiful show, (but) I keep asking, 'Why are they losing their minds like it's a rock concert?' And I can only think that it's him."

The national tour of "Into the Woods" also features Montego Glover as The Witch, Stephanie J. Block as The Baker’s Wife, and Sebastian Arcelus as The Baker. It begins in February at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., following preview performances in Buffalo. It hits Philadelphia in early April.

Visit intothewoodsbway.com for more information.

Ilana Keller is an award-winning journalist and lifelong New Jersey resident who loves Broadway and really bad puns. She highlights arts advocacy and education, theater fundraisers and more through her column, "Sightlines." Reach out on Twitter: @ilanakeller; ikeller@gannettnj.com

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Broadway: Gavin Creel, Joshua Henry trace journey Into The Woods