“Ladies and gentlemen, we all walk through life wanting. Wanting to be better at something, to be loved by someone, to be seen for who we really are. Fairy tales give us hope that wrongs will be righted, the prince will come, good will win, and that there is”—she pauses for dramatic effect—“a happily ever after.”

The audience starts to clap, but she holds up a hand for silence.

“But what does it mean to get what you want? What does the ‘after’ in ‘happily ever after’ look like?” She waits a beat. “Into the Woods is about magic and hope, yes. But more than that, it’s about living beyond the neat ending and walking bravely into the rest of your life. And now, without further ado”—another pause—“Into the Woods!”

The music cues up as she makes her way gracefully offstage. I tuck myself back into the shadows and watch as the curtains open on Well as the Baker stage left and Mary Katherine in her position by a spray-painted fireplace, leaning on a broom in her Cinder rags.

“ ‘I wish,’ ” Mary Katherine sings, leaning into her broom, “ ‘I wish to go to the festival…’ ”

And we are off and running.

Act 1 goes all right with only a few minor glitches. Evan forgets his microphone is still on when he walks offstage, and the audience hears him throw his sword down and mutter, “Cheap Walmart plastic toy stabbed me in the leg,” before I can signal Jacob to cut him off. Lacey misses a cue and enters late for her duet with Geneva. But Well, he’s perfect. The stage fright made him just subdued enough to sound genuine instead of showy. I’m so proud I could burst.

When we break for intermission, everyone gathers backstage in a sweaty heap. I find Mary Katherine with her feet in Evan’s lap.

“We need you in the bathroom for your costume change,” I say. Act 2 opens with Cinderella married to the Prince, but she’s got to look a little worn around the edges—smudges on her cheek and her blue satin dress—the “wear and tear of married life,” as Mrs. Nicky put it.

“In a minute.”

This is the part I hate. The part where I have to push.

“No. Now. You have to be back onstage in five minutes.”

“Lou, give her a break. She’s not feeling great,” Evan says, making this the first time he has ever talked to me directly. I look closer at her. She looks a little pale under her makeup, maybe even a little green.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I’m fine! I’m going!” She heaves herself up. “So you don’t have to tattle to Mrs. Nicky, okay?”

Charming Cinderella.