Child abandonment and cannibalism are not your everyday topics of conversation, especially when you're talking to a toddler. Instead, The Puppetworks has chosen to preserve the feel of the classic version without the angst. They've even thrown in a little culture in the form of an aria or two, thanks to Engelbert Humperdinck's operatic adaptation. But the stodginess is relieved by a smattering of animal characters who provide some butt wiggling, a guaranteed laugh getter with the under two set. The story moves along at a steady pace.
Poverty forces the kids to venture into the woods to find food.
Of course, as anyone knows from reading Grimm, the woods are fraught with danger. A comical sandman sprinkles magic dust as fourteen angels hover over the tykes singing a little Humperdinck. By this time we're good and ready for that witch. After the kids discover the house of pancakes, gingerbread and lollipops, magically envisioned in black light, the witch sweeps on stage. She is more funny than scary with crossed eyes and her own wiggly butt.