As children, many of us are lulled to sleep with fairy tales of handsome princes oozing charm and honor and naive Little Red Riding Hood who becomes the unknowing victim of the Big Bad Wolf. But what if Prince Charming were really the bad guy and Little Red Riding Hood were the predator, not the prey?

This unusual depiction of traditional fairy tales and their "happily-ever-after" endings are the theme of the musical, Into the Woods — the final performance of which took place Sunday night. It was the last of seven performances that began on Oct. 23 at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts.

While acting and music are often considered to be the most important elements of this performance, others felt the effects of lighting, scenery and costumes also contributed.

Because there weren't a lot of scene changes, James Zager, director of the performance, said lighting became an especially important aspect of the show.

"It became a character itself," Zager said. "It reflected the mood of the play as well as the changes the story went through."

Preparation for the show started last January, Zager said. Kathy Perkins, lighting designer for the production, traveled throughout Champaign-Urbana taking pictures of sunsets to gather inspiration and ideas for design

Emily Withenbury, sophomore in LAS, said she noticed the amount of time and effort put into the play. She said she liked how the scenery and lighting seemed to work together in the performance.

"I liked the effect of the lights and how the tone shifted from light to dark when scenes changed," Withenbury said. "It made the set seem more realistic."

Zager said one of the major challenges for the production was emphasizing the specific change from Act I to Act II. While Act I shows fairy tales as they are traditionally represented, Act II reveals the consequences that such traditional representations often disregard.

"From the beginning, I thought the acts were really two different plays," Zager said. "I wanted the set design to reflect those differences."

During intermission, stage crew members altered the set for that purpose. Among the changes was the transformation from sheer trees in the scenery to more realistic ones. Zager said this change illustrated the shift from fantasy world to reality.

Samuel Flint, who worked as the scenic designer for the show, said the process of constructing the scenery took around five months from start to finish. He said there were five core members who oversaw the creation of the set while University students and scene shop workers also contributed to scenery construction.

Meg Oeffling, a 1998 University graduate, was especially impressed with one aspect of the scenery: Rapunzel's tower. During intermission, the almost 15-foot tower on the side of the stage "crumbled" to convey the transition between the acts.

"I thought the tower was really unique and different," Oeffling said. "It was a great metaphor for the story."

Zager said another important aspect of the show was make-up and costumes. One of the more striking costumes was that of the witch. Her mask was designed by Nathan Millspaugh, whose previous work in film helped him during the production, Zager said.

The witch character, played by Christina Dideriksen, had to have two different masks for the show. Millspaugh used actual casts of Dideriksen's face to construct the masks, Zager said.

One of the masks was attached to Dideriksen's face while the other was attached to her costume. The latter was used during the witch's sudden transformation from old and ugly to young and beautiful. Zager said Dideriksen had a mere six minutes to change masks during the performance.

The director said he was thrilled with the show and the hard work of the more than 75 people who contributed to it. He said while he is relieved to not have to worry about the show, he is also sad to see its end.

"The last performance is always bittersweet," Zager said.