Talking Broadway and "Into the Woods" with San Ramon Vally High Drama Teacher

In the 2002-03 school year, Ryan Weible knew his job teaching theater at San Ramon Valley High couldn't last. The rookie teacher was there on an emergency credential.

As he considered his next step, the graduate of Walnut Creek's Northgate High remembered what he kept telling his students: If you really want to make it in theater and work with the best and brightest, you must go to New York.

"I told them that in order to make it in this business, you have to take risks," he said. "I wanted to see for myself if I was cut out for the professional world of theater. In the young version of myself, I thought success involved a Tony Award."

Weible recalls his younger ideas of success as heads into the home stretch of directing rehearsals for a new production of Stephen Sondheim's masterpiece "Into the Woods." The Diablo Theatre Company production plays June 4-20 at the Lesher for the Arts and features Weible's unique interpretation of Sondheim's musical vision of the dark side of fairy tales.

When Weible set out for Broadway, dreaming of his Tony, he had a solid resume. He was a drama star at Northgate High, starred in productions for Stars 2000, Diablo Theatre Company's youth training program, and he earned his bachelor's degree in performance studies from San Diego State University.

More than a good resume, he was passionate about theater.

"I was a bit lost in high school," admitted Weible, who played the lead in Northgate's production of "Look Homeward Angel."

"I needed a place to be accepted and to shine," he continued. "I couldn't do sports to save my life. I had to do something. It was my high school drama teacher who saw something in me. Theater saved my life. I can't with 100 percent say that I would be here if it weren't for theater."

In New York, he more than stayed employed in the theater, itself a measure of success in this fiercely competitive profession. He found jobs—backstage— as a director for several New York premieres, and as an assistant director for a Public Theatre revival of Larry Kramer's "The Normal Heart," starring Tony Award-winning actress Joanna Gleason.

He also worked as a script supervisor and as a research assistant for two Broadway Musicals, one being Sondheim's "Assassins," starring Neil Patrick Harris.

But he soon became disenchanted with New York's theater scene. "It wasn't, in all honesty, what I dreamt it would be," he said. "Theater in New York is business. That's not why I do theater, not what I'm passionate about. I realized a Tony Award is not as important as it once seemed."

Before leaving New York, he obtained a master's degree in theater education at New York University, realizing that teaching theater is what he wanted to do. He came back to the Bay Area and landed back at San Ramon Valley High. He also immersed himself again with the Diablo Theatre Company—this time as a director for some of its most successful recent productions: 2007's "Thoroughly Modern Millie" and last year's "The Producers," both of which won Shellie Awards for the productions and for Weible.

Now, he's set to try out a slightly new concept as he takes on Sondheim's "Into the Woods."  The show takes a sophisticated, sometimes dark and musically-infused look at some of our most beloved fairy tales.

It weaves together the stories of Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella, The Witch and other fairy tale characters to explore the larger theme of how humans rely on narratives to make sense of a chaotic world.

For this theme, Sondheim and his writing partner James Lapine drew inspiration from some heavy-duty source material: "The Uses of Enchantment," a Freudian analysis of children's fairy tales by renowned child psychologist Bruno Bettelheim.

"Into the Woods," Weible said, is rich with "such deep and thought-provoking ideas about children. And because I'm a teacher, that has resonance for me."

Weible's new concept for "Into the Woods" is that he frames it within a story set in an orphanage during the Great Depression. Two young new arrivals come to the orphanage, feeling frightened. The headmaster tells them a story to assure them that they are not alone. The characters, music and story of "Into the Woods," including the less happy-skippy second half, come to life in that orphanage.

"The headmaster tells the story, facilitated by the other orphans, so that every new arrival can see something beautiful in the non-traditional family structure," Weible said. "They think they need a mom, a dad, and a white picket fence to have a family. What this drama shows is that a family can be anything."

Weible says that Diablo Theatre Company is giving him artistic freedom to take some chances, the kind of chances he couldn't take in bottom-line-neurotic New York.

"Every theater has to worry about ticket sales and self-survival," he said. "But here, it's not about making people rich, and that's what it felt like it was in New York."

Weible,  also an instructor at Diablo Valley College, said it's fantastic to be back in the East Bay: "I get to do stuff like this, make artistic choices and work with a company that supports you really exploring your craft." 

In addition to framing this "Into the Woods" in the orphanage setting, he also hired the talents of two beloved figures in his theater career. His Northgate High drama teacher, Jack Derieux, now retired, will play The Myserious Man. And, Joanna Gleason is providing the voice of The Giant. 

Weible is also happy to have realized his calling as a teacher, even though he's dealing with state budget cuts. His program at San Ramon Valley High is no longer full time, and each of his three classes is crowded with up to 35 students. 

"It's scary that arts are falling by the wayside," he said. Still, he remains passionate about what he's doing, in the classroom and in East Bay theater houses. "I feel like I've come full circle."

"Into the Woods" plays June 4-20 at the Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek.  A special hour-long children's version of the show will be performed 10 a.m. June 12. The fairy tale characters will come out into the audience to meet the children and pose with kids for photo opportunities. 

For information and tickets, call 925-943-SHOW (7469) or visitwww.lesherartscenter.org.