A couple of weeks ago, I shared that my husband, Mike, and I had decided to make this a summer of concerts. Rather than taking an official “vacation,” we opted to simply attend any and every concert that caught our attention.

Last Sunday, though, we did something a little different, and it was just as much fun!

Because my husband has a friend and colleague in the cast, we decided to attend Towngate Theatre’s production of “Into the Woods.” I had no idea of what to expect — I didn’t even bother to look up any information about the play. ike wanted to go, and that was good enough for me.

What we saw caught me rather off guard. First of all, I was not expecting the play to be a musical production. Had I known that, I’m sure I wouldn’t have expected it to be nearly as good as it was.

The plot is a twisting, turning take on several different fairy tales that we have known all of our lives. The various characters and moral lessons of each one of them wind together with the others to create a whole new perspective on some of those lessons.

From a Baker and his wife who are cursed and cannot have a child to Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood and Jack and the Beanstalk, the winding story line is punctuated by catchy choruses and impressive individual musical performances that brought the crowd to a standing ovation at the close of the show.

The production was long — we were in the theater for every bit of three hours. But that doesn’t mean we weren’t entertained at every single moment.

In addition to the musical performances, the play is filled with humor, clever quips and even a little bit of amusing betrayal.

The James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim piece is a Tony Award winner for both the book and its score. The Towngate was wise to choose this production, and it is fortunate to have found plenty of local talent to fill its various roles.

Saturday, Sept. 23, marks the final performance date for this show, so if you want to see it, today is the day.

The Towngate Theatre is part of Oglebay Institute’s offerings to the community. Located at 2118 Market Street in Wheeling, the historic church building features limited seating that can be a bit cramped depending on who you are seated next to, but the crowd is always friendly and the venue is a generally pleasant place to catch a show.

The Towngate’s next undertaking is a “Staged Readof ‘Cat on a Hot Tim Roof,'” slated for Sept. 29.

Next up is a live production of “Biloxi Blues.” Show dates include Nov. 3,4, 5, 10 and 11.

Next spring, the theater will present “Rabbit Hole” on March 15, 16, 17, 22 and 23. And in May, there are plans to perform William Shakespeare’s romantic comedy “Twelfth Night” on May 3, 4, 5, 10 and 11.

If you have never been to a performance at the Towngate, you are missing out on a local treasure. It’s a great place to go for a couple of hours to escape reality and the hustle and bustle of daily life. You can sit back, relax and let the well-rehearsed cast take you away into whatever fantastic, fictional world they have prepared for you.

I urge you to check it out or at least learn more about it before you let anyone tell you there is nothing to do around the Ohio Valley.