And deBree’s beautifully voiced Witch is too cruel to be kind. Yet she has her moments of motherly, albeit wrongheaded, feeling. “Stay With Me” begins with her demand for the kidnapped Rapunzel’s fealty, but the song softens, getting at the underlying tensions that course through the musical.

Where she stays grounded, Nicole deBree as the Witch personifies a blazing fire, full of passion and purpose. deBree is futher equipped wtih a voice that truly elevates the character.

Nicole deBree delivers a feisty and emotionally complicated performance as the Witch, mother to a child who just won’t listen and cursed with ugliness after a “bean accident” in her garden. The Witch’s presence never allows for easy answers, and I’m OK with that because deBree brought the house down every time she sang.