The show — a witty yet melancholy blend of fairy-tale stories that was adapted into a 2014 film with Meryl Streep — was a pilot production for both the community center and the licensing company Music Theatre International. “Into the Woods Sr.” and other musicals tailored to older casts are the brainchild of Freddie Gershon, the company’s co-chairman, who first developed similarly shortened “Junior” productions more than 20 years ago for elementary and middle schools, earning him a Tony Awards honor.

Lenox Hill’s cast represented a wide range of abilities. Some read lines and lyrics off their scripts; others performed from memory. One performer sang and danced while using a wheelchair; another, playing Rapunzel, stood perched on a ladder for much of the show. Most relied on the pianist’s vamping to keep them on track with the rhythmically intricate songbook by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine.

“We didn’t lay back on challenging them to do a good job,” the director, Scott Klavan, said. “I don’t want to coddle people, and I think people respond to that really well, because it’s a form of respect.”

The idea is not to show off Bernadette Peters-level talent or an extravagant Broadway staging, said Mr. Gershon, who himself turns 80 this month. It’s about reinventing yourself in a character — and the joyful whimsy of putting on a show.