INTO THE WOODS Cast Recordings
Aug 12
2012, 05:52:36 PM
The performances on the OBC have not been equaled, but the orchestra is oddly flat and buried too far in the mix. Tunick's orchestrations come out far more vibrantly on the OLC. The opening "Clang" after "Once upon a time..." in the prologue is just what Sondheim had in mind, I think, when he said he wanted to give the audience a jolt to signify they should abandon their expectations.
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Cringeworthy Lyrics
Jul 7
2012, 10:31:33 PM
A few Sondheim lyrics that I hate:
"Wishes are children."
Just insipid. And the rest of "Children Will Listen" isn't that hot, either.
"And me and you
We'll be singing it like the birds
Me with music
And you the words"
Ouch. Is it just me, or does "birds" not REALLY rhyme with "words." It forces the singer to pronounce "words" and "werds" and it just makes me shiver with embarrassment.
Almost anything the solders sing in "Passion" is cring
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Encores! Merrily cast recording available for pre-order
Jul 2
2012, 12:18:53 PM
I didn't see it live, but Keenan-Bolger all but ruins "Now You Know," or at least her passage, by sacrificing the song's melody and swing for perfect diction. We may not hear every single letter of every single word when Ann Morrison sings it, but, at least on the OCR, her solo portion is a showstopper.
With Keenan-Bolger, I can practically hear her thinking, "OK, make sure you stress the T at the end of every 'don't'!"
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Encores! Merrily cast recording available for pre-order
Jun 28
2012, 12:03:48 PM
Anyone know why, when Tunick was reorchestrating, why he didn't replace the "Rich & Happy" portion of the overture with similar portions of "That Frank" instead of just cutting the portion entirely? My ears still think something's missing.
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Encores! Merrily cast recording available for pre-order
Jun 5
2012, 10:03:10 AM
I wish, again, they could have eased up on the enunciation by about 5%.
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Anyone seeing FOLLIES in LA tonight?
May 12
2012, 08:35:45 PM
Poor lizabombs must have had a conniption when he heard the news.
I think we can all agree green is a disastrous choice of color for Sally's dress, for obvious reasons.
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Anyone seeing FOLLIES in LA tonight?
May 6
2012, 09:34:57 PM
What, exactly, is your understanding of "winning an argument", Lizabombs? Is it that everyone sits around and applauds your wonderful insights?
No, it's perhaps acknowledging that someone can have a different opinion without being told I need to "think" about it more, as joey said.
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Anyone seeing FOLLIES in LA tonight?
May 6
2012, 07:34:28 PM
Girl, please.
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Why was the original Dreamgirls so expensive?
May 6
2012, 07:33:24 PM
thanks!
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Why was the original Dreamgirls so expensive?
May 6
2012, 07:17:09 PM
What book is this??
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Anyone seeing FOLLIES in LA tonight?
May 6
2012, 07:11:19 PM
So why is it so important to you to justify a decision the costume designer himself reconsidered?
My main point was that your insistence that Sally can't wear a red dress is baffling. And instead of just disagreeing, you told me I should think first before posting, as if somehow my opinion is wrong and yours is right because, well, because you say so. Sorry, bud. My opinion is as valid as yours, unless you are Mr. Sondheim himself or the ghost of James Goldman.
It's beyo
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Anyone seeing FOLLIES in LA tonight?
May 6
2012, 04:44:34 PM
Well, clearly I was paraphrasing. But that is in essence what he said: that by entering in the "wrong" color, the audience won't know she's bold or passionate when she's really weak and needy. Sorry, but if the script is strong enough, it won't matter what color her dress is. And when I saw her in DC with family members who didn't know anything about the show, they somehow figured it out, red dress and all.
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Anyone seeing FOLLIES in LA tonight?
May 6
2012, 04:35:51 PM
So the only way you learn about a character is what costume they're wearing the first time you see them? That's just insane.
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Anyone seeing FOLLIES in LA tonight?
May 6
2012, 04:16:51 PM
Fair enough, lizabombs. If you think a costume reflects nothing more than a shopping choice, then that is one way to go.
Obviously I'll never win this argument. I guess we'll just leave it with me thinking there are more ways than one to interpret Sally's character, and you thinking that your way is the only true way, and everyone else be damned.
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Anyone seeing FOLLIES in LA tonight?
May 6
2012, 04:02:05 PM
No, a lesser effect. You're planning on having the two leading ladies wear the same color all night long?
But Phyllis didn't wear red in this production, so that's irrelevant. If Phyllis in '71 can wear red all evening and then come out in red for Loveland and it's effective, then it stands to reason Sally's choice of red in '11 isn't going to have some kind of debilitating effect on Phyllis' Loveland entrance.
OK, Liza, your turn: what does a red dress tell us about
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Anyone seeing FOLLIES in LA tonight?
May 6
2012, 12:01:52 PM
EVEN IF the script did specify the color of Sally's dress, any of us might have an opinion as to whether that description was right for the character.
You're correct. But the folks here screaming about Bernadette's original red dress act like theirs is the only acceptable opinion.
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Anyone seeing FOLLIES in LA tonight?
May 6
2012, 12:00:37 PM
How can her dress have at startlingly red effect if Sally has been wearing s startlingly red dress all evening long?
About the same effect it had in the original, when Phyllis wore red all night long.
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Anyone seeing FOLLIES in LA tonight?
May 6
2012, 01:04:14 AM
But because we didn't write the show we're not allowed to have opinions about interpretations of the script?
Obviously you can have interpretations of the script, but this insistence that Sally would never wear read because "red is Phyllis' color" (whatever that means) is just ludicrous. There's nothing in the script or the stage directions or in anything the authors have said about it that indicate Sally cannot wear red.
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Anyone seeing FOLLIES in LA tonight?
May 5
2012, 02:51:03 PM
The obsession on the part of some Follies fans that Sally shouldn't wear read is just plain baffling. If the color of the dress were that important, it would be somewhere in the text.
Also, you guys didn't create these characters -- James Goldman and Stephen Sondheim did. If wearing red were so damn contrary to her character, why would Sondheim even let it happen?
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Donna Murphy as The Witch in Into the Woods at the Delacorte.
Apr 5
2012, 10:42:16 AM
@qolbinau
her "I read" is spectacular, no doubt. But the way she milks "Bet your ass" in "Could I Leave You?" is just indicative of what I don't like about her. You can always see her performing as opposed to disappearing into a role. Meh.
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