The Wonder that is "Into The Woods"- Page 3

[suchclumsytime]

Posted: 3/5/05 at 9:13am

WISHIHADATONY, I totally agree with you about Bernadette in the video! She sort of...just stands there and sings. While her vocal performance is amazing, her lack of physical animation bothers me. I know that the character's supposed to have a hunch and be old and such, but *all* she did was point and turn to whoever she was talking to. It bugged me...quite a lot, especially since the lyrics provide quite a few opportunities to physically advance on those they're being sung to.

And Julia, to be frank, kicks her butt. :0)

[magruder]

Posted: 3/5/05 at 10:05am

Parks - The Narrator/Baker's Son subplot was cut, but I really wish they had kept it in. It just brings the show's theme of parents and children and how what we say and do lives on for future generations to a full circle.

[Parks]

Posted: 3/5/05 at 10:20am

"I thought that original plot "twist" of the narrator being the Bakers Son was wonderful and when they threw him to the giant I was speechless..... "

Wait...who did they throw to the giant? The narrator or the son? Doesn't the narrator still get thrown to the giant in today's performances of it?

[paradox_error]

Posted: 3/5/05 at 10:24am

The narrator being thrown to the Giant means that the twist can't happen. The first time KMF saw it the Narrator was the Baker's son, but the second time...out of nowhere...they throw him to the giant, thus killing that particular plot point...

I had never heard of that...and now I do I wish it was still in the show. The Narrators death has always irritated me...though I do love the line..."perhaps we don't like the way your telling it."

Personally I love Bernadette's portrayal of the witch. The only superior performance in that production was from Ms. Joanna Gleeson. I think Bernadette was wonderful!

[magruder]

Posted: 3/5/05 at 10:27am

In early Broadway previews of Into the Woods, the narrator did not get thrown to the Giant, and was revealed at the end as the Baker's Son. Act Two went through a lot of changes during previews, and essentially a new version of Act Two went in, the version as you know it today, where the narrator dies, and the Baker's Son subplot is dropped altogether.

[magruder]

Posted: 3/5/05 at 10:32am

Paradox, I agree with you about Bernadette. Julia McKenzie sings it well, but my god, she's SO sinister.

As for the video version of the Broadway cast, it doesn't help that the audience is going beserk for every nuance and inflection. Bernadette had plenty of dark elements to her performance, but the audience is just going nuts for the campier aspects. It's a bit of a misrepresentation of how that production actually played, but still, it's terrific that it exists.

[paradox_error]

Posted: 3/5/05 at 10:36am

It really is unfortunate that plot was dropped...there has always been *something* flawed about Act Two...that sounds like it ties up the loose ends...

Oh well...

[WISHIHADATONY]

Posted: 3/5/05 at 11:09am

suchclumsytime, thanks for your affirmation of my thoughts! Apparently, we were not alone. The Tony nominating committee agreed by not nominating her. I adore Bernadette Peters and was enthralled with her singing in the theater in ITW, but thought her witch acting was dreadful.

My opinion was reaffirmed when I saw her performance again on video. I don't understand how the creative team "let her" give this performance. But then again, it is often said in musicals, when you are working closely with it, you lose perspective.

Bernadette's weakly acted witch did allow Joanna Gleason's performance to absolutely hearten and glow.

p.s. Neil Simon wrote in his recent memoir that Bernadette was a large reason why the musical of THE GOODBYE GIRL failed. Simply put, Bernadette wanted "laughs." Her feelings are understandable. She was starring with Martin Short in a musical comedy and wanted funny lines that would emanate laughter from the audience. During early previews, Martin Short's charachter was getting all the laughs and this dismayed the divine Bernadette. Neil Simon began book alterations so Bernadette's charachter of Paula got "more laughs." According to Simon, this kinda ruined the piece. Paula isn't actually supposed to get laughs. The charachter of Paula is not the "funny one" in the film, on which THE GOODBYE GIRL musical was based. The "funny one" was Elliot Garfield, played by Richard Dreyfuss in the film. The young daughter charachter was pretty funny too.

Bernadette joined INTO THE WOODS late in the game. There were alterations made to the show to accomodate her star calibre. She did indeed glow like a great star in ITW. However, hopefully someday, the book will be reworked and the show redirected so this masterpiece will be more accessible to the masses and loved by more theatergoers.

[magruder]

Posted: 3/5/05 at 11:14am

Neil Simon is the king of blaming other people for a show's failure, especially women. Bernadette was not the reason why The Goodbye Girl failed. It failed because it was poorly written, featured a second-rate Marvin Hamlisch score, and the most hideous physical production ever placed on a Broadway stage.

[WISHIHADATONY]

Posted: 3/5/05 at 11:15am

Magruder, other then that, how did you enjoy the show? :) teehee

[magruder]

Posted: 3/5/05 at 11:20am

Bernadette is also pretty selfless as a performer and as a person. I'm not certain that she would sacrifice the show's dynamic in pursuit of "more laughs". It just doesn't sound like the way she operates. Both stars gave it their all, but that show just played like a flop from the get-go.

[WISHIHADATONY]

Posted: 3/5/05 at 11:23am

Magruder, I never got to see the musical, but do enjoy Short's and Bernadette's performances on the recording. It certainly does seem, particularly as the years are going by, that Neil Simon, the once reigning king of commercially successful Broadway playwrights, has become quite adept at delegating blame.

[magruder]

Posted: 3/5/05 at 11:37am

In The Goodbye Girl's favor, however, it had the buffest chorus of men and women that I've ever seen.

[VIETgrlTerifa]

Posted: 3/5/05 at 3:53pm

I agree with everyone who praised Joanna Gleason's performance as The Baker's Wife. I felt she gave the best performance in the original ITW.

I also somewhat agree with WISH regarding Bernadette Peters as the witch. I know I'm in the minority regarding this but I felt really underwhelmed by Peters when I first saw the DVD of ITW. I just felt she could've done much more with the role than she did, and I actually understood why the Tony committee didn't nominate her, espcially in comparison to Gleason.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 3/5/05 at 7:30pm

To WishIhadaTony...

Just wanted to correct a few facts in your post...

The original INTO THE WOODS ran almost 2 years (764 perfs) so it clearly found an audience. Variety reported that as of the closing it had not fully paid off (few shows do these days) but the income from the tour pushed it into the black. In the latest TSR it is Sondheim's most popular show with over 100 productions listed.

Bernadette Peters was never submitted for Tony consideration that year because when she joined the production (after Betty Buckley departed) she stipulated in her contract that she would have to leave the show after 3 months to keep a prior agreement to appear in a film. The film was delayed and she extended her stay in WOODS to 5 months. By Tony time she had been replaced by Phylicia Rashad, and the producers felt (rightly so) that Joanna Gleason would have the best chance of winnng the Tony award. (The Tony was presented to her by Bernadette and Joanna made a point of thanking her in her speech.)

You are correct in saying that Sondheim's shows cannot always be fully appreciated in one viewing and yes, sometimes after a first encounter you aren't sure what to make of it all. Critics too. Many of them missed what SUNDAY was all about until Frank Rich kept championing it and others were persuaded to return and take another look. Same with ASSASSINS. The original off-Broadway production got terrible reviews, yet many of the same critics lavishly praised both the revival production and the show itself.

Now, in this day and age when everyone wants fast food and fast service and instant gratification yes these shows may be off-putting because they demand that you a) PAY ATTENTION and B) THINK ABOUT WHAT IS BEING SAID.


I was sent to NYC to review the original WOODS and the same weekend one of the first post-opening performances of PHANTOM.
I knew then and there that WOODS would get Tonys for best book and score because it is so much better written, but that PHANTOM would take best musical on the strength of its production values. If the lyrics and text of PHANTOM had delved more into the character's mindsets it could have been a fantasic score instead of having lush tunes set with empty lyrics.

Much as I enjoyed WOODS at that first visit, I enjoyed it even more later after I had heard the OCR. A subsequent visit to POTO (12 years later) did nothng to change my opinion and I learned nothing new. Everything was there on the surface to be gleaned the first time. SO why people go back and see POTO over and over I don't get. But I do understand why people go back to see Sondheim's shows again and again (like the six wonderful stagings in Washington 2 years ago) and enjoy them more on subsequent visits.

[littlered18]

Posted: 3/17/05 at 10:19pm

I love into the woods, I watch it all the time. I played little red Ridinghood in my 7th grade play it was the most fun I've ever had! (which by the way was just last year) I think I'M the biggest fan of into the woods..... :)
Updated On: 3/17/05 at 10:19 PM

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 3/17/05 at 10:25pm

I highly doubt it.

[littlered18]

Posted: 3/17/05 at 10:36pm

Ok, i'm probably not the BIGGEST fan, but that's what the :) meant.

[LifeGoal]

Posted: 3/30/05 at 2:24am

I tried out for Jack in our H.S. production...but I got Cinderella's Father..."I've always wanted a son." I am probably younger than you guys...I'm in High School...and I know I want to continue with musicals and Broadway because or Into The Woods...(On the verge of being obsessed.)

[Sporkie]

Posted: 3/30/05 at 2:33am

The way is clear,
The light is good,
I have no fear,
Nor no one should.
The woods are just trees,
The trees are just wood.
I sort of hate to ask it,
But do you have a basket?

is ruined for me forever because of forbidden broadways "Into the Words"
What people don't understand is that with Sondheim's musicals you have to go'Into the Words
the metaphors
te synonyms
the homonyms
into the words more letters than they have on wheel of fortune"
ARRGH

[Sporkie]

Posted: 3/30/05 at 2:40am

Oh, also about that whole 'the plot of Act Two is weird' thing
the first time i went to see Into the Woods I went with my family, and at the end of act one tey all were getting ready to go, because they thought it was over, until I pointed out that it was the intrmission. It was pretty funny, but the point is that act one is like an entire musical, and act two seems sort of like it's just been tacked on the end in a way. I never knew the whole story of the evolution of Act two, but it makes a lot of sense. Just act one would actully be doable as a small scale production instead of abridging horribly some other musical. Hmmmn...

[perfusion]

Posted: 3/30/05 at 10:48am

I adore ITW,I didn't get to see it until the end of it's original run.Ellen Foley & the cast were amazing.I went back the following week to see it again,then it closed.I was kind of ticked that I didn't get hooked sooner. Then PBS aired the production with the obc(VCR ALERT)& was so happy that I would get to see the obc (as many times as I wanted),and I loved it.It still ranks up there as one of my favorite shows.All of this ITW talk make want to watch it now,LOL!!!!!!!
As for Benadette & her not getting the Tony nom, she wasn't in for very long. Phylicia Rashad performed at the Tony's that year.So Joanna won and she deserved to,she was amazing.

I saw the revival,liked it but there was something missing.

Updated On: 3/30/05 at 10:48 AM

[John Darling]

Posted: 3/30/05 at 11:16am

Laura Benanti is by far, the best Cinderella. Kim Crosby gave an impressive performace, but doesn't even come close to Laura Benanti's expert portrayal. And what an amazing voice!

[oxdreaminxo]

Posted: 3/30/05 at 11:49am

Sporkie- I agree 100% with the whole Act 1 is like a seperate musical. My 8th grade music class is doing Into The Woods and it's the Jr, version, so it's just Act 1. It figures I have Art this marking period instead *sigh*, but I have friends in it and they've shown me their script. I was so confused when they told me there was an Act 2. Still am, actually. :) However, after being forced to listen to it, I like it a lot!

[musicalsinger20]

Posted: 3/30/05 at 12:35pm

Into the Woods is a wonder! We are actually performing this musical at my college right now. If you want to know about what college I go to check my profile. I really like our cast we have. I play Florinda. I have seen college productions of this and I saw the Bernadette Peters version. I love everyone in that cast. I am not as fond of Cinderella though in that one of the Baker. I think the Baker's Wife is hilarious and so is the witch. I love how animated Little Red is. My favorite song is Noone is ALONE. That makes me want to cry!

Natasha