Changes to INTO THE WOODS for the 2002 Revival- Page 2
Changes to INTO THE WOODS for the 2002 Revival
#25Changes to INTO THE WOODS for the 2002 Revival
Posted: 2/17/07 at 10:12am
The sets and costumes were the biggest changes. Minor but perfect lyric changes, most noticible in LAST MIDNIGHT, were also there for the die hard fnas to pick up on 
"TO LOVE ANOTHER PERSON IS TO SEE THE FACE OF GOD"- LES MISERABLES---
"THERE'S A SPECIAL KIND OF PEOPLE KNOWN AS SHOW PEOPLE... WE'RE BORN EVERY NIGHT AT HALF HOUR CALL!"--- CURTAINS
#26Changes to INTO THE WOODS for the 2002 Revival
Posted: 2/17/07 at 3:25pmI thought "Our Little World" worked very well in the show. It added a little bit more depth to Rapunzel and the Witch's relationship, and made it a little harder to swallow when you-know-who comes upon Rapunzel in Act II.
My avatar = A screencap from Avatar, arguably the greatest animated show of all
sondhead
Broadway Star Joined: 10/25/06
#28Changes to INTO THE WOODS for the 2002 Revival
Posted: 2/17/07 at 6:12pm
^SHH! He-who-must-not-be-named will hear you!
Don't know if anyone has mentioned this, but at the end of "Step Of The Palace" Jack and Little Red join in..."In the land of the giant...""in the belly of the wolf...""On the steps on the palace..."and scene: the one change I despised!!! It always felt like a sing along to me, plus I didn't want anyone messing with Laura's numbers! At least "No One Is Alone" wasn't tampered with. (maybe it just irked me because I really didn't care for either Jake or LR in the revival...they were fine but not my fav.)
"Now she wants to know WHY, if I'm so fabulous, I would WANT to take care of her child.....I answer with as much filigree and insouciance as I can muster, trying to slightly cock my head like Snow White listening to the animals. She, in turn, is aiming for more of a Diane-Sawyer-pose, looking for answers which will confirm that I am not there to steal her husband, jewelry, friends, or child. In that order."
The Nanny Diaries
#29Changes to INTO THE WOODS for the 2002 Revival
Posted: 2/17/07 at 9:26pmI guess I walked right into that one.
My avatar = A screencap from Avatar, arguably the greatest animated show of all
bjivie2
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/13/04
#30Changes to INTO THE WOODS for the 2002 Revival
Posted: 2/17/07 at 10:00pmQuestion: I know that in the prologue the Narrator had some birds on the end of a stick, but how did they do the birds at the end of the show when the Narrator was dead?
Eeeeeeyyyyyyyyaaaaaaaannnnnddddd aaaaaaaiiiiiiiiyyyyyyaaaaaammmmmmmm teeeeeeeelllllliiiiiinnngg yyyyooooooouuuuuuuwwwaaaahh...
ThankstoPhantom
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/13/05
#31Changes to INTO THE WOODS for the 2002 Revival
Posted: 2/17/07 at 10:13pm
They were projected shadows. Cinderella spoke out into the house as if the birds were flying up in the balcony.
The giant (who was voiced by Judi Dench) had its shadow projetced (and to marvelous effect!). When she was killed, you could see the birds' shadows pecking her eyes out and such.
How to properly use its/it's:
Its is the possessive. It's is the contraction for it is...
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
skingdom
Broadway Star Joined: 6/29/03
#33Changes to INTO THE WOODS for the 2002 Revival
Posted: 2/20/07 at 10:45amFunny I thought the best change was the TRIO JAck Cinderella and Little REd. It brought everything together and sounded great.
#34Changes to INTO THE WOODS for the 2002 Revival
Posted: 2/20/07 at 2:24pm
The revival was a conundrum, and I agree with those who have said that Lapine shouldn't have directed the revival. It seemed forced, like he was making sporadic changes just to be able to say he made changes. Little Red and Jack interupting Cindy's song was distracting and rude. We get it, they've all grown and learned through their experiences, but they already had their friggin' numbers! The extra wolf and especially the Three Little Pigs was not necesary. The lyric change in Last Midnight wasn't bad, but not as good as the original. Vanessa Williams gave one of the worst performances I've ever seen on a Broadway stage. And the fact that Little Red and Jack were played much younger was disturbing. There is a major sexual overtone to this show. And to see these young kids go through some of these things was uncomforting (ie the Wolf's "seduction" of Little Red). Plus, since this was very obviously directed towards a more "family" market, the occasional blue jokes were hard to take as well (like the large, flaccid penis joke mentioned earlier).
The only change I really liked about this production was Milky White. But I think it is quite telling when the stupid COW is the thing that steals the show and all that the reviewers wrote about!
And the set being made of books wasn't all that innovative. My community theater used the same concept back in 1992. I will say though, the set was beautiful. I especially loved the intermission curtain that looked like a huge pile of giant fairy tale books.
VW's hair stood on end during the Witch's trance in the middle of her opening rap. She hissed like a snake, her snake like staff came to life and its eyes glowed red (which just made me think of Jafar from Disney's Aladdin) and her hair went crazy.
I just felt that the whole revival was lifeless and flat. I got a MUCH better sense of fairy tale and wonder in the first act of the original than I did in the revival, hence the second act was that much more heart breaking originally. In the revival I almost didn't care about the people as they died.
Anyway, that being said, INTO THE WOODS is one of my all time favorite shows and I did like the revival. I just felt it didn't hold a candle to the original.
<-- Tevye, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, March 2018
Broadway Star Joined: 12/31/69
#35Changes to INTO THE WOODS for the 2002 Revival
Posted: 2/20/07 at 2:37pmWithout Joanna Gleason, any production of Into The Woods suffers.
skingdom
Broadway Star Joined: 6/29/03
#36Changes to INTO THE WOODS for the 2002 Revival
Posted: 2/20/07 at 6:57pmI never understood the appeal of Joanna Gleason as the Baker's Wife.
Broadway Star Joined: 12/31/69
#37Changes to INTO THE WOODS for the 2002 Revival
Posted: 2/20/07 at 7:31pm
Joanna is perfection in the role--though I like the woman on the London recording too (blanking on her name--she was up for an Oscar for vera Drake)
Wow on the Sondheim forum the revival is almost completely disliked--nice to hear some positive opinions here -- at some poitn I'll have to et the cast album. Can someone say exactly WHAT the three little pigs do in the new piece?
I do LOVE Our Little Wolrd and love a lot about the British version in general--the more dark aspect especially. that site we can't mention has a few neat clips from it (Their wolf has real smoke that comes out of his ears but of course lacks the original's penis--a fair compromise? :P )
E
BroomstickBoy
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/21/04
#38Changes to INTO THE WOODS for the 2002 Revival
Posted: 2/20/07 at 8:07pm
I believe people love Joanna in the role so much because she was so natural in the character. You really believed you were seeing a woman going through these events and emotions, you didn't see an actress playing a part. You saw the Baker's Wife. Her comedic timing and live delivery was more realistic and less like "acting".
That's why the original cast worked so perfectly. You believed they were these characters, not actors playing parts.
I don't WANT to live in what they call "a certain way." In the first place I'd be no good at it and besides that I don't want to be identified with any one class of people. I want to live every whichway, among all kinds---and know them---and understand them---and love them---THAT's what I want! - Philip Barry (Holiday)
Mattbrain
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/23/05
#39Changes to INTO THE WOODS for the 2002 Revival
Posted: 2/20/07 at 8:14pmEricMontreal, you're thinking of Imelda Staunton. I had no idea she originated the role of the Baker's Wife in London. That's so cool.
Butters, go buy World of Warcraft, install it on your computer, and join the online sensation before we all murder you.
--Cartman: South Park
ATTENTION FANS: I will be played by James Barbour in the upcoming musical, "BroadwayWorld: The Musical."
#40Changes to INTO THE WOODS for the 2002 Revival
Posted: 2/20/07 at 9:58pm
It was WAY, WAY, WAY too set reliant and extravagant. The song "Our Little World" was not really important and dragged out the first act.
And The Wife was played by a bland actress who really brought nothing to the part. Joanna Gleason was so perfect, but surely they could have gotten someone as good as her.
#41Changes to INTO THE WOODS for the 2002 Revival
Posted: 2/20/07 at 11:44pm
Our Little World gives an insight to Rapunzel and the Witch's relationship that you don't get so much otherwise...
p.s.
I'm partial, because I'll be playing Rapunzel in April:) and we are keeping Our LIttle World!
and all that I could do because of you was talk of love...
#42Changes to INTO THE WOODS for the 2002 Revival
Posted: 2/20/07 at 11:50pm
I heard, and maybe this was incorrect, that the revival was mounted as a direct response to 9/11 - was that reflected at all on stage or just in the general feeling of the show?
The version I would have loved to have seen was at the Stratford Festival (I think) in Canada a couple of years ago - I read about it online - all black and white and red costumes and scenery and imagery pulled from Magritte paintings. Sounds SO good.
"The theatre is so endlessly fascinating because it's so accidental. It's so much like life." - Arthur Miller
TonyaFanatic
Broadway Star Joined: 12/29/04
#43Changes to INTO THE WOODS for the 2002 Revival
Posted: 2/21/07 at 3:54amVanessa was fabulous as the Witch. She was a little inconsistent though. Her dramatic moments to me were her best on that stage. "Lament" was great as was "Last Midnight". But nothing holds a candle to Bernadette flying around that stage with her cape in her hands and those rapturous orchestrations dancing and screaming with her.
"Girl, this cupcake is the jumpoff"- Adriane Lenox
Broadway Star Joined: 12/31/69
#44Changes to INTO THE WOODS for the 2002 Revival
Posted: 2/21/07 at 9:39pm
I acutally alwasy thougth Bernie was slightly miscast--though i still love her in the role.
the stratford ITW was indeed visually magnificent (http://images.google.com/images?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=RNWE,RNWE:2006-21,RNWE:en&q=stratford%20into%20the%20woods&oe=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi)
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