Denis O'Hare to Play The Baker in Public Theater's INTO THE WOODS!- Page 3

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 5/31/12 at 3:33pm

They both play charming well. I think they'll make it work.

[Owen22]

Posted: 5/31/12 at 4:19pm

Well, in this conception of the show, Denis will be playing two different roles (not the Mysterious Man). Not that he couldn't (realistically) play the second role...he's just a bit too old for the full poignancy needed...

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/31/12 at 4:22pm

"...the pairing of him and Amy Adams makes no sense."

Can you articulate specific ways in which it makes no sense?

[Stew123]

Posted: 5/31/12 at 4:35pm

When Adams meets the prince, most people in the audience will say, yes go for him! Instead of no, what are you thinking?!

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 5/31/12 at 4:37pm

I hope the other people will tell those people to shut up, since they shouldn't be talking during the show.

[PattyO'Furniture]

Posted: 5/31/12 at 6:39pm

Ok, there needs to be "like" and "comment" buttons on EACH individual post. These are some of the FUNNIEST posts I have ever seen on this board. What is going on??

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 5/31/12 at 6:40pm

Second role? Is this doubling kind of a spoiler? (I didn't see the video of the British production.)

[Kad]

Posted: 5/31/12 at 7:32pm

"When Adams meets the prince, most people in the audience will say, yes go for him! Instead of no, what are you thinking?!"

Uh, no they won't, because at that point it's been established that the Prince, while charming, isn't the catch he appeared to be.

Since when is ANY actor playing the Baker equally as physically attractive as Cinderella's Prince, anyway? Which I assume is your problem? "Oh, ew, Denis O'Hare is SO OLD, he's like, fifty! Practically decrepit!"

I didn't even know O'hare's age until this thread. He never registers as "old" to me. Never thought he was a young man by any stretch of the imagination, obviously. But just an adult man.

I doubt people will have trouble buying O'Hare and Adams as a couple.

In a fairy tale musical.

In a space that seats almost 2000.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 5/31/12 at 7:38pm

It's not like they're pairing Amy Adams with John Cullum. I'm sure it will read just fine.

[Ragtime109]

Posted: 5/31/12 at 8:03pm

I love Dennis O'Hare, but I always get confused by casting for Into the Woods. According to the text, wasn't the baker "no more than a babe" when Rapunzel was born? After all, he did not remember having a sibling or his mom being pregnant. I never understand why the baker is often played by a man in his 40s, while Rapunzel is played by someone much younger. With the casting of Dennis O'Hare, Rapunzel should be in her 40's.

[Kad]

Posted: 5/31/12 at 8:11pm

To be fair, that is a problem with most productions of Into the Woods and, possibly, with the text itself. Rapunzel, as a character, can't be much older than, say, twenty. But very rarely will the Baker be cast young enough that the age difference is plausible.

I mean, the whole Baker and Rapunzel being siblings things is basically dropped after the opening number. No one mentions it again. The Mysterious Man doesn't, the Witch doesn't, the Baker doesn't. After Rapunzel dies, the fact that the Baker has lost a sister is never addressed by anyone at all. It's basically stuck in to connect the Witch and to the Baker's storyline.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 5/31/12 at 8:15pm

With the casting of Chip Zien in the original, Rapunzel should have been in her late 30s!

[Kad]

Posted: 5/31/12 at 8:19pm

I was going to say that, Phyl. But my post is already full of remnants of thoughts I typed and deleted.

The Baker/Rapunzel issue is a plot hole that Lapine and Sondheim let go through the cracks. However, I don't think it's a detriment to the show as a whole... the audience typically forgets about it (much like the writers did). The fact it's a fairy tale basically serves as a catch-all for inconsistency.

The only way for Rapunzel and the Baker to logically work is to have Rapunzel be 17-20 and the Baker be 20-24. That's arguably too young for the Baker as the role is written.

[Ragtime109]

Posted: 5/31/12 at 8:27pm

Oh, I agree it could be considered a plot hole, and that the same issue existed in the original (although I don't think Chip read as old as he was) which is why I said I have always been confused by most productions. I don't, however, see why it would be unreasonable to cast a Baker who is around 30 and a Rapunzel who is in her mid twenties. These ages would at least make the sibling idea plausible.

[Kad]

Posted: 5/31/12 at 8:49pm

Because Rapunzel is a tale that's about coming into (sexual) maturity, I really think she can't be mid-twenties.

[Ragtime109]

Posted: 5/31/12 at 8:59pm

Yeah - I know what Rapunzel is about, but an actress in her mid-twenties can still look younger. My point is that they could at least make an effort to make the ages plausible by casting a young Baker rather than casting a Baker who is 50, making him old enough to be Rapunzel's dad. When your talking about professional level theater, directors shouldn't be just shrugging their shoulders and saying, "Oh - the audience will forget that," or "Well, I blame the writers for that one." I'm just pointing out something that I feel has always bothered me, and Into the Woods was one of my first Broadway musicals and is one of my favorite shows. Anyway - I'm sure Dennis O'Hare will act the role well!

Updated On: 5/31/12 at 08:59 PM

[Kad]

Posted: 5/31/12 at 9:14pm

And that's really all that matters. Age is so often fudged in theatre. Did we really believe that Will Swenson and Gavin Creel were teenagers in Hair? Is Andrew Rannells a plausible 19-year-old in Book of Mormon? It's suspension of disbelief. All directors ask audiences to engage in it. If the performances are compelling, no one will really question it.

If this were an intimate production of some American realist play in which Denis O'Hare and Tess Soltau were playing estranged siblings just a few years apart in age... yeah, that wouldn't work.

But it's Into the Woods, in one of the largest theatre spaces in the city.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 5/31/12 at 9:17pm

Yeah, because in pro theatre, actors always hew close to the ages of the characters as written, like Bernadette in Follies or Elena Roger in Evita or Gwen Verdon in Chicago or....

I've never seen people harp about a Baker in Into the Woods being too old until this thread.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 5/31/12 at 9:18pm

Or Mary Martin in The Sound of Music.

[ljay889]

Posted: 5/31/12 at 9:18pm

<3 the complaining about the complaining about the complaining of the complainers.

[Ragtime109]

Posted: 5/31/12 at 9:29pm

Yes, yes! I agree that often actors are not the ages of their characters. But you don't cast Hair with all 18 year-olds and then throw in a lead or two that are in their 30's. You cast it so that the ages are consistent looking.

Not really complaining about this casting (I think O'Hare is an excellent choice based on his acting ability). I was just pointing out that it (like most productions) is not consistent with the text. I didn't know if others had thought of them being siblings since no one had mentioned it. I don't see why people can't bring up a discussion that is actually something a creative team would probably discuss without everyone feeling a need to attack it as complaining :)

I agree that the large space will help. Hopefully if it transfers to Broadway with the cast intact, it will play a large theater as well!

Also, the points you all are making that other actors are not the same age as the roles which they played is not at all the point I am making. Yes - I realize ages are flexible when casting a show. We're discussing a specific line in a play which indicates two characters are a few years apart in age. To cast the one role old enough to be the father of the other is not even getting close to what's indicated in the dialogue.

Updated On: 5/31/12 at 09:29 PM

[artscallion]

Posted: 5/31/12 at 9:31pm

In the original, Jack's mother was played by a woman 42 years older than he was. I don't think anyone either noticed or cared.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 5/31/12 at 9:34pm

They were too busy wringing their hands over Chip Zien and Pamela Winslow not being a few years apart in age.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 5/31/12 at 9:38pm

I was too busy making jokes about Cinderella flicking the magic bean.

[Ragtime109]

Posted: 5/31/12 at 9:43pm

Haha - I realize Chip Zien was older, but I always thought he looked in his early 30's due to his younger face and curly hair so the age difference in the original didn't bother me us much as it has in some productions where the actor was obviously much older. Perhaps Dennis will read younger, and I won't think twice about it.

Anyway - clearly no one else has ever been bothered by this. Just thought I would point it out.

And a mother could be 42 years older than her son. The Baker being 30 when his sister was born is less believable .