I always thought that the people who got confused and left Into the Woods at intermission were a theatre urban legend. - Page 2

[adamgreer]

Posted: 7/26/15 at 1:30pm

Don't these MUNY shows rehearse for about a week? That may explain why the performances are often so sloppy. 

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 7/26/15 at 1:46pm

10 days is the norm for rehearsals there, with tech being midnight to 5:00 am the Sunday after the previous show closes.

It's a hell of a schedule and crazy conditions between the typical St. Louis heat and humidity, so god bless those who can commit to it.

[ggersten]

Posted: 7/26/15 at 2:06pm

The MUNY - Chorus Girl to Star

The MUNY is a tough place to perform as Ann Miller found out in 1972.  But, it did create a great local theatre story.

Carol Burnett commented on her television show about the primary light source is on stage - and certain flying things are drawn to the light - and when you open your mouth to sing, sometimes things fly in.  

[rjm516]

Posted: 7/26/15 at 2:14pm

Wow that is such a great cast too! How did that happen? Does this theatre usually draw such names? 

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 7/26/15 at 2:23pm

They've had bigger names.  

I still don't think I've ever seen a Muny show where nearly everyone seemed so not up to the task, especially when the run was almost over.  

Updated On: 7/26/15 at 02:23 PM

[Ado Annie D'Ysquith]

Posted: 7/26/15 at 2:38pm

That sounds like a total fiasco! What a shame, considering the actors they corralled are normally so good. The incorporation of kids makes no sense to me. And paraphrasing lines? Eek. Call MTI...

Add me to the list of people who laughed way too much at the Jack's Mother cue thing!

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 7/26/15 at 2:48pm

I understand why they would use kids.  The story deals heavily with parenthood and the things and ideas you leave to your children, but it doesn't sound like they incorporated the children into the story very well.

It would make more sense for the children to sing Children Will Listen as a warning to their parents to spread good morals to their children.  Having the adults sing it to a group of children just doesn't make sense.

Oy 

It's time for an Into the Woods hiatus.

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 7/26/15 at 3:00pm

"That sounds like a total fiasco! What a shame, considering the actors they corralled are normally so good. The incorporation of kids makes no sense to me. And paraphrasing lines? Eek. Call MTI...
Add me to the list of people who laughed way too much at the Jack's Mother cue thing!"

 Failing to memorize your lines isn't reason enough to call MTI. It seems odd that they didn't have the script memorized before rehearsals began. I have worked for a LORT class D theatre before (equity summerstock) and it was mandatory to have all lines memorized before they reported for their 10 days of rehearsal.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 7/26/15 at 3:15pm

That video gives a good indication of how Headley was for the first chunk, where she dully says "One midnight gone."  Maybe she didn't want to break a sweat too early because her make-up as the ugly Witch and the beautiful Witch was the same. Also, I didn't notice until just now that because the Mysterious Man and Cinderella's Father were played by the same actor it was the MM who said, "The closer to the family the closer to the wine."  

And I can't believe no one told Rob McClure that the lyric in "No More" isn't "until that happier day arrives."  He did it last night and on the video, so I'm guessing that's how he does it every night. 

But you know, the BWW review praised how the director clearly had a real deep understanding of the show, so maybe all these issues are just mine.

Updated On: 7/26/15 at 03:15 PM

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 7/26/15 at 3:52pm

"  And I can't believe no one told Rob McClure that the lyric in "No More" isn't "until that happier day arrives."  He did it last night and on the video, so I'm guessing that's how he does it every night. "

 Sometimes once an actor has memorized something wrong it becomes damn near impossible to fix. I've seen that happen before, especially when people come in to the first rehearsal already off-book. That's part of the reason I personally hate companies that try to require people to be off-book before the first rehearsal, as it often leads to things being locked in and difficult to change. That's also one of the reasons Equity does not actually have any contracts that allow a theatre to require being off-book by first rehearsal, not to mention that's a lot of work an actor is doing without being paid pre-rehearsal. Not that some companies won't still try to enforce it, but if push came to shove Equity would side with an actor who refused to do this over the company who tried to make them.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 7/26/15 at 4:07pm

And I can't believe no one told Rob McClure that the lyric in "No More" isn't "until that happier day arrives."  He did it last night and on the video, so I'm guessing that's how he does it every night. 
But you know, the BWW review praised how the director clearly had a real deep understanding of the show, so maybe all these issues are just mine.

I haven't seen the production, but I noticed that immediately when I watched the preview video. It completely changes the meaning of the lyric. 

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 7/26/15 at 4:09pm

There were lots of almost-but-not-quite-correct lyrics sung by many of the actors. 

[tbeebe]

Posted: 7/26/15 at 4:09pm

" And I can't believe no one told Rob McClure that the lyric in "No More" isn't "until that happier day arrives."  He did it last night and on the video, so I'm guessing that's how he does it every night. "

 I can't speak to all of the paraphrases as I did not get to see this production, but upon checking my copy of the script what McClure sang is the correct lyric printed in the currently licensed copy of the score. 

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 7/26/15 at 4:14pm

Actually, I just listened to the revival recording and it's "happier" on that. I guess it was a revision by Sondheim.
Updated On: 7/26/15 at 04:14 PM

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 7/26/15 at 4:15pm

If it's an authorized copy of the score from MTI directly, I can assure you it's not a misprint. It wouldn't be in circulation with a misprint. 

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 7/26/15 at 4:17pm

In the Follies score I had, it definitely had misprints. 

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 7/26/15 at 4:19pm

I haven't done any MTI shows that were published in recent years, but I've definitely seen plenty of instances from them, as well as all of the others, that had misprints, and then trying to decide if the score or the script were correct.

[tbeebe]

Posted: 7/26/15 at 4:20pm

The scores from MTI definitely go out with their fair share of misprints, but I'm pretty positive this was a change that was made as this is also the lyric that was used in the 2002 revival. 

Updated On: 7/26/15 at 04:20 PM

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 7/26/15 at 4:24pm

Yup, it seems that way.  What a wholly unnecessary change. 

[Hamilton22]

Posted: 7/26/15 at 4:29pm

I'll be seeing The Muny's Beauty and the Beast with my dad on August 7th. He is from St.Louis and used to go to the Muny all the time to see shows, so I surprised him with Tickets. He told me the shows there are amazing. Not sure what to expect after reading this thread..

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 7/26/15 at 5:49pm

The lyric was changed long before the revival. It appears as "until that happier day arrives" in the first printed edition of the libretto as well.

[Ado Annie D'Ysquith]

Posted: 7/26/15 at 5:50pm

Wow, wow, wow, fellas! I was joking about calling MTI. But it does seem to have sparked an interesting debate on script misprints, etc....

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 7/26/15 at 6:03pm

In my Follies score, it reads in "Loveland" - "Time is measured by a bleeding heart"

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 7/26/15 at 6:08pm

It does in mine, too.   And in Lucy and Jessie it says "tell her that she's sweeter than apple pie."

[Ado Annie D'Ysquith]

Posted: 7/26/15 at 6:11pm

I really need to take a screencap of what just happened: Sally Durant Plummer and Phyllis Rogers Stone comparing their Follies scores.

Love it!