INTO THE WOODS Reviews — Page 14

Happy Trails to Sara, Brian, Phillipa, Julia, and David!

This cast was truly (in my opinion), the best cast I have ever seen in a Broadway production! I hate to see them go, but we cannot always get what we wish for! Thankfully, we will have them preserved on a Cast Album! Who knows, if the show extends again into next year, they could come back? Not getting my hopes up, but you never know! I am just glad I got to see this cast and cannot wait to welcome the new cast members! I definitely need to see the show again with SJB!

I have no doubt the replacement cast is going to be wonderful.

but Julia Lester as Little Red is SEVERELY gonna be missed. She earns soooo many laughs.

I was there this evening and it was sublime.

Delphi Borich, understudy in the cast, confirmed on her instagram story that Brian D'Arcy James will be back to the show.

I saw it more as BDJ would be back later in the fall if the extra extension rumors are true.

Sebastian isn’t starting this week?

Thank you for the information on BDJ. Glad to hear he'll be back. In a cast with so many standouts, he still managed to impress me. Thought he was wonderful.

New cast starts tonight! As of right now, the cast list is updated on official site, but the graphic still shows the original cast names above the title.

hopefully word of the cast recording release date comes soon!

I was there tonight (Mezzanine, Row K). It's my fourth time seeing this production (City Center, the Sat Mat before opening, two weeks ago, and tonight). Funnily enough, I've had four Bakers in four shows.

Scattered thoughts because I'm sleeeeeepy...

Prelude: ITW is one of my favorite shows. Period. So I go in knowing that I'm going to be moved every time. That said, there were some highlights and some...other lights.

The good:

SJB is very good. She belted the f.ck out of "It justifies the beans", and I gay gasped. Her Moment in the Woods was excellent. Some of her other moments still need to find their timing, but all of her instincts are right.

Krysta Rodriguez made some *wonderful* acting choices throughout. Her "I know" after Little Red's "I Wish" in No One Is Alone was devastating. Her vocals weren't as light or effortless as Philippa or Denee...but her acting more than made up for it.

Andy Karl's Prince was fantastic. His Prince is sexier, swarthier, and hornier than Gavin's, and he found different laughs -- including an unexpected dick joke while seducing the Baker's Wife that made me guffaw. His Wolf was just okay...

Sebastian's Baker was lovely. Truth be told, none of the four Bakers have blown me away...they've all been perfectly fine. Sebastian's No More was the strongest of the four...and I'll be very interested to hear how he's grown into the role over the next few weeks. He was significantly stronger in Act Two.

Katy Geraghty was very good...but seemed a bit of a carbon copy of Julia Lester's take. Which isn't a bad thing, because Julia was phenomenal. But I didn't find any major surprises in her choices.

Other Miscellany...

They forgot the slipper during the stepsisters-trying-it-on scene...which made for a funny bit of banter until it was retrieved.

Kennedy Kanazawa continues to be outstanding.

I like Cole Thompson's Jack more and more each time I see it.

And the rest...

There were a lot of sound cue issues...and some dropped/muffled lines. Nothing major...these things happen...but it was distracting at times.

The show also felt a little less peppy than it has...maybe the tempo was down just a hair so the new cast members could settle in...maybe? But it wasn't quite as vivacious as the other times I saw it.

I didn't care for Montego Glover. She just seemed totally miscast and out of her depth.

I still adore this production. Most of my other quibbles are with the show itself (the timeline at the end of Act One is a hot mess) or with the production (I still hate the way they do the Witch's reveal and death scene). But if you liked it before...or were worried about the new cast...get a ticket!

The mezzanine was only about 3/4 full...couldn't see Orchestra or Balcony, so idk about overall sales...but there's definitely going to be a significant post-Sara dip...which made me a little nervous about future extensions...but we'll see!

kurtal said: "There were a lot of sound cue issues...and some dropped/muffled lines. Nothing major...these things happen...but it was distracting at times."

When I saw the show, David Patrick Kelly dropped a couple of his lines during the Prologue. He was great for the rest of the show, but he certainly had a little trouble with timing during the opening scene.

There was never any intention to run this production indefinitely. If the demand was through the roof, I’m sure they’d find a way to keep it going, but the advance for the current cast is pretty low, so it’s smart of them to just extend through the holidays and go out with a bang if they cast it right.