INTO THE WOODS Reviews- Page 25

[BCfitasafiddle]

Posted: 12/29/22 at 3:44pm

I don't know why, but that underwhelmed me a bit honestly. Phrasing seemed off.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 12/31/22 at 2:55am

Just watched the video of Joaquina performing The Last Midnight. Not impressed. She seems out of breath and just yelling (much like the Tony performance.) This cast just gets worse and worse. They just keep throwing in under rehearsed people. Tony or not, I’m glad she’s not touring with it. They should have closed it when all the originals couldnt continue. 

[GiantsInTheSky2]

Posted: 12/31/22 at 8:33am

Bettyboy72 said: "Just watched the video of Joaquina performing The Last Midnight. Not impressed. She seems out of breath and just yelling (much like the Tony performance.) This cast just gets worse and worse. They just keep throwing in under rehearsed people. Tony or not, I’m glad she’s not touring with it. They should have closed it when all the originals couldnt continue."

Worse and worse? Underrehearsed? Jesus, what an over dramatic comment. You don’t like someone’s take. It’s not that deep. 

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 1/8/23 at 6:29pm

Final Broadway curtain call:

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CnK_v5IsdVO/?igshid=MWI4MTIyMDE=

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 1/8/23 at 6:35pm

What a special performance today was. And Joaquina has grown SO. MUCH. in just a couple of weeks - total respect for how she’s been able to transform her Witch into. Thankfully the audience didn’t make the day all about themselves with whooping and screaming at every line. A few standing ovations after some songs (3, methinks) but otherwise nothing distracting. 
 

Now I want to know #WhatDidStephanieWhisper to Sebastian after “It Takes Two”. 

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 1/8/23 at 6:40pm

Bettyboy72 said: "Just watched the video of Joaquina performing The Last Midnight. Not impressed. She seems out of breath and just yelling (much like the Tony performance.) This cast just gets worse and worse. They just keep throwing in under rehearsed people. Tony or not, I’m glad she’s not touring with it. They should have closed it when all the originals couldnt continue."

i strongly agree that that clip of Joaquina singing LM was brutal. I saw her live in Paradise Square and she was magnificent, but this was rrrrrough. I disagree just as strongly that this beloved show should have closed because.... Joaquina isnt good? When Patina left a few weeks ago? When Bareilles left, and was replaced by the phenomenal Steph Block? What are you saying?

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 1/8/23 at 6:44pm

I haven’t seen that clip but she wasn’t out of breath and yelling today. 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 1/8/23 at 6:49pm

Again, she gave a MUCH different act two performance today than she gave a couple weeks ago. 

[MarilynMonroeSmash]

Posted: 1/8/23 at 7:05pm

I have to agree that I was really blown away by Joaquina after seeing her last week. I was a little worried since she joined so quickly for a short period, but she made the role so much her own. The Last Midnight video they put out really does not do her justice. I was worried after watching it because she does sound out of breath and yelling, but in person she is excellent. Definitely so happy I made another return visit to see her!

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 1/8/23 at 7:40pm

I was at the final performance today as well. Not much to say other than how grateful I am to have gotten to see it as many times as I did, from City Center to now. A true gift of a production, and I adored the replacements and understudies I’ve seen just as much as any of the principals. And that orchestra, my word.

Shoutouts to Joaquina Kalukango, who was an absolutely fantastic Witch with such a short amount of rehearsal and performance time. Would be thrilled to see what she would have achieved with a proper rehearsal process. And to SJB for justifying those beans like a true Elphaba - dramatic hands, screlt, and all.

I’m really glad this gets to tour. So many friends from outside the city wanted so badly to catch it, and it’s pretty incredible that they’re getting the whole works.

[SouthernCakes]

Posted: 1/8/23 at 8:31pm

Bettyboy72 said: "Just watched the video of Joaquina performing The Last Midnight. Not impressed. She seems out of breath and just yelling (much like the Tony performance.) This cast just gets worse and worse. They just keep throwing in under rehearsed people. Tony or not, I’m glad she’s not touring with it. They should have closed it when all the originals couldnt continue."

I agree the clip wasn’t great but I actually wish she was touring with the show! I’d love to see her in Chicago with Block. Much prefer her to Glover.

[Dylan Smith4]

Posted: 1/8/23 at 9:44pm

While I only saw this production once, I will always treasure the pure magic I saw on the St. James stage! Anyone who saw the original cast last summer saw a once-in-a-lifetime experience in my opinion! The sheer talent from that cast is something I haven't seen on a Broadway stage in a long time! I hope many of them come back to Broadway again! Especially Sara, Julia, Patina, and Phillipa (yes I know she's gonna be in Camelot). This will be a show I look back on and tell my kids about one day! While I am sad to see this beautiful production leave the Great Bright Way, I am happy to see it go on the road so more and more people have the opportunity to see it! As the show says, you can't always get what you wish! I don't know when we will see Into The Woods on Broadway again, but I don't think any future production will come close to the beauty and magic of this one!

[willep]

Posted: 1/8/23 at 10:34pm

*Great White Way

[Dylan Smith4]

Posted: 1/8/23 at 10:53pm

willep said: "*Great White Way"

It's the Great Bright Way now. 

[carousel94]

Posted: 1/9/23 at 9:04pm

Off topic, but several articles about the closing have referenced this production having 44 previews, which seemed outrageous to me. Here is one example from this site.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/4-Broadway-Shows-Close-Today-20230108

I went to IBDB to verify and they too have that preview count and an opening night of August 6th. I could have sworn it opened and was reviewed July 10th…

[RippedMan]

Posted: 1/9/23 at 9:13pm

Dylan Smith4 said: "willep said: "*Great White Way"

It's the Great Bright Way now."

Did something that was referencing the white of a light bulb somehow become racist? 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 1/9/23 at 9:36pm

carousel94 said: "Off topic, but several articles about the closing have referenced this production having 44 previews, which seemed outrageous to me. Here is one example from this site.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/4-Broadway-Shows-Close-Today-20230108

I went to IBDB to verify and they too have that preview count and an opening night of August 6th. I could have sworn it opened and was reviewed July 10th…"

You are correct. All the reviews at the beginning of this thread were from July 10. That's also the date Playbill has as opening night:

https://playbill.com/production/into-the-woods-broadway-st-james-theatre-2022

Someone screwed up somewhere.

[DigificWriter]

Posted: 2/8/23 at 3:39pm

Nobody screwed up.

 The production worked out a way to get Brian d'Arcy James- who wasn't available on July 10th - eligible for a Tony by negotiating an agreement with the Broadway League allowing them to list their Opening Night as August 6th rather than July 10th.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/How-INTO-THE-WOODS-Worked-Around-the-Tony-Rules-for-Brian-dArcy-James-20230206

Updated On: 2/8/23 at 03:39 PM

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 2/8/23 at 4:48pm

So not a screw-up. A deliberate lie for awards purposes. Got it.

It's too bad for FUNNY GIRL that Jared Grimes got a nomination. If it really had gotten none, they could try to claim their opening night wasn't until Lea started.

Updated On: 2/8/23 at 04:48 PM

[JSquared2]

Posted: 2/8/23 at 5:30pm

MemorableUserName said: "So not a screw-up. A deliberate lie for awards purposes. Got it.

It's too bad for FUNNY GIRL that Jared Grimes got a nomination. If it really had gotten none, they could try to claim their opening night wasn't until Lea started."

 

Nope.  Doesn't work that way.

 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 2/8/23 at 5:43pm

JSquared2 said: "MemorableUserName said: "So not a screw-up. A deliberate lie for awards purposes. Got it.

It's too bad for FUNNY GIRL that Jared Grimes got a nomination. If it really had gotten none, they could try to claim their opening night wasn't until Lea started."

Nope. Doesn't work that way."

Well...duh? It was a joke. As always, thank you for your invaluable contribution to the boards.

 

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 2/8/23 at 5:44pm

I'm still confused why this either hasn't been a thing before or why it's allowed now, mostly in relation to how much effort it seemed to take to make sure Andy Karl was actually there on opening night of Groundhog Day.  Is it just because the production found a loophole and everyone else kind of just accepted it?

[DigificWriter]

Posted: 2/8/23 at 7:50pm

Who knows why the Broadway League allowed them to make the change, which isn't really a lie because it was sanctioned.

Brian d'Arcy James deserves to be Tony-eligible for his performance, not only because of his talent, but also because he only missed the July 10th performance because he was ill, which is a circumstance completely out of his control.

 

Speaking of the Tonys and Into the Woods, I really hope Sara Bareilles also gets a nomination for her role as BDJ's onstage partner because she absolutely slayed the song Moments in the Woods.

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 2/9/23 at 12:04am

I’m…not seeing the big deal here. They altered the date post Mortem to include their “official cast”, of which the Broadway league needs for logistics reasons. Doesn’t mean they were in previews post opening (yes, the official count says otherwise). I’m viewing it (and I hope the Broadway league begins to) as 1st preview-original opening as previews, rest as official official opening, and the new opening as final preview date. But…in the long run, this board is going to over analyze it. 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 5/3/23 at 11:36am

So I saw this last night here in Chicago and loved it - mostly because of the top notch cast. (Rapunzel was probably the weakest link. Her singing wasn't very angelic and her acting was nonexistent). But damn, how did she get nominated for direction? There was some really effective parts - loved the little houses above each grouping at the beginning of each act, and I liked when the trees would shake and move. But the actual direction / blocking was downright bad. During "No One is Alone" Cinderella and Little Red just walk upstage and turn their backs to the audience while the Baker does his bit then walk back downstage. Just thought all the blocking was bad, but I guess the overall concept was fine? I wanted more use of the stage. The actress playing the Giant was great, but I hated her long walk-offs because the stage is so wide. Anyways, totally check it out. I was impressed by how wonderful Sondheim's lyrics are and just how clever the whole show is. Once you strip all the big sets and stuff you really focus in on those things. And the house went wild for Stephanie J Block's "A Moment in the Woods."