Into The Woods Review

[musicaltheatreman2]

Posted: 7/24/12 at 11:29pm

i just wanted to start a new thread for people to post their reviews for into the woods.

Updated On: 7/24/12 at 11:29 PM

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/24/12 at 11:30pm

Are you serious, kiddo?

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/24/12 at 11:30pm

Are you serious, kiddo?

[willep]

Posted: 7/24/12 at 11:31pm

You know there is a whole thread already with people waiting for reviews, right?

[E.Davis]

Posted: 7/24/12 at 11:31pm

Ljay, you saying that with having the Teresa Giudice avatar is just perfect.

[musicaltheatreman2]

Posted: 7/24/12 at 11:32pm

yes i am serious kiddo! deal with it!

the other thread was being bogged down with stupid posts about what a actress had tweeted! who cares!

Updated On: 7/24/12 at 11:32 PM

[jv92]

Posted: 7/24/12 at 11:32pm

Don't worry, OP. No one is alone. Even those who can't read.

[musicaltheatreman2]

Posted: 7/24/12 at 11:34pm

i take it yor talking about yourself

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/24/12 at 11:34pm

What does Teresa have to do with this? lol??? As far as I know, the Real Housewives franchise is not a children's franchise. I can see if I called the OP trashy or something.

[jv92]

Posted: 7/24/12 at 11:36pm

No, I'm not darling. I don't spell you're "yor."

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/24/12 at 11:36pm

[E.Davis]

Posted: 7/24/12 at 11:38pm

It was just the perfect Avatar/Comment combo.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 12:16am

That other thread was inane and insane so I'm putting my comments here and people can read em or not.
First, the show was not ready tonight. I've worked in pro theatre my almost whole long life and don't understand why a professional piece of theatre with the best teams can't be ready on time. It is just beyond me.
There's alot to be savored and enjoyed here but it's still learning to skip. The set looks lovely but there are not enough playing spaces in the trees and the cast had a lot of difficulty going up and down with props costumes etc. Simplify.
The moments where the floor is used or Donna stands on a platform and sings are fine and welcomed.
The costumes were pretty blah, Mueller should kill the designer for showing off her legs. Some things are cute, Jack, Witch, Wolf, Wife and some others are terrible, Cindy, Princes, Jack's Mom, Stepsisters.
Donna is glorious, there's nothing more moving to me than the Murph in a lovely green gown, her hair blowin' in the wind, singing this score, Heaven. Even if dust or smoke get caught in her throat. O'Hare acts the sh8t out of his role. but can not sing it. I loved Glick and Stiles (most laughs), they are both adorable. I do think Adams and Mueller are miscast and would do better switching. Adams is lovely and has her moments but lacks a natural flare for this role. Mueller sings great but her demeaner just ain't Cinderella to me. Adams sings great too.
The pacing was way off and some transistions stop the show flat, that can be fixed. But it needs time to gel and flow at a pace worthy of the show. The score is one of my favs and the band sounds wonderful and 99 percent of the singing is top notch. There were musical timing probs but no one seems to be looking at a conducter so the score has to be mastered and it's not quite yet. I liked it, wanted to like it more, but will def go back wishfull it will be smoother and more defined. The staging is WAY busy.
Go see for yourselves.
The Witch transformation sucked.

Updated On: 7/25/12 at 12:16 AM

[Wynbish]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 12:18am

It's interesting to me that the show did not seem ready when the show was delayed a day.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 12:33am

Working in the park can be problimatic and unpredictable but if you can't work that into the schedule you are a bad planner or less complicate the production.

[uncageg]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 12:46am

I think the show is almost ready. Unless it was just because this was a first preview, they don't seem to be going for the same "feel" as the original. This version is a bit more serious. I can feel it being stronger in about a week and I don't think the cast was going for full voice. I think O'Hare has been miscast. His acting was fine but vocally he just didn't work for me or my guest. Amy Adams was quite good and hope she gets better. Her "Moments in the Woods" was delivered almost flawlessly and I bet by next week it could be flawless. Standouts, so far are Stiles, Glick, Broderick and Zbornick in my opinion.

We wondered if a bug found its way down Murphy's throat during "Last Midnight". She coughed a few times to clear her throat and finished the song with no problem.

The set is pretty cool but kind of gets in the way. Very inventive things happen on it though. I think you have to go in not thinking you will see the original or the revival. The costumes are not what you would expect and there have been a lot of little additions to the characters' behavior. Having the kid be the narrator was genius. (Did they do this in the B'way revival?) The ending was very nice. There was also an extra verse in "Children Will Listen" at the end that was wonderful.

It clocked in at about 3 hours with the intermission. It was interesting that mostly all of the comedic moments that we know got polite laughter but there were other monments that got a bit more. I would love to see this again after opening night. For not having a dress rehearsal I think they did a fine job. It didn't blow me away but it wasn't the worst I have seen. And I am betting that Murphy will get better. She just seemed to be holding back a bit, which I expected. I also hope O'Hare gets better, I like him but he didn't really impress me this evening. Just my random thoughts.

[willep]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 12:51am

They were delayed a day, yes, but their rehearsal last night got rained out, as did a lot of their tech rehearsals in the last week. As reported in the other thread, this afternoon's run was their first full run through with all the tech elements. I am not at all surprised that the show isn't quite ready. It's all a part of outdoor theatre.

[uncageg]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 12:57am

Willep, I know that and took that all into consideration while watching it. And they did a good job with all of those delays. It could have been worse and it wasn't bad.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 1:24am

I would get rid of Donna's crutches, she's hideous enough and with the fingers and crutches and stairs, it's just too much overload.
I wondered if the lighting designer had even lit the show?
There were some very wiered cues and no effects at all.
They needed a whole nother week.
And there was not that much rain in the last two weeks to put them that much behind.
It really bothered me, I've been going to the Del for decades and this was one of the least ready tech wise. The actors went for it and gave their best but it's not fair to put them out there in that condition. And they all could be much better.

[anothervodkastinger2]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 1:42am

Into the Woods is such a special show to me. It was not only the first cast recording I ever bought but it was the first CD. I know that recording breath for breath word for word. My high school was the first high school ever licensed to produce Into the Woods, and Mr. Ulmer did an amazing job. It was pure magic to me. It is the reason I came to New York, and became an actor (and later a witch). So I have been pissing myself for months waiting for this, even going as far as forgiving my long time nemesis, Donna Murphy, for being awful and giving her a second chance. So when my phone rang today and Dan told me he won the online lottery it literally teared up. So here are my thoughts. Totally not a spoiler free zone, so beware. But I will say I loved it.

It was a rough first preview (uh-hem Dennis O'Hare) but INTO THE WOODS at the Delacorte is magical, flaws and all (uh-hem Dennis O'Hare). My Pitchy Witch did not let me down. She sang under pitch every single note (when she wasn't talk singing) and she choked on a bug during Last Midnight, but I liked her a lot. She's kind of like diet Bernadette Peters. After 2 weeks of previews I think Amy Addams is gonna kill it. Little Red NAILED. 10 year old narrator NAILED. The Giant Special Effect NAILED! One question to the set designer? Why isn't the set 10 feet closer to the audience? Once you see it you'll understand. Its such a wildly different concept, but isn't that why we should be reviving shows? Because someone has rethought a classic?

So here are some of the first preview crazies! Dennis O'Hare flubbed tons and tons of lines and lyrics and he might hate Amy Addams. No one can hear the band (clearly). Donna Murphy inhaled a bug during last midnight which sent her into a coughing fit, but she worked through it and nailed the rest of the song (under pitch). The witches quick change was anything but quick. I'd say it lasted 45 minutes all the while poor Donna Murphy had to make stupid sounding "i'm changing into a witch noises" The Opening of Act 2 was the definition of a train wreck, i honestly thought they were going to have to start over from the top, and then the woman playing the stepmother came in with a loud and clear "Happy now, happy hence, happy ever after" and got everyone back on track (she was great). There were racoons lumbering across the background, or was it donna murphy?? the work light which had to be on so the the operators of the giant effect didn't plummet to their death. All of it takes two. the whole thing. but somehow they managed to sing all the same wrong lyrics in unison. If I think of more, I'll add them. now it's time for bed "I WISH"

[kyle4]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 4:23am

not sure where my thoughts about the FIRST PREVIEW go...

they are on my BLOG...

HERE >> http://thetheaterbuff.typepad.com/the-theater-buff/2012/07/into-the-woods-first-preview-thoughts-1.html

but i thought i would mention it here !!!

night !!

[Overkill]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 6:34am

For those who aren't reading the other thread:

In an interview with Chip Zien:

Q: Have you been in touch with James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim since jumping back in?

CZ: I wrote [Sondheim] an email and said, “There’s a lot of dancing. The Mysterious Man is dancing.” He wrote me back and said, “The Mysterious Man doesn’t dance.” I said, “He does in this production.”

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 6:59am

You became a witch because of Into the Woods? I stopped reading.

[jagfkb]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 7:35am

I'm just surprised he actually liked it...

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 8:24am

Two thoughts:

1) There is a good reason for this new thread. The other thread was about all sorts of stuff, not just reviews of the show.

2) No one seems to have said anything about Chip Zien. I am expecting that Zien's appearance would be one of the highlights of the show, the schmaltz factor alone, etc.; but no one has weighed in on this.

I'm seeing the show on 8/7 and hope they get it together. And that the gnats stay out of Donna's mouth.