Into The Woods- Page 3

[QueenS]

Posted: 8/28/03 at 10:55am

I thought Kerry O'Malley was fine in the role, but I never saw her love for the Baker. I wondered why they were still together. She was fine vocally, but sang all the notes and not the song, if that makes sense. At least the night that I saw it. My favorite Baker's Wife was Kay McClelland who moved up from one of the step sisters in the original production. She brought a sensuality to the role that worked extremely well.

I have also never been a fan of Greg's, he tends to grate on my nerves.

Jack, Jack's mother, Red, Stephen and John McMartin were all under par vocally. The duet between father and son in the second act was painful.

Chris, Laura and Stephen looked absolutely mortified everytime they had to break into the jazz square.

It's interesting that several people have mentioned that this production was so dark. It seemed to me that they were trying for every laugh that they could get. Of course, they seemed to be trying so hard for laughs that most of them failed.

[tpdc]

Posted: 8/28/03 at 12:50pm

Didn't Lapine say he cast Ephraim because she reminded him of his daughter and he directed her that way? Maybe he couldn't be objective. Nevertheless, he threw away a good deal of the show with Ephraim's listless,amatuerish performance. As I recall, she got very poor reviews. It's still the only appaling performance I've ever seen on a Braodway stage. Maybe I'm lucky??

[QueenS]

Posted: 8/28/03 at 1:15pm

VERY lucky.

[skingdom]

Posted: 8/28/03 at 6:10pm

I agree with Broadwayguy, ( and now I'm being annoying) I don't get all the Molly and Wylie hate. They weren't the best, but they were fine.

Actually, I am not a huge Greg fan either.

Loved that jazz step. I didn't see the terror and it was better than just standing.

[Broadwaylady]

Posted: 8/28/03 at 7:50pm

I did not see the original Into The Woods but loved the revival. I found it to be a little dark but I think that was the intent. All that cutting off of toes and such. yuck. At my show, Melissa Dye played Cinderella and Jennifer Malenke played Repunzel. Little Red Ridinghood was played by Alison Walla. So I did not see Erin Dilly and Molly Ephraim. I loved Chad Kimball as Milky White, the cow. He gave him a lot of personality. Vanessa Williams was great as the witch. Stephen DeRose and Kerry O'Malley carried the show. I always liked Adam Wylie since his Picket Fences day. Of course, my favorite, was Chris Sieber, as Rapunzel's prince. He also gives humor and talent of every performance. Just his expressions are hysterical.

[flaemmchen]

Posted: 8/28/03 at 10:01pm

One of the reasons why Kerry didn't consider auditioning for Baker's Wife in the first place was because she was SO radically different from Joanna. When they chose her to play the role, they were obviously aware that she would have a completely different approach to the character. She got a lot of grief for playing the character in her own way, but in my opinion, that was the most refreshing thing about her performance: she totally made the character her own, and because she was younger, I felt a lot of things worked better. She had that certain vulnerability and innocence that immediately drew the audience to her, and the fact that she and Stephen DeRosa were younger than Chip and Joanna might contribute to the fighting; they seem to be more like newlyweds who are still getting used to the whole marriage idea. And no love? The way that she looked at him during It Takes Two said a lot to me...

[skingdom]

Posted: 8/29/03 at 1:03am

You go girl!