Into The Woods. Revival — Page 2

An amazing production. The technicalities were GREAT! I loved, LOVED the sets and costumes and special effects. The costumes really stood out for me. Susan Hilferty is just wonderful.

I really liked the revival also.

Kerry O'Malley stole the entire production. She should have been up for a Tony! She was so brilliant!

Vanessa Williams got better, I saw her in previews and she was alright, but really found the character a month after.

However, I still like the original more I think judging by the video.

Laura Benanti stole the show. She was brilliant, the show was much less interesting after she left. O'Malley was fine, everyone else was okay, but Benanti in that role. The music, lighting, sets and Benanti were what made the show.

I was not a fan of this revival. I liked certain aspects, but overall I did not leave the theater enthused. I'm a little out of it, so please bare with the following ramblings and random thoughts:

Like some others have said, it felt to be directed in a more 'kid-friendly' direction, which took away from some of the grit that are even in the origianl fairy tales.

I loved Laura Benanti's Cinderella. She was definitely the highlight of the production.

I enjoyed Adam Wylie to a certain extent on the acting side of his role, and John McMartin had some fun moments(not worthy of a Tony nomination, in my opionion)


And of course, Chad Kimball was fun as Mily White.(that was probably the fifth production I had seen with an actor playing Milky, and out of them, I would say it was the most effective)

I enjoyed the sets and the technical aspects.

Vanessa Williams was beautiful to look at it, but I think her performance was laughable. I could have done without the mugging, and I would love some depth in her character. And Last Midnight didn't build to a climax. All the changes to the song didn't bother me, but she didn't even build up to the 'Mother, Here I Come', physically, vocally or emotionally. I don't entirely blame her, I think a great deal of what ended up on that stage was the result of some poor direction.

At times I felt like Lapine was going for gimmicks and quick pay offs that were just distracting.(3 Little pigs, anyone?) By doing so, I think he robbed the show of some of its heart. In addition, I don't think he directed the cast in a cohesive style so the manner of acting, and the approach to the characters varied on such a broad spectrum that the production just felt unfinished.

In some ways, I felt like the whole production was geared to making the production more attractive to those interested in making the long-dead proposed film version, and in general did not do a great service to the property. This show is worthy of a much better revival.

And no, I did not want a rehash of the original production, at all. You don't want to get me started, but revivals who can't bring something fresh to a show, or can interpret the show in a new light, rarely enthuse me. Unless the show has been long gone from the great white way.

Sorry for the rant.

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My introduction to the muscial was the revival, I have seen parts from the original. I don't really like most of the music in Into the Woods in general, I think the show itself is pure genius but the music is lacking something.

My favorites have always been the two Princes, I personally liked both the original and revival equally. Although I never understand why Cinderella's Prince gets so much more attention when clearly I think Rapunzel's prince (in both cases) is just as, if not stronger than the other.

Laura as Cinderella is perfect. She brought wonders to the part.

I perfer (100%) the original Jack (Ben Wright) to the revival Jack. He was so much better, and brought a wonderful sense of boyish enthusiasm without sounding nasaly and annoying. He had wonderful tone and I don;t think anyone can play Jack better than Ben Wright did.

The Witch: Again I never saw Benadette's performance, and I liked Vanessa's interpretation very much. She did a wonderful job.

I guess the one unforgivable sin of the revival was the casting of Jack and Little Red. It's not that they were bad (well, actually...), it's just that casting actors that young completely defeats the point of both of their big solo moments. Both 'I Know Things Now' and 'Giants in the Sky' are about sexual awakening and the knowledge, power and, in Little Reds case, fear that comes with it.

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Character-wise Jack was well cast, but when you compare his vocals with the stunning display of Ben Wright's (along with his adorable hunkiness) - it just doesn't meet the grade.

Rupunzel's prince, was also another highlight for me. Took advantage, of every line and was very strong. funny bloke.

Wow....some of the comments on here are just.....harsh. Tough crowd.

Anyway, I enjoyed the revival very much....yes it was more family oriented, but I thought that it was still brilliant. I also thought that Vanessa Williams was brilliant as the witch...I enjoyed her more serious, and less distracting take on the Witch. Her "Last Midnight" was brilliant. Stephen DeRosa, actually made me like the Baker, and feel for his character for once. Kerry O'Malley was just perfect as the Baker's Wife and was my favorite in the show. It was fresh to see a Baker's Wife that wasn't so sarcastic, and overly worldly. Johanna Gleason was a wonderful Baker's Wife, but I enjoyed Kerry's take on it so much better. The Little Red wasn't so terrible, I thought that she was right for the role, but the Jack was just terrible. I couldn't stand him. And last, but not least, Laura Benanti was very good as well...It's just that sometimes, she came across as more mature than the Baker's Wife, which wasn't a dynamic that I thought worked. I preferred the innocent and goofy approach to the role a la Kim Crosby.

I still enjoyed this production very much, and wished that it could have lasted longer.

Cheers,
The Balladeer

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did i mention LAURA BENATI WAS SUPBERB AND WAS TONY WORTHY! i remember, this was the first Tony awards i ever watched and when they read the nominees for best actress Laura was still in makeup backstage and i was screaming at the TV, yelling her name out to win! i hated hated hated what they did to Steps of the Palace which (in my humble opinion) is one of the best (if not THE best) song.

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My school is doing it and I HIGHLY suggest seeing it. It's being performed at the Professional Performing Arts School West 48th st. btwn 8th and 9th avenue in Manhattan April 6th-9th.

We're modernizing it, and it's being done BRILLIANTLY. The opening takes place with each character on the subway, and then through the beginning of the opening, we spread to each individual house. The mysterious man is this tall intimidating black actor, and the role is being played similar to Neo in the Matrix.
Cinderella's Stepmother carries around an ashtray, little red is this freaky city girl, the baker works a deli, and the wolf/little red scene is a flirty duet. That's pretty much all I know about it so far, but the cast is amazing.

And I LOVE that the show could work in a modern setting, and a lot of the stuff this musical talks about it can be applied to today. Into the Woods can really be applied to the city; there are a lot of dangers in both worlds.

I can't wait to see this show.

hmmmm....Interesting!

I think that is taking the word 'Interpretation' abit to far...

Updated On: 2/11/05 at 10:32 AM

For me personally, it was a musical that I had to watch a few times to really like it. It's not my favorite musical, but it is one that I would consider to be one of my favorites. I like Little Red Riding Hood's role the best, and the two princes make me laugh the most. I didn't really like Bernadette Peters or Vaness Williams as the Witch. I felt most bored when the witch "rapped"... but I still did enjoy the musical. It was interesting to see how they intertwined the stories together.

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