Into the Woods 2002 Revival

[SharonMcLonergan]

Posted: 10/16/10 at 9:16pm

Are there any clips of this production? Beside the medley that was featured on the 2002 Tony Awards?

[CapnHook]

Posted: 10/16/10 at 9:28pm

They performed on The Rosie O'Donnell Show.

[alxscrz2]

Posted: 10/16/10 at 9:59pm

Try youtube, I think they have the show on there actually

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 10/16/10 at 10:02pm

God, what a horrendous experience that revival was.

[SharonMcLonergan]

Posted: 10/16/10 at 10:11pm

They do have it on youtube? Because when I type in Into the Woods Revival or any variation on that, there is literally like two things.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 10/16/10 at 10:31pm

Its google video that has the whole show.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/16/10 at 10:33pm

I've seen many productions. It was my second favorite after the OBC.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 10/16/10 at 10:58pm

I do not understand the extreme hatred towards this production. I can understand criticism -- it was hardly a flawless interpretation of the show (not to say that I think it was terrible, I actually enjoyed it a lot).

I think they should FINALLY greenlight the movie (and no, NOT directed by Tim Burton).

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 10/16/10 at 11:14pm

It's so funny, I know at least four people who hated the revival, even though they never saw it. It was like they just hated it on principal. It was not an amazing production, but I enjoyed it.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/16/10 at 11:24pm

Many people hated that it existed because the original was such a fresh memory for them. It was for me too. But so what? A top notch Broadway production of Into the Woods? I'm there.

Kerry O'Malley and Stephen DeRosa were really terrific, Laura Benanti was heaven, Vanessa was fierce.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 10/17/10 at 12:01am

And to me it was O'Malley more than anything else that made me hate that production. Oh well. :)

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/17/10 at 12:28am

I'm kind of over this whole American binary thinking. I loved Joanna Gleason too but I don't think it diminishes my memory of her performance because I loved Kerry O'Malley. Beatles and the Stones.

[Tsao5]

Posted: 10/17/10 at 12:29am

The SHOW itself was delightful. The added rewrites and additional music, Milky White and the staging was generally quite good. It was the CASTING that was not great. Little Red, The Baker and OYE!!!!, Jack's Mother........just.....not......good.....at.....all. Agree that the Baker and his wife who were so pronounced in the original (thanks to the great presence of Gleason and Zien), were lost in this production.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/17/10 at 12:30am

I saw them. I saw them the whole entire time. I knew exactly where they were.

[romgitsean]

Posted: 10/17/10 at 12:46am

I'm biased in my opinion, because I was nine when I saw it, but I remember really enjoying it... partially because without it, I wouldn't be familiar with Into the Woods today...and Adam Wylie was totally one of my first boy crushes :P

I have looked back and seen the videos, and I still don't think it was that bad. I personally disagree with all of the miscast statements. I think it was mostly ill-recieved because of Vanessa, who I will admit- may have not been the finest contender (as I could tell from video, I saw Cristy Cates) and the additional material, but I actually really liked the two wolves...that's just me though.

[alxscrz2]

Posted: 10/17/10 at 1:35am

@ SharonMcLonergan, are you sure ? Because I just typed in Into the woods revival, on youtube and a whole bunch of videos from the show appeared

[Jon]

Posted: 10/17/10 at 12:14pm

There were subtle "post 9/11" aspects to the revival. In theo original, the Baker and his Wife seemed like characters out of a Woody Allen movie - very sophisticated and urban. In the revival, they seemed more like Middle American farmers.

Subtle things I liked: the way Jack and Little Red's Act 1 experiences seemed to propel them into puberty. Jack blatantly ogled the transformed Witch at the end of Act 1, as if he was discovering the female sex for the first time. And Little Red's Act 2 costume had a sort of slutty, 1980's Madonna quality.

[Scarlett212]

Posted: 10/17/10 at 12:25pm

Excellent production. The cast handled the score with ease . Nothing was thrown away in terms of the emotional points of show.

[Brick]

Posted: 10/17/10 at 1:48pm

The 2nd half of Act 2 resonated much deeper with me, in respects to the death and destruction caused by the giant. It was right after 9/11 and the feeling of rebuilding after tragedy was palpable.

I recently watched the OBC video and they whipped right through that portion of the story and quickly wrapped things up with the finale.

The revival may not have been an improvement overall, but it had enough lovely things to make a worthy revival (the two wolves, the witch picking up the baby in "Last Midnight", the ending noted above, Chris Seiber and Laura Benanti).

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 10/17/10 at 4:26pm

romgitsean-
You couldn't have seen Cristy Kates b/c she wasn't IN Into the Woods. Her debut was in Wicked (I think, could be wrong), but I know she wasn't in Into the Woods.

You probably saw Linda Muggelston, she went on for the Witch the most.

[Urban]

Posted: 10/17/10 at 7:19pm

The revival was my first introduction to ITW and not having anything to weigh it against, I loved it. However when I discovered the OBCR (and DVD) I realised the original was better.

Of course there is things I loved about the revival that I still do - and like better then the Original (all mentioned about - ie; the slight darker undertone in the second act et cetera), though I will be honest and say comparing the two there where alot of weaknesses. Kerry O'Malley is one I hate to say. Just compare her version of "Moments in the Woods" to Gleesons. Gleeson acted the hell out of it, you felt the Baker's Wife was going a bit schizo. Kerry on the other hand sang it prettily but there was nothing really behind that pretty singing, and basicall that is what I felt was the let down for the entire character.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 10/17/10 at 11:51pm

It's so funny, I know at least four people who hated the revival, even though they never saw it.

Very true. Some are basing it on the Nonesuch cast album, which I find barely listenable (and, really, can any recording better the original?) If you research the ages of the naysayers some of them were awfully young to be such discerning theatregoers.

The singing was not always as good as it needed to be, but I really liked the design (using spines of giant books to great effect) which was very different from the original. Lapine also found ways to shape very different performances and highlight different elements of the script. The people who disliked the revival seem to be those who felt he should have just re-staged the show exactly as before, and those who feel he changed it too much.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 10/18/10 at 12:08am

Well I was 24 when I saw it so I was more than old enough to make an informed opinion. INTO THE WOODS is my favorite musical, has been since I was 9 and saw the original cast so I was beyond excited for this revival. And I found it to be horrendous.
After reading this thread I went back yesterday and revisited the production (y'all know what I mean) and having not seen it since that night at the theater, I can honestly say my opinion of it didn't change at all.

But that's just my opinion.

[HistoryBoy2]

Posted: 10/18/10 at 12:24am

So I didn't see the final New York staging but the final performance at the Ahmanson in LA and it wasn't that bad. As someone who grew up on the OBC on video it was jarring but adequate.
The best thing about it was Laura Benanti (as a Californian, being able to see her on stage is still a source of pride for me), Milky White, and the sets. The set started as a series of 3 books and then opened up to reveal the different stories and ended with one large book being closed. It has been too long to remember more about the sets but I remember being impressed.
Vanessa was okay. The worst part was Jack's mother. It seemed like she was having some sort of medical condition at one point a scene of hers was skipped in the opening song. The Baker's Wife was probably the biggest disappointment. Rather than being the anchor of the show the character seemed like it could have been done without and surprisingly I think the show suffered the most from this. The Baker's wife and the Baker are the driving force and either through direction or miscasting neither character was dynamic enough and the show had no throughline connecting everything. So the result was great moments but not an overall great show.

[Brick]

Posted: 10/18/10 at 2:38am

I completely agree about the Baker's Wife, and I'll add Stephen DeRosa as the Baker to it.

While the revival has some welcome surprises (forgot about Milky White!), the central story of the Baker and his wife was lost in dull performances.