"Into the Woods" Movie Changes- Page 6
"Into the Woods" Movie Changes
Stephen Sondheim Inc#125
Posted: 6/23/14 at 1:26pm
Everyone breathe! "Any Moment" is, in fact, in the film!
https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Breaking-News-Following-Outcry-About-INTO-THE-WOODS-Changes-Stephen-Sondheim-Releases-Statement-20140623
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/28/13
Stephen Sondheim Inc#126
Posted: 6/23/14 at 1:30pmIt seems the studio reacted, and fast, to social media. "Any Moment," just as Sondheim originally stated, was not in the most recent screening. Wow. I guess Disney actually is listening?
Stephen Sondheim Inc#128
Posted: 6/23/14 at 1:41pmI hope he's right that it's a first-rate movie. Nice to hear one of the best songs in the show remains.
Stephen Sondheim Inc#129
Posted: 6/23/14 at 1:43pmSoooooooooooooooooo relieved!!!!
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/28/13
Stephen Sondheim Inc#130
Posted: 6/23/14 at 1:55pmRay - You think the prince's "Any Moment" is one of the best songs in the show? "Moments in the Woods," yes. But "Any Moment"?
Stephen Sondheim Inc#131
Posted: 6/23/14 at 2:13pmIt is one of the best songs in the show.
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/28/13
Stephen Sondheim Inc#132
Posted: 6/23/14 at 2:20pmTaz. Huh?! I thought it was always cute and I realize it's an important turning point in the show, but always kind of felt like it was a throwaway song. Musically, I mean. It doesn't stand out to me and it's only about 1 minute and 45 seconds. Especially when I compare it to the wonderful "Moments in the Woods," which I completely love. So funny. I never really thought of it as being a song that some would consider the best.
Stephen Sondheim Inc#133
Posted: 6/23/14 at 2:26pmCount me in as someone who's surprised people think "Any Moment" is one of the best parts of the score. It's clever and funny, but certainly not something I'd hesitate cutting for time if I were adapting the work. For me, it plays like an extended intro for "Moments in the Woods."
Stephen Sondheim Inc#134
Posted: 6/23/14 at 2:28pmI'm with you, Kad. It always felt like an interlude to Moment in the Woods, to me.
Stephen Sondheim Inc#136
Posted: 6/23/14 at 2:42pmAlthough I don't think it's the best song in the show, I do love when the Baker's Wife sings "This is ridiculous, what am I doing here? I'm in the wrong story!"
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/17/07
Stephen Sondheim Inc#137
Posted: 6/23/14 at 2:57pmAs I said before I was surprised someone said "Any Moment" is the best song in the show... I think the only thing it does do (which doesn't happen in other instances) is move the plot along.
Stephen Sondheim Inc#138
Posted: 6/23/14 at 3:08pm
'I think the only thing it does do (which doesn't happen in other instances) is move the plot along.'
You realize that's not a small thing though, right? Particularly in a show filled with songs where the actors park and bark the lessons they learned off stage. It certainly could be replaced by dialogue, and that's fine...but the entire seduction of The Baker's Wife is done in this song. I'd argue it's important and really quite wonderful.
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/28/13
Stephen Sondheim Inc#139
Posted: 6/23/14 at 3:12pmAgreed, Robbie. Is it one of the "best" songs, though? Perhaps one of the most "important" could be more accurate?
Stephen Sondheim Inc#140
Posted: 6/23/14 at 3:17pm
I read a brilliant suggestion concerning this movie in an article...
If this movie turns out to be bad or a flop, someone needs to do a parody of the song "Your Fault", where Sondheim, Lapine, and Disney Executives blame each other for the movie's failure.
Stephen Sondheim Inc#141
Posted: 6/23/14 at 3:56pm
I can happily report that it is not only a faithful adaptation of the show, it is a first-rate movie. ~ Stephen Sondheim
Why do I have this image of Mickey Mouse holding a gun to his head as he is at a computer writing this?
Stephen Sondheim Inc#142
Posted: 6/23/14 at 5:22pmReminds me of Anne Rice squawking to the press her displeasure about Tom Cruise being cast as Lestat. Then, a couple of months before the release, she changed her tune and publicly praised the choice. A commentator quipped "someone must have explained profit sharing and gross percentages to Ms. Rice." Made me laugh...
Stephen Sondheim Inc#143
Posted: 6/24/14 at 1:03am
Thank goodness about this news!
Oh, and thank you Best12bars, but if the "Witch's Lament" leads into the new song, aren't there still some of those "Lament" lyrics which now won't make sense? At what point does she sing the song anyway?
Stephen Sondheim Inc#144
Posted: 6/24/14 at 1:11amNobody has even talked about how mean it is they made Meryl look like Helena Bonham Carter for the hag sequences.
Stephen Sondheim Inc#145
Posted: 6/24/14 at 6:27am
but if the "Witch's Lament" leads into the new song, aren't there still some of those "Lament" lyrics which now won't make sense? At what point does she sing the song anyway?
SPOILERS
According to the leaked script it's in the same spot, just that instead of running off stage to get squished by the giant, Rapunzel tells the witch AND the prince to basically F-off, steals his horse and leaves the kingdom. The prince goes after her but the witch stands there and sings...
This is the world I meant. Couldn't you listen?
Couldn't you stay content, safe behind walls, as I could not?
No matter what you say, children won't listen.
No matter what you know, children refuse to learn.
Guide them along the way, still they won't listen.
Children can only grow from something you love to something you lose...
...INTO NEW SONG FOR THE WITCH
Stephen Sondheim Inc#146
Posted: 6/24/14 at 7:16am
EDITED in an attempt to fix all the crazy bold. Sorry if it looked like I was shouting. Nope didn't work. Carry on ... wait! Double html end-tags for "bold" did the trick.
Thanks for the clarification (previously). I think I've always thought of "Any Moment" and "Moments in the Woods" as a continuation of the same song, rather than two (shorter) separate songs that fit together.
There are a lot of short songs that blend together in this musical, which is one of the things I like most about it. No six-minute arias or eight verses to a song.
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
Stephen Sondheim Inc#147
Posted: 6/24/14 at 7:27am
As I said before I was surprised someone said "Any Moment" is the best song in the show
Reading comprehension warning: If you read what I wrote, I never said it was the best song in the show, I said I thought of it as one of the best songs in the show. I think the way the Prince archetype gets turned upside its head (in a different context than earlier in the show) is clever, and I love the rhymes and lyrics Sondheim came up with for this number. It's another seduction number that ties in with "Hello, Little Girl," sung earlier by the same actor (as originally conceived). I think without "Any Moment," the payoff from "Moments in the Woods" is not as strong, and in that way, I agree with Besty's idea that the songs are a continuation of the same song. I think the impact of one depends on the strength of the other.
I'm also a fan of Bernadette Peters' performance of the song on her Carnegie Mellon record. Fantastic rendition.
Stephen Sondheim Inc#148
Posted: 6/24/14 at 7:29am
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/28/13
Stephen Sondheim Inc#149
Posted: 6/24/14 at 8:40am
Hmmm... That's a fair point, Ray. But I don't know that replacing the song with dialogue would take all that much away from "Moments In The Woods." I guess we'll never know now, though. 
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