NYT: This ‘Into the Woods’ Is Not That Deep. That’s What Makes It Great.

[MezzA101]

Posted: 12/14/25 at 1:04pm

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/12/theater/into-the-woods-bridge-theater.html?unlocked_article_code=1.8k8.9CzF.iHDZOQvggzUc&smid=nytcore-android-share

(What happened to the Bridge Theater's "Into The Woods" thread?)

[binau]

Posted: 12/14/25 at 4:08pm

The Bridge Into the Woods thread seems to have disappeared. What???

[SteveSanders]

Posted: 12/14/25 at 4:13pm

Threads disappear if you steal the Mods' magic beans.

[Kad]

Posted: 12/14/25 at 5:07pm

Unless I missed something, there was never even anytime remotely objectionable in that thread. We did, however, lose a number of thoughtful reactions to the production. 

[ER765]

Posted: 12/14/25 at 5:24pm

The mods on this board are such jokes. WTH???

[blaxx]

Posted: 12/14/25 at 6:12pm

Well, it's your fault ...

[MezzA101]

Posted: 12/17/25 at 6:15pm

Into the Woods – Bridge Theatre | Musical Theatre Review

https://musicaltheatrereview.com/into-the-woods-bridge-theatre/

[Play Esq.]

Posted: 12/28/25 at 8:01am

I really did not enjoy this. I actually bought tickets for a second performance a few weeks ago based upon early word and immediately returned them after last night’s performance.

The production images suggest something almost horrifying: this was quite generic and lacked any real concept.  Worse still, the beautiful woods in the background of the stage were hardly used. Sadly, much of the staging was in the front of the stage and felt quite claustrophobic.

It doesn’t help matters that we had such a perfectly sung Into the Woods just a few years ago. No one came close to that caliber.

For all the crap Lear deBessonet for her staging, this was downright amateurish.  I’d go so far as to say it’s a step above a very expensive regional production. I also didn’t understand certain overlay of vocals. I suppose it was to create a horrific effect but just came off churlish. For anyone who’s seen this, has this been done before, I’m surprised the Sondheim estate approved it if not.

For those who asked in the old thread, the transformation is not at all interesting nor is the ending of Last Midnight. For the former the witch basically runs off stage and the latter, “mother” appears and walks the witch off stage (one of the vocal overlays I mentioned).

To make matters worse, practically everyone sounded horse last night, perhaps from too many holiday performances in a row. Regardless, even if everyone was in perfect voice, vocally this was not an impressive cast, Dornford-May’s Cinderella being the only exception.  She too though shat the bed a bit…that last note On The Steps of the Palace…oy vey.

Hopefully today should make up for last night: a two hander of All My Sons and Paddington (that’s a juxtaposition for you)!

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 12/28/25 at 9:47pm

Interesting review.  I can't comment on their take on the production itself, but the final thoughts seem to want to say "look, the show itself isn't really that amazing, remember what Frank Rich said about it?"  Which is fine--though I'm one of many people my age or younger who really got into Sondheim from watching ITW on PBS as a kid, it's never been at the top of Sondheim musicals for me.  And it's definitely true if you look at thoughts about the original production, that even a lot of Sondheim fans were disappointed -- I remember joining a Sondheim listserv in the 90s and there were a number of members who basically just felt that Sondheim hadn't been at the top of his game since the Prince years. 

And yet, for some reason the way the critic here casually says that the show simply is not vintage Sondheim made me react with...  I mean, nearly 40 years later, isn't ITW vintage Sondheim, at least to a huge majority of his fans?  (Though I guess I'm the wrong person to ask as I'd put Passion somewhere in his top three works.)

Updated On: 12/28/25 at 09:47 PM

[darquegk]

Posted: 12/29/25 at 12:13am

Whenever people talk about changing perspectives or diminishing returns on either Into the Woods or The Princess Bride, I like to bring up the fact that we're living in a very different world in terms of ethnic culture. The central chunk of those two stories' ethos is the imposition of cultural American Jewishness into the extremely WASP world of the fairy tale canon. 

We're a century from the shtetl and more than half a century from Woody Allen and Lenny Bruce. The neurotic, prevaricating, morose self-deprecation and love of analysis in Jewish humor and thought is no longer exotic, and I don't think audiences today recognize how much of a fairy tale trope deconstruction it was for the Baker and his Wife to be lovable, neurotic overthinkers. 

[Dreamboy3]

Posted: 12/29/25 at 10:02am

darquegk said: "Whenever people talk about changing perspectives or diminishing returns on either Into the Woods or The Princess Bride, I like to bring up the fact that we're living in a very different world in terms of ethnic culture. The central chunk of those two stories' ethos is the imposition of cultural American Jewishness into the extremely WASP world of the fairy tale canon.

We're a century from the shtetl and more than half a century from Woody Allen and Lenny Bruce. The neurotic, prevaricating, morose self-deprecation and love of analysis in Jewish humor and thought is no longer exotic, and I don't think audiences today recognize how much of a fairy tale trope deconstruction it was for the Baker and his Wife to be lovable, neurotic overthinkers."

I disagree with almost all of this. I don’t see anything inherently Jewish in any of the characters. I’d describe them as having modern sensibilities which of course was the point. The last revival showed how universal ITW is which is not something that was necessarily clear when it first opened.