Neutered Into The Woods- Page 2
Neutered Into The Woods
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/27/12
Neutered Into The Woods#26
Posted: 7/30/12 at 9:57pmHis mind was telling him No. But his body was telling him Yes.
Neutered Into The Woods#27
Posted: 7/30/12 at 10:02pm
^^^^Yikes, best12bars! I'm not surprised: censorship was still alive and well in the U.S. and U.K. in the 1960s. But, yikes, on mutilating the SOM!
***
I'm not sure we have to wage war over this. As I said, I don't like the idea. But it isn't going to kill the show, much less musical theater as we know it.
Neutered Into The Woods#28
Posted: 7/30/12 at 10:35pm
Yeah, I don't really give 2 ****s about what anyone said here.
I just wanted to say: Jordan I'm in love with your new avatar. I feel like she's like "hey guys, just checkin' in. how're we holdin' up?"
Neutered Into The Woods#29
Posted: 7/30/12 at 11:12pm
A Chorus Line Babies is available for school productions and is a kind of prequel in which Cassie meets her dancing friends in middle school.
Neutered Into The Woods#30
Posted: 7/30/12 at 11:21pm
While I personally don't enjoy "Jr." or "School Edition" versions of shows, I'm glad they are available because they give young performers the chance to be in something they normally wouldn't be exposed to. For example, I am currently cast as Mark in "Rent: School Edition". Are the cuts obnoxious? Yes. Am I pissed I don't get to sing "Instead of my old ****" and "Benny! (SH*T!)"? F*CK yeah. But am I being exposed to performing in a role I wouldn't be in had the theater company I'm in normally wouldn't do had the cuts not been made? Yes. Yeah, I think the cuts are dumb but I'm glad I and many others are able to experience being in it.
Now back to the Into the Woods Jr. Same thing. The cut of the whole second act is stupid and does take something away from piece as a whole, it lets young audience members see a production of (half) a great show. Maybe they'll fall in love with it like Jordan did. As a side note, I can see why they would cut the second act. I remember when I was 7, I saw my high schools production of the whole thing, and the wife of the Giant's death scared the crap out of me.
Neutered Into The Woods#31
Posted: 7/30/12 at 11:27pm
My objection is that Act II is the POINT of the show; Act I is just the set up.
I'm sure plenty of adults would be happy if the show stopped after Act I, but that really isn't ITW. (Yes, I'm sure the authors gave their consent, but everyone who cares about the show is entitled to his or her own opinion on this.)
Neutered Into The Woods#32
Posted: 7/30/12 at 11:31pmTo be fair though, the senior citizens edition of SUNDAY IN THE PARK is just Act 2, and they don't have a fvcking clue what's happening there.
Neutered Into The Woods#33
Posted: 7/30/12 at 11:38pmThey love the pretty songs, though.
Neutered Into The Woods#35
Posted: 7/30/12 at 11:44pmI hear they're seeing Betty White for "Oh, Calcutta: Senior Edition."
Neutered Into The Woods#36
Posted: 7/30/12 at 11:45pmIt's about time for her to get that Tony award!
Neutered Into The Woods#37
Posted: 7/30/12 at 11:48pmI saw Rent Jr. It was totes adorbs. Roger and Mimi shared one kiss on the lips. Maureen and Joanne shared one kiss on the cheek. Angel and Collins shared one warm hug. No day but today.
Neutered Into The Woods#38
Posted: 7/30/12 at 11:51pmI saw that, too! "Contact" was super cute the way they staged it as a slumber party pillow fight. And I was SO happy when Mimi woke up and recovered from the flu. We all know how sucky those are.
Neutered Into The Woods#39
Posted: 7/30/12 at 11:52pm
Beep beep
"Sudafed break"
"You?"
"Me"
"Mimi..."
Neutered Into The Woods#41
Posted: 7/31/12 at 12:08am
I know a lot of adults who've left after act 1. They really think it's the end of the show. Guess they never bothered to look at a Playbill or program.
Most of these Jr. productions are pretty silly. For example, what's so mature and objectionable about Annie that it needs a Jr. production? Guys and Dolls Jr.? Really?
Neutered Into The Woods#42
Posted: 7/31/12 at 12:09am
I would imagine that was why they had the narrator say, "To be continued..."
I hope in the kids version they say, "The End?" as a question.
Neutered Into The Woods#43
Posted: 7/31/12 at 12:11am
Annie Jr is mostly shorter than regular Annie than anything else. And quite a few songs are cut. I don't think the junior versions are always about cutting objectionable material, but reworking existing shows into something more suitable for school children to perform.
And I always figured a show like Rent was made into a junior production to hopefully stave off schools doing their own cuttings.
I really have no opinion on jr productions beyond that, because I don't have kids and don't work with kids. If the authors agree to it and the production clearly notes that they are doing the junior version then I just don't see the big deal.
I know a lot of adults who've left after act 1. They really think it's the end of the show.
I've heard people say before and I can only guess that all these people also never went to the theatre before, since the vast majority of musicals are in two acts. And that there's usually a curtain call at the end. Were these professional productions? I assume they aren't school or local productions, since the audience members generally know someone in the casts in those cases.
Updated On: 7/31/12 at 12:11 AM
Neutered Into The Woods#44
Posted: 7/31/12 at 12:12amI think even with just the first act of ITW that the kids can still get the AIDS references.
Neutered Into The Woods#45
Posted: 7/31/12 at 12:14amYou can get AIDS just listening to "Our Little World."
Neutered Into The Woods#47
Posted: 7/31/12 at 12:16amIs it hearing AIDS?
Broadway Star Joined: 4/12/04
Neutered Into The Woods#48
Posted: 7/31/12 at 12:17am
The Junior Versions themselves (Annie, Guys and Dolls, Once on this Island, etc) aren't necessarily about content. They're designed for young peoples voices, scripts are laid out a little easier, and they're shorted a bit so that young people can perform the shows easier. They're not intended to be performed FOR young people.
In this case, The Public is doing Act 1 for families. As other people have mentioned, what's wrong with introducing young people (who may not be able to sit through almost three hours) to musical theater? Sure, it's not how the show was written to be, but that's okay in this circumstance. Perhaps when the kids get older and realize there is more to INTO THE WOODS they'll be inclined to pay a return visit (and sure, some of you will argue that they feel gypped, but you're just played devil's advocate, I get that)
And who cares about sales? Shakespeare in the Park is about theater for all... including young people.
Neutered Into The Woods#49
Posted: 7/31/12 at 12:17am
Funny enough, I heard at least 4 or 5 people ask if the show was over just last week at the Delacorte. No one actually left that I'm aware of since I'm assuming they consulted their playbill or someone with a bit more intelligence, but some people definitely think that at first.
That is kind of the intention of Into the Woods. The first act is the familiar, sentimental, happily ever after fairytale we all know and love and we're supposed to see all the loose ends tied up, just like a child's fairytale. When we realize there's a second act, we can only assume it's more of the same. James Lapine turns everything on its head in Act 2, which to me is the brilliance of the piece.
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