Sara Bareilles, Christian Borle, Ashley Park, and Heather Headley to Lead Encores Into The Woods- Page 12

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 5/5/22 at 3:52pm

2 $175 seats in orchestra row C popped up on the City Center website for tonight's show. 

[UWS10023]

Posted: 5/5/22 at 4:05pm

Nolan LuPone said: "To whoever has gotten to see it: Do you think this could turn into a revival?"

If they could get the same cast to agree…..yes.

[Matt Rogers]

Posted: 5/5/22 at 5:53pm

BCfitasafiddle said: "Dying to see this and hoping to get a resell seat. But anything over $200 is just out of reach these days. Bad on me for not getting a regular priced ticket months ago."

They seem to be lowering some of their outrageously priced $275 tickets to the still outrageous but slightly less so price of $175 when a few tickets are released day of show. So keep checking their website. The inventory changes regularly.

[Jvj24605]

Posted: 5/5/22 at 6:27pm

Selling 3 tix for tomorow eve Fri May 6, balcony left, see buy and sell if interested thanks 

[MagicalMusical]

Posted: 5/5/22 at 6:47pm

I saw this at the opening night gala. SO. FREAKING WORTH IT. The opening speech at the beginning I believe said this was their first sold out show for Encores! Is this correct? Anyway, if I had one word to describe my evening, it would be "magical". That was the feeling I got. Theater magic placed on a magically written musical by Sondheim. This is my second favorite musical ever, so, I do have some bias I guess. But how anyone could watch this production and not like a lot, I don't know. I laughed so much, and while I didn't cry, this show has never made me cry (I'm not the most emotional person, though), I still felt the performances were very emotional sometimes.

If I had another word to describe this show, it would be "revelation". The actors revealed new laughs, emotional depths, or just all in all new takes on the characters. I have never liked a Baker so much. It's like almost any hint of the OBC was gone, like none of them watched it. I'm sure they did, but the point is it was like they hadn't because everyone was doing their own thing, and in GOOD ways. Heather Headley was probably the biggest revelation, a very new look at the Witch, which I loved. A particularly emotional Witch, I must say. But as I said, the Baker was also new and more of a force in this show to me, and Sara surprised me as being both a sweeter, softer Baker's Wife and one who still acted well enough as a force and one who knows what the words mean and can do in "Moments in the Woods". She, too, was quite the revelation, as was this whole production with the direction and staging (those puppets! Those boots! How they ended "Last Midnight!" They even did the full "Witch's Lament", with the "Now you know what's out there in the world" which was done, perhaps not as moving as I hoped, but still so emotional.

Hm. Maybe that is one problem. Everyone was emotional, but I didn't feel the emotion like the OBC taped performance that everyone knows. Also, for the first time the Baker and Jack's "I will kill him!" "Then kill him!" dialogue got laughs that I heard. My friend I went with said he had heard it get laughs before, but I just thought that dialogue is supposed to be serious, and that this was just a wrong take. I am unsure. Because maybe Lapine did intend laughs there. I guess I'll never know. This was also the first time I thought Rapunzel's death was almost for laughs, a sentiment Rob Marshall lied was the reason they didn't kill Rapunzel in the Disney movie. I also hated the costumes that went too modern, which were pretty much just the stepfamily, Cinderella's ball/wedding/princess gown, and the Witch's transformed dress. Maybe Jack's outfits, too, I wasn't sure. It also could have used more costumes than re-using the ones they used in other scenes, and I wasn't sure if Jack got a "rich" look, but his mother didn't, and I didn't like that. But that was one small gripe among what, again, I feel was mostly theatre magic. I even loved the senior and child chorus at the end, it really added more to the show than detracted for me. I am so glad I bought tickets to go back "Into the Woods".

Yes, I edited this to put in paragraph breaks. Oh, after I edited this I wanted to add, my favorite actor of the show was definitely Gavin Creel. His Wolf and Prince were AMAZING! I laughed so much at him! Extra shout out to Cinderella doing ok I thought and then very, very well done speech breaking up with her prince in the end, so, I thought she was just alright bit then even she was a revelation. Beautiful voice, too. And Rapunzel's speech with the Witch before the "good mother" line was the best of that Rapunzel speech I have ever heard!

Updated On: 5/5/22 at 06:47 PM

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 5/5/22 at 6:48pm

Paragraphs are your broheims.

[suicidalmickeymouse]

Posted: 5/5/22 at 6:57pm

Waiting for my train home, finally have a chance to share my thoughts from last night. 

It was amazing. I had a great time from beginning to end. So did the rest of the crowd, who were very enthusiastic, similar to how fans can be at a Broadway closing.

NPH- I know he's divisive, but I thought he did a great job. He sounded great, and was hilarious. He had a line flub and acknowledged it half in character and had everyone cracking up.

Sara B.- Honestly she was a revelation. Funny and charming, and honestly the vocals were breathtaking. I might never need to hear anyone else sing the score again. So glad she pops into the theatre world every so often. Huge, huge, fan. 

Heather Headley- An icon. Hit every note, beat, pace, and had the audience eating out of the palm of her hand. It was everything I expected and more. Vocally, my favorite from her was Children Will Listen.

The only other "cast member" who needs a personalized shout out here is Milky White. It was like it was a real animal, goofy, quirky, loving, and brought so much joy to the show and the majority of the laughs. I absolutely loved how this production incorporated her, really great puppetry work.

The rest of the cast was also very strong. I loved Gavin Creel, voice like butter and amazing as both the Wolf and Cinderella's Prince. Jack and Little Red did great, especially Little Red. So much sass. Big shout out to Jordan's understudy, who I was very impressed with and I never would have known was an understudy and sounded amazing with Gavin Creel. When they sang together, it was like one (beautiful) voice, same timed vibrato and everything. 

The community choir didn't fully work for me. There wasn't enough of them (at least where I was in left front mezz), so there were like four people just blocking my view and singing. I think it may have been better to just have them in the side aisles and not pulling too much focus.  Lovely idea, but it didn't hit the way I was hoping it would. 

Our seats Left Mezz B 29 and 31 were good view wise, but man those seats are tight! I am plus sized, but not hugely so. I fit on all theme park rides etc. but this was the first seat I have ever sat in in a theatre that I felt was too narrow. Leg room sucked too!!! Show was definitely worth it though. Merch was EXTREMELY reasonably priced compared to other Broadway shows, and whatever the drink special was ($12 cocktail, didn't catch the name since my partner bought it for me) was so tasty.

Stalk those resale sites! I was just curious what was available about 30 mins pre curtain last night and there were some balcony seats going for 100 dollars. If you can find a ticket, go for it! It was such a treat to see this.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 5/5/22 at 8:24pm

How does the Giant work? Can spoil it. 

[Alexander Lamar]

Posted: 5/5/22 at 8:34pm

Yes please! I won’t be able to afford to see this, somebody can use the spoiler tag to tell us about the Giant. 
 

Also, we HAVE to be getting a cast recording out of this, right?

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 5/5/22 at 8:46pm

There's a glimpse of how they do The Giant in this video:

 

Updated On: 5/5/22 at 08:46 PM

[poisonivy2]

Posted: 5/5/22 at 8:49pm

Seeing this tomorrow night. What's the runtime?

[bstoll1]

Posted: 5/5/22 at 9:30pm

2hrs 50min with intermission. I got a $100 ticket few hours ago for tomorrow night.

[BCfitasafiddle]

Posted: 5/5/22 at 10:34pm

bstoll1 said: "2hrs 50min with intermission. I got a $100 ticket few hours ago for tomorrow night."

Wow! On the City Center site? I hope I have your luck!

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 5/5/22 at 11:11pm

I might be a dissenting voice here, as I thought all the parts of this production were excellent, but put together it didn't really wow me. The performances are indeed great, but I don't think the show really brought out the themes as much and I didn't feel as moved or connected with the show and its multitude of meanings as I wanted to be (I was also sitting in the balcony, which is rather far, so that could be part of it too).

I agree that Sara Bareilles's Moments In the Woods is a standout and I thought Hello Little Girl and Giants in the Sky felt very fresh, as they were two songs I never cared for before but rather enjoyed this time. I haven't really liked NPH on cast albums or his version of Company but I was pretty surprised at how well he did in this production. Him and Sara play the two leads fairly differently than how I normally see them so it took a bit for me to settle into their characterization, but it was quite well done once I got used to it. Denee Benton has a gorgeous voice and I was surprised at the versatility of Annie Golden between Cinderella's mother, Granny, and the giantess. Heather Headley's Witch was incredible anytime she had a song but I felt she was lacking some of the humor and wryness, especially in the first act (of course, this could also be my bias towards Bernadette Peters showing).

But overall I think I also wanted this production to be funnier. There are a good number of laugh lines and the audience was quite responsive on opening night, but a lot of the way they were played seemed like it was a side effect of the book, rather than leaning into the jokes. Perhaps other people like it better that way, but it also just made it seem like a very "standard" version of Into the Woods, where the text is mostly left as is with minimal direction to shape it.

I will say though that some of the visuals are quite stunning, like the giantess, as others have mentioned, and even the beanstalk at the end of act 1. I thought the simplicity of the set worked rather well, and combined with the sound effects, really evoked a sense of being in the woods with a giant about. Milky White is also every bit as great as people have been making her out to be, and I actually missed having her around in act 2. I liked the idea of the community chorus, but I don't think it was executed as well. It almost seemed distracting, and from the balcony where they didn't have a good view of the conductor, their voices were a bit behind the voices coming from the lower levels. I think it could've worked better if they came on stage costumed as other people from the village or something, but I guess that's probably a larger logistics commitment than Encores had time for.

Also just wanted to shout out the sound design, since A Strange Loop where the sound has been notoriously bad was the last show I saw, and I'm always a bit wary of the sound balance in the balcony, but it as crystal clear and relly allowed the words to come through, which was wonderful.

[Kad]

Posted: 5/6/22 at 12:34am

This is easily the best Into the Woods we've had in NYC since the original production, in my book. Extremely well-cast and performed- a nice mix of big names and underrated or new talent- and well-directed. Felt fresh while honoring the original production.

The choir at the end seemed unnecessary and manipulative, but really the only weak conceptual point here.

Some pacing and cue pickup is needed, but by next week, I'm sure it'll all tighten up.

MVPs for me were Julie Kester as Little Red- a fabulous NY stage debut, and Sara Bareilles, incredibly charming as the Baker's Wife. She went up on the lyrics in "Moments in the Woods" and turned it into a very endearing moment that just made the audience adore her. NPH gives a very warm, funny Baker- devoid of schtick and pushiness. Denee Benton is just gorgeous, gorgeous. Heather Headley shines most when she's the beautiful Witch. As the ugly Witch, she's strangely very mannered and restrained. But as the beautiful Witch, she brings a fun diva ferocity.

 

The Giant is pretty straightforward:

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

Annie Golden is visibly upstage with a mic, while two puppeteers operate two large wireframe heeled boots on the playing area.

 

[JasonC3]

Posted: 5/6/22 at 2:15am

SOLD

Just posted a listing on the buy/sell board for Saturday night's performance (5/. One orchestra center seat. $100.

Updated On: 5/6/22 at 02:15 AM

[UWS10023]

Posted: 5/6/22 at 2:51am

I think since the community chorus is spread out through all 3 levels some of them could not hear the music very well so they were singing behind the orchestration. They did not seem very grounded in what they were doing. I do not think they had much rehearsal in the theatre nor did they have a full understanding of their purpose.But to be fair I saw the dress. During the curtain speech it was notated that some of the singers were special needs which I thought was lovely. The concept needed to go further than having them file in and sing in the isles. Upstage there was an elevated platform that ran all the way between stage right and stage left and it was behind the orchestra. Perhaps they could have appeared there in shadow; with the lights slowly coming up on them.

City Center seems to have had a lot of sound issues over the years but the sound was very good for this production.

[MagicalMusical]

Posted: 5/6/22 at 10:18am

chrishuyen said: "But overall I think I also wanted this production to be funnier. There are a good number of laugh lines and the audience was quite responsive on opening night, but a lot of the way they were played seemed like it was a side effect of the book, rather than leaning into the jokes. Perhaps other people like it better that way, but it also just made it seem like a very "standard" version of Into the Woods, where the text is mostly left as is with minimal direction to shape it."

I must respectfully disagree! When I went, I think I laughed more at the show than I had ever before! It seemed more about laughs than the OBC taping and any other production I saw, to be honest! I mean, so many line readings brought new laughs never unearthed before, or Milky White's acting, or the way the Princes acted, so, so much of the acting! I'd say the acting, and some directing and stage craft, really brought humor to this that was never in the OBC! Even the stepsisters - I want to give a shout out to Florinda's line reading, "If that mongrel with the cow hadn't MOOlested us!" LOL!

[BoringBoredBoard40]

Posted: 5/6/22 at 1:58pm

If anyone has a single for tonight, tomorrow matinee or sunday matinee let me know

[Ke3]

Posted: 5/6/22 at 4:01pm

critics pick from the Times 

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/06/theater/into-the-woods-review.html?referringSource=articleShare

[UWS10023]

Posted: 5/6/22 at 4:02pm

The NY Times review was quite the rave!

[Melissa25]

Posted: 5/6/22 at 5:36pm

Balcony Right E158 is available on the City Center site for $50. 

[BoringBoredBoard40]

Posted: 5/6/22 at 5:46pm

not anymore -.-

[Emmeline Carter]

Posted: 5/6/22 at 6:40pm

Does anyone know if there is a dress code for attending this show? Thanks!!

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 5/6/22 at 7:19pm

But the most important question, did they return to the 1987 Children Will Listen?  I know most of the random changes for the 2002 (?) revival have since been dropped (bringing back the second wolf and 3 pigs from the San Diego original tryout, etc) and no one seemed to like the Last Midnight changes--replacing "You're so good..." bit with her singing to the baby, and changing the ending so she specifically seems to now be returning to some other dimension where her mom is (at least from the little I've ever understood the revisions).  Since then I know the movie returned to the original version, whereas the Regent's Park/Central Park version kept the baby verse but the 1987 ending.

I admit, while I know it doesn't have many fans, I'm a little disappointed they didn't include Our Little World which is one Sondheim addition I would personally use.