The Public Theatre's Shakespeare/Park presents INTO THE WOODS -- Discussion- Page 11

[E.Davis]

Posted: 7/24/12 at 11:59pm

I love the dynamic of "Our Little World", and give Rapunzel more to do in the show.
Hopefully it just was not ready for the stage, and will be put in later in the run.

[Wynbish]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 12:01am

Chip Zien in No More. Everything was right in the world when that happened.

Yes! Good on ya, Chip!

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 12:02am

Just for extra clarity - they are using the extended LAMENT with the "Now you know what's out there in the world" section?

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 12:03am

Morgan James has some voice.... But she has a foul reputation to being a regular you-know-what. I don't know personally, but I've heard...

I'm sure nerves played a lot into this tonight. I think they were just under-prepared. I have a feeling they'll be moving along much more smoothly by week's end. Can't wait to see this Friday night. Dear God, keep the rain away.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 12:03am

Did I read somewhere that Chip Zien says the stairs are up to 50 ft. high? Of course they're winded!

Updated On: 7/25/12 at 12:03 AM

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 12:03am

Donna sang Vanessa's key for Children Will Listen. I think Lament was lowered, but I can't recall if it was Vanessa'a key as well.

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 12:06am

Could you tell if LAST MIDNIGHT sounded like the original key or lower?

[followspot]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 12:08am

For those keeping score, Morgan James continues to frantically backpedal:

morganajames @ScottAlanNet — my not liking the concept of *one* show does not make me unsupportive of my community. No way. You know that.

Reminder of how she didn't like the "concept":

"Question: HOW can you f-ck up "into the woods"?? I fear musicianship is dead in musical theatre. And acting, for that matter. #horrified"

[ShbrtAlley44]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 12:08am

Last Midnight sounded like the original key to me. I could be misremembering. Lament was in a weird lower key. I'm not good with music theory but it sounded minor to me. Chip Zien was good, but his backphrasing was killing me. And then the poor guy got his homeless man backpack stuck on the stairs as he was going down.

Updated On: 7/25/12 at 12:08 AM

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 12:10am

Hello Little Girl was pretty sexual. I can see how some can be offended.

Yeah, a lot of running up and down spiral stairs en masse. It's very difficult to know what to look at in points. In my opinion, the costume design was not cohesive and does little to help tell the characters apart from one another. Characters that are well defined got lost all over the first act. And the first act was overly choreographed. I don't think it did anything to aid the storytelling. In Agony, there was literally a gesture for every other word of the song. That song is funny because it's a funny song. You couldn't hear the cleverness in the lyric when they're miming everything they're saying.

[HBP]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 12:12am

Just got onto the train after the first preview! I'm sorry to say that I was underwhelmed by this production of one of my favorite shows. It was poorly cast and the staging was not fitting for the Delacorte. The actors spent way too much time on the staircases and raised platforms, where they would always be obstructed by the set to some portion of the audience. I hope they fix this before previews are finished - they really need to bring the actors and the action forward and closer to the audience. When they're up on the set, which is the case for much of the show, they feel very far away.

There were a few pacing and tempo issues that I had, but I won't get into specifics as those are easily remedied. The casting, though, is not. The saving grace is, surprisingly, Sarah Stiles. She got the biggest laughs from the audience. Chip Zien and Amy Adams were okay. Amy has a great voice and did well with the comedy.. I'm sure she'll be great by opening night. 

Donna Murphy was good.. not as wonderful as I hoped, but I think she may also be a little sick, so I'll reserve judgement. The COOLEST part of the show was one of her exits. I won't ruin the surprise, but it was awesome.

Dennis O'Hare is terribly miscast. I can't imagine he will get much better. He cannot sing and he didn't land a single one of his jokes. His serious moments were ruined by his slurred speech and poor diction. It really took the entire show down a whole notch for me. 

Everyone else was pretty mediocre. The princes seemed to be copying the original cast's performances as seen on the DVD. Jack was actually pretty good, but his mother was trying way too hard and falling flat most of the time.

Overall, I thought the show was pretty mediocre. Maybe if they rework the staging and replace O'Hare with someone who can do the part justice, I'd go see it again.

ETA: Donna's keys did seem to be lowered, but as I said, she may have been under the weather. I wouldn't assume they'll be lowered for the whole run.
Updated On: 7/25/12 at 12:12 AM

[michellek45]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 12:12am

There were huge sound issues tonight. Lots of muffled mics and static coming from them moving around. In act 2 the mics even went out for a few seconds. There were a couple of balancing issues between the orchestra and the singers. Tempos were all over the place, especially in "No One Is Alone." It was taken really fast and left Cinderella and the Baker out of breath. The princes were out of sync in "Agony," and there were a few instances of people going out of tune. The set was gorgeous but left the actors scattered all over the place. The lighting did its job lighting the stage, but it didn't add an extra dimension.

As to the cast, they were alright. Pretty much everyone flubbed a line here or there. The two stand-outs in my opinion were Cinderella and Little Red. I also loved Jack's Mom. Amy Adams, Donna Murphy, and Gideon Glick were all good, but didn't bring anything new to the roles. This seems to be an unpopular opinion, but Dennis O'Hare was a wonderfully awkward Baker. I loved that he made the character seem as though he was lost, but that he also thought he was in charge. His singing needs a bunch of work, though. Chip Zien was great. I did love the change they made with the kid being the narrator and the ending.

Overall, everything is there and it's good, but it's lacking in the magic.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 12:13am

Last Midnight was in the original key. It was weird to hear, "And the boom and the doom...mother, here I come!"

I didn't mind Chip's backphrasing.

[ShbrtAlley44]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 12:14am

Agreed on the slurred words from O'Hare. I was actually wondering if he was drunk a couple times.

[The Josh]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 12:15am

I love the concept for this show, but it was pretty clear that they hadn't had enough rehearsal. Give it a week or two and I'm sure it'll be great. The cast, overall, was great. Jessie Mueller was the clear standout, her voice is beautiful and her acting top-notch. Made me even more excited about the Drood revival! Amy Adams was just as great as I expected, and I loved her "Moments in the Woods." Chip Zein is just as wonderful now as he was in the original production. I definitely think Denis O'Hare needs more work, but I think he's on the right track. I'm interested to see how he settles into the role. Overall, definitely worth seeing.

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 12:16am

HeyMrMusic (or anyone else that was there tonight), can you elaborate on what exactly was happening in "Hello Little Girl" that made it so sexual? I mean, in the original the Wolf has a giant penis on the front of the costume so it's never been...not sexual. And I'd expect since they deliberately cast an adult actress they'd be playing it up a bit.

[Wynbish]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 12:17am

Well, Denis did parade around New Orleans Sunday night.

[ShbrtAlley44]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 12:18am

There's a lot of humping, groping, and suggestive lilts of the voice. "Goodbyyye, MISTER..... WOLFFF."

Also it's made to look like they're having sex when he's eating her. Updated On: 7/25/12 at 12:18 AM

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 12:19am

It almost sounds like O'Hare is repeating his performance from SWEET CHARITY.

If I'm not mistaken, this was their first full run through with tech. I'm sure many of these issues will be ironed out.

[Kad]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 12:21am

Note that this was, I believe, the second time they have done the second act with full technical elements. Their rehearsal last night was washed out, leaving only their run earlier today. That means this was only the second time they've run the show in its entirety with all elements.

Considering that, I thought it went off very, very well. Undoubtedly, by next week, it will be in very good shape.

Still don't understand this hoopla about Murphy's dress. I honestly believe that rumor was fabricated- because, of all the things I have heard, I have not heard that little story.

[ShbrtAlley44]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 12:22am

Also, as much as Jessie Mueller did well, I think she's a better Baker's Wife. She just isn't innately Cinderella to me. But she did a fantastic job.

[E.Davis]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 12:23am

I was just going to mention SWEET CHARITY.

[RockStarNYC]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 12:25am

Make no mistake about it. This show is TOUGH! Took my community theater group the 1st weekend to get everything right. Yes, these are professional actors, but this is a habitually difficult show. I entered the virtual lotto for tomorrow. Am I expecting a thrilling show? Yes. Am I expecting a flawless show? No, and that is the wonder that is live theater.

In regards to Ms James' tweets, it is downright disrespectful. It is a preview. It is a first preview. And her contradictions of what she disliked about show certainly has me raising an eyebrow. Apparently, her tweets caught the attention of one cast member.
And his character is not one to be threatened... ;)

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 12:26am

Could someone tell us how many players are in the orchestra?

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 12:29am

Not getting through the entire show more than once is very rough... This reminds me of Women on the Verge where the first run through was the first preview.