The Public Theatre's Shakespeare/Park presents INTO THE WOODS -- Discussion- Page 17

[GoSmileLaughCryClap]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 8:17pm

I'll second that the Regents Park production was the most emotionally moving of any ITW I've seen. I have the Digital Theatre video on my computer, and I still get choked up when I watch even a couple of scenes.

Is this a crazily more complicated staging? Did anyone who saw the show last night see the Regents Park? Is the staging essentially the same?

If so, the cast just needs time to master the complications of the vertical staging and near constant movement. It certainly worked with the same set design and director in London. It would be interesting to hear what the rehearsal process and first performances were like over there.




Updated On: 7/25/12 at 08:17 PM

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 8:29pm

I mean, similar comments about the recent production of Jesus Christ Superstar were made when the show was out of town and that's why it was brought to Broadway. I saw the production here and thought it was kind of lifeless save for a couple performances.

For those who saw the video of the Regent's Park production, it was probably shot and edited for the show to be seen on video, meaning it tells you where your eye goes. I had no idea where to look in this production. I don't think it's the cast's fault or lack of rehearsal; it lies in the staging.

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 8:37pm

GoSmileLaughCryClap, it's very much the same staging, but it's much easier to comprehend on film when there are close ups and select angles that tell you where to look at all times.

The production comes off much more chaotic and unfocused live in the theater, just as it did in Regent's Park.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 8:38pm

Oh, absolutely, it uses a lot of close-ups (it's actually one of the better filmed versions of a musical I've seen with a good mix of closeups, but also full shots that give you a sense of the stage). I do wonder though--others have commented on the dancing, which there isn't all that much of in the UK video really except for when the title song pops up (which sometimes uses some odd gestures that remind me for whatever reason of Matthew Bourne's Mary Poppins choreography).

And MrMusic, it is more than fair to point out that a production can play very well in one place and not another (Into the Woods perhaps even more so than the JCS example you gave, since the cast is completely different).

I would be interested to hear from someone who has seen both stagings--particularly about the costumes and other aspects--I guess after more people have had a chance to see it in New York we'll get more.

[GoSmileLaughCryClap]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 8:46pm

The reputation of the Regents Park production was not earned through the video. It was a big critical and audience success and went on to win the Olivier award for Best Musical Revival before the video was even released.

With a week of performances I'm sure it will come together.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 8:52pm

I was just commenting on those who know the Regent's Park production solely from the video. And I can only comment on the production I saw last night. Most of my faults with it are in the direction, not the execution of the cast and crew.

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 9:25pm

Tonight's Twitter updates:

@tinmanic
Spotted: Wesley Taylor, Michael Urie #sondheiminthepark #intothewoods

@ktflood
Tom Hanks is in the house! #intothewoods

@thatsbway
Spotted: Tom Hanks & friends excited to get into the Delacorte Theater on this beautiful night @PublicTheaterNY #IntotheWoods

@jxrxd
Gearing up for our 2nd preview! It was a great rehearsal today. I'm excited to see this show continue to evolve until opening. #IntoTheWoods

[chrisampm2]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 9:32pm

Hey Mr Music, how can you distinguish between direction and execution on the first preview of a show that clearly had too little time in tech? Whether the use of rehearsal time was flawed isn't really the point. I would hope people going to a first preview knowing there've been problems getting time on the set with tech would have some patience - especially when the show is free. It's possible this staging will never please some in the house. But I'm not sure, unless an audience member disliked the London staging, he can speak yet with authority on the intent of the direction.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 9:46pm

The direction as a whole, from the concept to the busy staging to the disjointed design to the over-choreographed numbers, can be distinguished from slow transitions, flubbed lines, and missed technical cues. I can forgive all of those first preview hiccups. But the presentation of the storytelling, the direction, was flawed in my opinion. If it were perfectly executed by the cast and crew, I'm sure I'd still have reservations about the concept and staging. I'd love to see it again once it's frozen and open, but I suspect the issues I have with the show are inherent qualities of this particular production and the one that was staged at Regent's Park.

[Owen22]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 9:54pm

I saw the actually production IN Regents Park and had no trouble focusing. I have not seen the video (which, ironically, was filmed at the very performance I saw.

[FANtomFollies]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 11:32pm

kind of dying to hear a second-performance review...

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/26/12 at 12:32am

I'm not going to say I'm listening to it now because that would obviously be impossible, but Donna & Dennis no soundy good...

[Wynbish]

Posted: 7/26/12 at 12:34am

I wouldn't be surprised if Amy and Denis looked as awkward as this.
You light up my woods

[Kad]

Posted: 7/26/12 at 12:36am

Jordan,

If you were listening to last night, which you're not because that idea is laughable, yeah. They didn't sound great last night.

Tonight was much improved, on all accounts.

[keb2]

Posted: 7/26/12 at 12:38am

I'd never seen Into the Woods at all before tonight. I'd listened to it and followed along in "Look, I Made a Hat," but never actually seen it (I have no clue how, but I hadn't).

Amy Adams was a pleasant surprise—I wasn't expecting a ton from her, just for her to be passable, but she was a lot better than I thought she'd be.

The set was also quite stunning, very well utilized I thought, and downright magical at times.

Mueller breathed new life into "No One Is Alone." She made it sound like a brand new song, one I'd never heard before. Impressive!

I feel like the production will draw comparisons to "Peter and the Starcatcher," even though to the best of my knowledge, this production is older, but they're both cut from the same cloth, I think, in terms of how they're executed.

There were some little things here and there, but it was the second preview, so I was forgiving. I have confidence it will be much smoother by the time it opens (particularly the second act, which seems to need some finessing—but if they've barely done it with lights, costumes, etc, that's understandable). And besides, it's not like I paid anything besides my time to see the show, so I don't feel like I didn't get my money's worth.

Spoilers:
I didn't see the beginning (wasn't seated until after the first number), so my interpretation is probably incorrect, but what I got out of it was that this was a story the father/baker had told his son/narrator, and we were seeing it lived out in the child's imagination. I was under the impression that the father and the baker were the same person. I don't know how to explain how it worked in my mind with the disparate eras, but it did.

The audience was eating up the Little Red/Wolf scene, it was very much played for laughs. I didn't notice any indignant huffs of "that's inappropriate!"—probably because she played it as a willing participant.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 7/26/12 at 12:38am

Good to hear. Were you there, Kad?

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/26/12 at 12:39am

Well that's good to hear because if I was and that was how it was going to stay, I mean, LOL right, that would just, y'know, HUH WHA...? But I'm not so that's good to know.

[broadwaydevil]

Posted: 7/26/12 at 12:39am

Who saw it tonight?? I was looking forward to some reviews for comparison's sake!

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/26/12 at 12:40am

Sondheim was there. He saw it!

[broadwaydevil]

Posted: 7/26/12 at 12:41am

Ok, this made my night:

"I feel like the production will draw comparisons to "Peter and the Starcatcher," even though to the best of my knowledge, this production is older, but they're both cut from the same cloth, I think, in terms of how they're executed."

[HBP]

Posted: 7/26/12 at 12:41am

I'm looking forward to hearing comments on the second preview, as well!

Also, after seeing the show last night, I had to do a little research on Dennis O'Hare today. In the first preview performance, his speech was slow and slurred, as if he were drinking or a recent stroke victim. It affected his acting and singing alike. I kind of assumed that was just how he spoke, but this afternoon I watched a few recent interviews with him and he sounds fine! Something must have been up last night. Maybe he was exhausted from rehearsals or affected by some prescription meds, or something. It was definitely not his normal speaking voice.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/26/12 at 12:41am

I like the part in that where it made no sense.

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/26/12 at 12:43am

O'Hare used the slurred speech in Sweet Charity too.

[Kad]

Posted: 7/26/12 at 12:45am

I was there.

I'm not all-out reviewing it because... bias.

But I would say it has tightened up a lot even in the last 24 hours. The music problems that plagued the show last night were basically gone (last night was, I think, the... second time? they went through Act Two with an orchestra after the initial sitz probe on Sunday).

The Witch's transformation is still anticlimactic, but they've made it less awkward and feeling like dead-air by having the Baker/Mysterious Man dialogue and death occurring over it.

Transitions and moments were tightened, and there less noticeable flubs overall.

The death of the Baker's Wife was smoother, but it's still an odd moment that I think needs to be revised.

[keb2]

Posted: 7/26/12 at 12:47am

Definitely agree re: death of Baker's wife. If I didn't know that she died, I wouldn't have understood what was going on from how it was staged.

I do have to say, having seen it this way, with the Mysterious Man as the Baker's father, and the narrator as his son, I'm having trouble imagining both roles played by the same actor—but I guess the book for this production is different from the original?