The Public Theatre's Shakespeare/Park presents INTO THE WOODS -- Discussion — Page 31

"As of last night, they brought in the chorus to sing a line of the "What do you say to a child..." section, which was previously a solo for the Witch.

That's odd. I hope they keep it as a solo for the Witch. "

It doesn't bother me so much, since at that point the characters are addressing the audience with their final "morals"--I think, as lovely as it was, when all of that was in Second Midnight way back at LaJolla--in the middle of Act I--it did seem odd and slow everything down (at least judging from audios...)

It doesn't bother me so much, since at that point the characters are addressing the audience with their final "morals"

I do agree, but, the Witch's desire to be a mother is a MAJOR part of this production. MAJOR.
It was really touching to watch her sing those lyrics, as we see the father and son 'reunite.' It made sense for her to sing it alone.

Updated On: 8/3/12 at 08:59 PM

Yup, Donna was singing the Witch's original CHILDREN WILL LISTEN solo and the new section by herself, and then the chorus joined her, like they normally do. But now it sounds like the chorus is joining her on the new section?

There are very crisp, and clear pictures of Donna in her green dress if you search #Donna Murphy on tumblr. I didn't post them because they might be illegal, I also don't want to spoil the witch's transformation for anyone.

I cannot find the good pictures of the green dress. In all the pictures it just looks like a green sundress that has an overlaid skirt. If these are the same pictures that are on tumblr I do not care for her post transformation makeup, they eyebrows make her look like a drag queen.

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The "Children Will Listen" section is back to a solo with the ensemble coming in where they regularly would.

The show is now frozen for press week. A great deal of the grievances aired by people in this thread have been addressed, aside from costuming.

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...and the child narrator? The concept didn't completely gel with me, and I can't imagine the direction of these bits have been clarified if it's the conceit of the production. Has the staging and choreography calmed down at all or edited? It seemed quite manic in moments where less would be more.

Seeing it Tuesday. Wonder if anyone can comment on why the costumes are reportedly - and look in photos - to be so ragtag. What is the concept? It seems obvious that part of the fantasy of the fairy tale is the opulence and, alternatively, folky charm of the royals and simpler folk. ITW of course is a deconstruction of fairy tale aspirations and fantasies, but wouldn't it make more impact to have the costumes reveal this later in the show. It appears that the corruption of our fairy tale assumptions about costumes happens from the get go in this production. And the same goes for Adams's hair, although I understand it's less messy than the stills might suggest.

I didn't think that the London production's costumes COMPLETELY meshed, but they were all founded in (sort of) the same concept, color scheme/tone. The ones here in Central Park, however, are a free-for-all, jumbled mess.

With the London production, I think they were going for more of a punk/steam-punk, updated look. I think with The Public production, they wanted something slightly similar, leaning more towards a hipster style, but it was obviously not accomplished or beneficial to the story being told.

Other than Donna's Act II costume, there wasn't a single costume that wowed me on its own, and then all together none of them really make sense as a unit.

It's been talked about as being more ensemble heavy and having the whole cast working together every moment of the show (and it is, and they do), but the costumes sure don't reflect that.

Upon the move to Broadway, the creative team needs to have a nice long talk about the vision, concept and message that they want to send. If they want the design aspects of the show to meet the ensemble work of the cast, all sides of the team need to meet in the middle somehow and create a cohesive, comprehensible overall design.

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Updated On: 8/4/12 at 05:53 PM

No. You can only get a new ticket if you donated. That's not even *guaranteed* - though they were wonderful with offering me a new ticket when the first preview was cancelled.

Updated On: 8/4/12 at 07:51 PM

Do you think I should go tomorrow? Weather Channel Lists "Scattered Strong Storms" with 40% Precipitation Chance from 7pm-12am. Should I even try??? I am really debating, because since it might rain, people might not be so eager to try to go. But, it does cost me $30 to get there and back. UGH.

^ what I wouldn't do to see that show.