The Public Theatre's Shakespeare/Park presents INTO THE WOODS -- Discussion — Page 36

When are we going to have a reviews thread?

I'd start one now, but I don't want to step on Mike's toes.

Let's please just not have them in this monstrosity of a thread.

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First Video Preview Y'all

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"In tonight's performance, the role of the Wolf will be played by Stacee Jaxx."

Perhaps the worst costume design EVER!

Wow, you've seen every theatrical production in the history of mankind?

I kind of liked the costumes. They had a certain depth and meaning to them. Little Red's, in particular, seems to make her the personification of the consequences of straying from the path. She's a melange of danger prevention and danger repair.

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I have to say I do NOT like that Promo video of the show.

This coming from some one who fully supports the production, loves the concept, loves the costumes(though a few need tweaking)/set and supports the cast...except for O'Hare.

Why oh why is it so dark? I'm not talking about the "concept" I mean the lighting. I sat in the park twice and viewed the show under the dark night sky and the lighting didn't make the whole production look like it was filmed in a shadowy tunnel...

...and considering O'Hare is struggling through the dialogue and songs, was it necessary to showcase him through almost the whole segment? I know he is THE Baker (and I do love the man) but every other character makes up the entire piece too.

The two minutes that they had the entire ensemble singing "Into the Woods" could have been broken up to hear the audio of the segments they were flashing in the montage.

Ok, I'm done ranting. My apologies.

I guess I really do love this production, because this video does not do it justice.

I wish they would re-edit.

"I wish" ha!

This is the same but has some extended footage

http://www.broadway.com/videos/154244/sneak-a-peek-at-video-clips-of-into-the-woods-starring-denis-ohare-amy-adams-donna-murphy-more/?page=1&sort=newest#play

Updated On: 8/9/12 at 01:34 PM

No unfortunately they don't really pop at all in real life. They blend in too much, the set overpowers them.

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In the video the costumes are discernible. When you are further back in the theater and the lighting is adjusted for each scene...the costumes fade into the background.

Going for more true to life vs fairy tale (eg a kiddie book) flattens it all out.

Might work for a movie but not for the stage. Consider the difference in application of makeup for the stage vs movies. Stage has makeup on heavier so the person in the back can see it and movies are more natural because of the film closeups on a big screen.

O'Hare seems like he's playing the Baker as, um, slow during No More. Everyone else looks good, and I'm actually excited about this production, but O'Hare is making no sense to me, even from just the video

Her ball gown is no longer the gown in the video. It's now a white, silver, and gold gown, more "traditional".

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I saw the show tonight and I really enjoyed it but thought it was pretty uneven. My favorite performance of the night was by far Jessie Mueller, followed closely by Donna Murphy and Chip Zien. I also thought Ellen Harvey was doing a great job with the Stepmother but she got almost no laughs, which was strange to me since I think she's an excellent comic actress. I thought the cast was pretty uniformly good with the exception of Denis O'Hare and Amy Adams. O'Hare was, in my opinion, flat-out bad from top to bottom. He seemed uncomfortable, and his singing was embarrassing. Adams was better than I expected, but I still found her merely serviceable. Her singing was uneven and her acting was pretty flat...the Baker's Wife was the same person at the end as she was at the beginning, which shouldn't be. I should note that I find Adams in general to be a pretty uninteresting actress on film as well (the only films I've genuinely liked her in are Enchanted and The Fighter), and I really don't get the hype around her.

The biggest problem is the messy staging in the group numbers...I was in row K and pretty much dead center, and I just found the staging far too busy and the running up and down the set was unnecessary. There were some moments of staging that really worked...I loved the way they did the giant as well as the beanstalk "growing," but in a lot of places the staging really hindered the songs. I also hated most of the costumes, especially Amy Adams's get-up with that atrocious wig. I get what they were going for, but most of them just blended into the set and made it even harder to tell everyone apart/know who to watch in the group numbers.

I'd like to see it again before the end of the run because I love the show and seeing it live was exciting for me since I haven't before, but there are a lot of things that don't work. It's worth it for Jessie Mueller's lovely performance though, as well as Donna Murphy. I just wish Adams and O'Hare weren't so weak (and in addition to the lackluster performances he looks at least twice her age), because the Baker and the Baker's Wife are really the center and heart of the show and neither of them grounds it enough.

saw it tonight, I agree its a little busy and Denis O'Hare was miscasted. But this was far from the disaster that people were screaming about.

The show ends its extended limited engagement on Saturday... anyone plan on attending these final performances?