The Wonder that is "Into The Woods" — Page 2

Ben Wright teaches Musical Theatre at Indiana Univerasity.

It is my understanding that he comes from a very conservative religious family, and the Broadway lifestyle never sat well with him. He really is an inocent farmboy, like his character in State Fair!

joanna is awesome! i was lucky enough to go to a master class she taught at my school, and she is just as nice as she is talented.

long live "into the woods"!!!

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I actually just bought the original cast recording this afternoon. I've had the revival for awhile and there is no comparison between the two, even if I am a huge Laura Benanti fan.

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A special INTO THW WOODS memory....

September 2, 1989. The Final Broadway performance of INTO THE WOODS. A sunday matinee. The theatre is packed. Just as the houselights are going down Stephen Sondheim is seen slipping into his aisle seat.

The audience was pumped. Each section of the prologue was greeted with prolonged applause, and every number received a thunderous ovation. Many original cast members are still in the show including Tom Aldredge, Chip Zien, Ben Wright, Barbra Bryne and Edmond Lyndeck. Ellen Foley was playing the Witch, Patricia Ben Peterson was Cinderella and Kay McClelland played the Baker's Wife.

By the time "No one is alone" is sung several cast members have visible tears. The show ends and the audience is on its feet cheering each of the leads. The curtain falls but the audince continues applauding all through the play-out music hoping the cast will take one more curtain call. But the music ends and the curtain remains down. Finally the applause subsides and people begin leaving the theatre.

Suddenly the curtain goes up and the whole cast is still on stage joined by Mr Sondheim. People who had started leaving the theatre come back in and the applause wells up. Sondheim raises hs hands and announces that today is Ben Wright's birthday...he is 19 today. Paul Gemignani leads the orchestra, cast and audience in singing "Happy Birthday." The cast pose for a few pictures then disperse to their dressing rooms. Sondheim comes to the edge of the stage and down on his hands and knees to sign playbills, pose for pictures and pleasantly answer questions.

Outside the theatre on the sidewalk the cast sign autographs and chat with fans before heading off to a final cast party.

The next day the giant boot that had hung over the edge of the Martin beck theatre for almost two years is deflated and removed.

Opening nights can be very exciting.... but closings have a special magic al their own.

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frontrowcentre...that was amazing! Seriously I can't even imagine what it must have been like. What an amazing show. "No One Is Alone" never fails to get me all choked up. I just love this show so much.

Sidenote: Did anyone happen to see Phylicia Rashad perform as the witch? If not, do you know what kind of reviews she got?

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Blue Wizard: What are you talking about? Whoever mentioned the "what's a rhyme for basket" is referring to the Forbidden Broadway version, INTO THE WORDS.

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There was a plot line that got dropped from Into The Woods, but I don't know at what point it was abandoned. (This might have been used in San Diego or early Broadway previews). The narrator didn't die in Act Two, and at the end was revealed to be the Baker's Son, telling the story to us, as his father is seen telling to him just prior to "Children Will Listen". So, the narrator was doubling as his own grandfather when he played the Mysterious Man (which explained why the same actor played both roles). I gather that all might have been too trippy for audiences to understand, but I think it's a neat twist that ties the whole show together thematically. A shame it got dropped.

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I'm with you Rath - when she stops the show on the DVD - it's absolutely amazing - she finishes her number and has to kill time while the audicnce goes wild - you don't see that often in this business any more...and I cry everytime I get to that point in the DVD because I am simply blown away by her performance.

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WISH, I loved it the first time I saw it. In the theater. It instantly became my second favorite show, and has remained such all these years.

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Rathnait, you are clearly someone unique in many ways. Your love of theater and your passion, your clever writing, etc. It is not surprising that someone with your talents, knowledge, heart and capabilities could love a show like ITW upon first viewing. There are not many folks like you.

That is why the original and revival of this masterpiece both failed to find audiences. As did the original and revival of FOLLIES, PACIFIC OVERTURES, etc.

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frontrowcentre2, thanks for those memories. It seems like it was amazing.

Anyone know how Ben Wright looks now? He was my favorite character as Jack, and I really was just wondering how he looks now.

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Magruder -- the grandfather sub plot WAS in early previews on the broadway run and subsequently dropped a week or so later (yes, I instanly fell in love with the show and had to get back and see it again).

I thought that original plot "twist" of the narrator being the Bakers Son was wonderful and when they threw him to the giant I was speechless.....

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Woah..the narrarator was supposed to be the baker's son? And I thought I had figured out the show.

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