Was anybody else puzzled by the casting of 2002 revival of Into the Woods?

The world may never know why they made some of the casting decisions that they did.

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Thanks Paula Abdul..

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Vanessa (Witch), John (Narrator/M.M.), Laura (Cinderella), Gregg & Christopher (The Princes) and Chad (Milky-White) were all amazing.
Kerry O' Malley (Baker's Wife) was...serviceable. It's very hard to satisfy in that part, since Joanna Gleason basically has a copyright on it.
And Stephen (Baker), Adam (Jack), and Marylouise (Jack's Mother)? UGH. Can't bear to listen to them. I've made my distaste for this particular revival well known in the past, but I have to do it again. Most of the casting was simply horrendous and hiring someone like Adam Wylie, who has the most grating voice on the planet, or Marylouise Burke, who doesn't even have a voice, is a huge slap in the face to all the talented gypsies out there who COULD handle those parts. Hell, a upturned broom with a bucket for a head could get laughs as Jack's Mother, and you could fill the Gershwin with all the Broadway actors who could handle "Giants in the Sky".

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I mean, the recording's pretty bad too, but the show wasn't completely AWFUL.

The Good:
-The ending lyric changes to "Last Midnight"/Vanessa's final transformation
-The complete destruction the stage was left in, which not only made the last part of Act Two heartbreaking, but called to mind the all-too-recent events of 9-11
-The cast members I mentioned before
-The dancing cow

The Bad:
-Random tempo changes. WTF? James Lapine, if it ain't broke...
-Vanessa singing to the baby
-Ribbon dance during "Ever After". DOUBLE WTF?
-Ending change to "On the Steps of the Palace"...OK. Not only does it denigrate Cinderella's big song, but it makes no sense. Jack and Little Red already had their "I learned" songs, so why do they have to butt in here?
-The dancing cow (got distracting once in a while. That can be fixed by something we like to call DIRECTION)

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"Thanks Paula Abdul..."

Bahahahahah!!

I never saw the production but from the sound of some of their voices it just seemed like some dull and nothing special casting for the majority of the cast

She didn't even sing!

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I liked the revival a lot and thought the cast was great... until I saw the DVD of the original cast. The OBC was far superior to the revival cast, with the exception of Laura Benanti as Cinderella and Vanessa Williams (though I'm not really a fan) as the witch. I'm not saying that Laura and Vanessa were BETTER than the originals, just that they were fine.

And I liked the dancing cow.

I listened to the CD probably for 5 months and then found a bootleg of the show. So I guess you can say I've "seen" the production.

Vanessa Williams made some very interesting choices with the role acting wise her vocals on the CD were fine, but watch any live performance on yt and its nothing promising at all.

Laura Benanti I LOVED, not as much as Kim Crosby, but I did love Laura's interpretation of the material so much. All of her "he's a very nice prince.." lines were all so unique and clear in meaning.

Stephen DeRosa and Kerry O'Malley were BLAND and FORGETTABLE. not the people I would ever choose to carry a show. Kerry sings/speaks like a Disney Princess in DisneyWorld half of the time and it leaves little emotion in her voice.

Adam Wylie. Well, PiraguaGuy2 said it best, "you could fill the Gershwin with all the Broadway actors who could handle "Giants in the Sky"." And Adam would not be in that theatre. During the Act two opening his voice stands out as flat in my right ear bud. And he drops out of the (added) chord at the end of Steps... I assume he didn't do harmony well, either? Idk, maybe I'm harsh on him, but Jack is the number one dream role for me, it's so close tomy heart that I'm critical of every Jack I've seen. lol

Gregg Edelman & Christopher Sieber had PERFECT comedic timing with these roles, but I don't like their voices or the way their voices sound together. There was nothing royal about their voices, they sound like high schoolers at some points.

Melissa Dye was a knockout as Repuzel, though. I loved the tone in her voice that was so drastically differant than Pamela Winslow. She was a stronger comedienne, too.