Well those 2 comparisions are not quite what I'm talking about, more so the Into the Woods one since Sondheim shows usually aren't long runners so that lends themselves to new interpretations.
My gripe is well established long runners that are "Frozen" so to speak. Like Cats, Phantom, Lion King, Wicked even. Especially if the original is still running.
They recently had a new verison of Beauty & the Beast in Europe and I felt the same way about that, It just wasn't as good.
Although I guess you have the opposite in shows like Jekyll & Hyde that have had stagings that were far superior than the Broadway run.
I just feel that shows that have established themselves as a particular product with specific branding and a certain "look" should not be changed over when ever someone wants to do so. Although I am aware this triend is kind of recent in the sholw scheme of Musicals, having started with the mega musicals of the 80's and Cam.Mac whose goal was to have the exact same show playing in different cities.
end of rant
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27199361@N08/ Phantom at the Royal Empire Theatre