...does this freak anyone else out? (Into the Woods)

[NathanLaneStalker]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 3:39am

Watch this clip from the original London cast. It's "Hello Little Girl".

Go to YT and type in these tags: Into The Woods Hello Little Girl Stephen Sondheim London West End Clive Carter Tessa Burbridge

....It's kinda cool..but the wolf just kinda freaks me out...and the london cast sucked.

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 3:42am

That is kind of weird.

[tazber]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 7:33am

It doesn't freak me out, but that wolf head is ridiculous.

Posted: 4/18/07 at 7:38am

The London cast divides fans so severely--I got into Sondheim thru ITW when I was 9 or 10 and managed to see the last 20 mins on PBS--at the time it wasn't on video and I remember actually phoning PBS trying to find out when they'd re-air it (they didn't know)--then finding the audio tape of the LONDON cast at my library and literally playing it at least all the way thru everynight as I'd lay in bed that Summer. I was hooked.

Anyway so I have a fondness for that cast--but I think, if you look at them honestly they're pretty great. The direction was much darker (kinda like a bizarre Victorian pantomime from Hell what with the odd set of old drawing room doors, etc) and the Wolf costume plays this up. I love it.

I love the OBCR production too of course--and while we might not have had a wolf with smoke from hsi ears the Broadway wolf did have a rather prominent penis (apparantly fiary tale wolves are circumcised--I still always marvel at how this detail got into a, quote unquote, family show).

Anyway Youtube also has a clip of the two princes from London singing Agony. I just love the darker feel (and apparantly so did Sondheim) As for the CD it's most worth it for Imelda Staunton (future Oscar winner) as Baker's Wife--though it's hard for me to choose if I like her more than Joanna in the OBCR I love both--but I think nearly all of the performances are excellent, I *love* Our Little World first recorded on this version, the chamber size orchestra sounds arguably even more exquisite than on the OBCR where it's beefed up (some of Tunick's chamber ensemble sounding orchestrations for Woods are just so stunning) and I liek the faster tempi although I admit it makes hard to understand wordy songs like Ever After even harder to understand.

E

[NathanLaneStalker]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 7:39am

Well, i was watching it in the middle of the night in the dark and I was alone...and it looked wicked...so at the time it freaked me out. But now it's just stupid. Although it's kinda fun to see how bad it is. It looks like something they would use in a theme park show. lol.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 7:40am

Sweet Jesus almighty!!!!!!!!!!! I've been watching the clips. They're terrible. This whole production is terrible.

[NathanLaneStalker]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 7:51am

I bought the cast recording on my first trip to NYC (as you could imagine, they don't have those kinds of CDs here in Mississippi) I don't know what I was really expecting...but long story short, I have never sat through the whole thing of the cast recording.

I met a few people from the OBC of Into the Woods and always ment to ask them how that "small detail" got into the show. But I was in awe of Joanna Gleason and Chip Zien that I forgot everything I was going to ask them. That happens rarely...like when I met Jay Johnson and Joyce DeWitt....lol.

Posted: 4/18/07 at 7:55am

AGain no one else gets the dark take on British pantomime aspect? (I guess they shoulda kept the wolf cock...)

I do see why people have toruble sitting thru the cast album if you are especially used to the original. I dunno *shrug* I kinda love how different it is (I'm not saying it's better though so no one jump down my throat...)

You win some points tho from me for getting to meet Gleason and Zien (I love Zien as the Baker too--though i also love the British Baker so there :P==but have to say I've seen Zien in a few concerts since his Woods role and he always comes off a bit as a smarmy talk show host... Oh well -- he is touching and great in Woods)

E

[NathanLaneStalker]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 7:57am

I don't know what it is about Zein..I just love him and his work though. He's fantastic.

Posted: 4/18/07 at 8:01am

The smarmy talk show personality really was from one concert--that late 90s one A&E televised of Sondheim stuff done for some College--Debrah Monk sang Gun Song on it too. Chip was unwatchable (and I know I'm not alone in thinking that)--hugging the microphone, winking to the audience, sorta talk singing some of the more meaningful words--unbearable

But ya I give him credit for some great work

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 8:37am

I actually like the London version, and wish I could see more. I particularly like that Julia McKenzie's ugly Witch sounds almost Scottish...nice jab.

I'm American, have all three avialable CDs, and in some cases, the OLC is my favorite.

[LittleFish8386]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 9:16am

I kind of like Little Red Ridinghood....I don't know why. She reminds me of Moaning Myrtle from the Harry Potter movies and it amuses me.

[Mart isn't easy]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 9:32am

I've not heard the London recording, I'd better track it down. I'll certainly check out the clips, thanks for the heads up.

And Julia McKenzie is, of course, a goddess. Is she a Dame yet, or nothing like it?

[Eastwickian]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 9:35am

I thought I was alone in my love for the Into the Woods OLC! As EricMontreal22 says, if you don't get that it's supposed to be a dark and twisted version of a traditional British pantomime, then it'll probably seem weirder than it is. It was a cracking cast (though most people here seem to hate all British casting of Sondheim shows) and I'm really quite peeved that although I saw this production when I was younger, I remember absolutly nothing about it whatsoever...

[luvliza89]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 9:45am

I was never a fan of the OLCR. Just never did it for me.

But after viewing this clip, I would have liked to see the whole production. It feels as though it truly were a fairy tale. The wolf's head practically screams just that. I don't know, but it seems to work when you actually see it as opposed to just listening. I like it =)

[Mart isn't easy]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 9:48am

The nest ITW I've seen was a bunch of teenagers at the Edinburgh Festival a couple of years back - they were stunning.

Anyway, OLC ordered!

[CapnHook]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 9:54am

I enjoyed those quite a lot. I like the concept. It works. I can see how other concepts might be preferred - but it seems as if this one also works just as well.

I want to see clips from Act II of the London version, especially ones of the Witch.

[StephanietheStar]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 10:08am

The London cast cracks me up!!!


The prologue is hilarious, Cinderella and Little Red look crazy.


It's a shame there are no videos of the Witch, I'd like to see what they did with her.

[Jazzysuite82]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 10:16am

I hate the London cast generally. The only reason why I bought it was for Our Little World, which is great. I just say why listen to that when the original is so good. I mean I have an ear I can tell the differences. I actually might like the darker version with a better cast...and someone should really tell the casting directors for this that if a Narrator is going to do the Rex Harrison speak-sing thing (Ever After), he should at least do it in tune...and try to approximate the melody.

[ruthiefan_felix]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 10:22am

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the OLC recording! And looking at the pictures, it's much darker than the OBC. I LOVE the OBC but there's sth about British presenting fairy tales and Sondheim musicals that just gets me!
Anyway, what more do you want? Julia McKenzie AND Imelda Staunton AND Clive Rowe???? Imelda IS baker's wife imo! Julia is a great and VERY different Witch!

[Mart isn't easy]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 10:27am

I'm confused - was ITW not meant to be based on the panto tradition? It sounds like this aspect wasn't brought out until it was produced in London.

[sondhead]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 11:26am

What I liked about the London production is that it didn't appear to have a first act directed specifically for comedy like Lapine's original. Given how dark the second act is, I would find it smarter to take the London's take on the show: do the entire show very dark and the material will still be funny when it needs to be and the 2nd act won't seem as weird.

There should be some form of division between the acts, but not as much as there is in the original.

Not to mention I don't think the Broadway cast recorded well. The video is nice, but the cast recording is slow, boring and devoid of emotion.

[sondhead]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 11:31am

Also, now watching these clips, note that these are from a TV show and are not showing the sets that played on stage, at least based on the pictures I've seen out of the liner notes.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 11:41am

The original Broadway cast is my absolute favorite cast of the show, but I really LOVE the London recording simply for being so completely different. I've always wanted to see the London production. I'll check out the YouTube clips tonight. I hope they are still there.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 11:53am

For those asking about Act II and it's visuals, I know only this (and I found this in a set design book 4-5 years ago):
They used the doors around the back in a curve. In the center, at back, was a grandfather clock. In Act II, doors became unhinged, the paper peeled away from the wall and the grandfather clock broke down.
The ugly witch looked rather a lot (to me) like Strega Nona from the Tomie dePoala series, only with a witch hat. When she transformed she looked (costume wise) a bit like the Wicked Witch that Debra Winger played in the Oz Concert in 96.

Honestly, I think it's brilliant, and I *wish* more survived.