{"id":472759,"date":"2022-07-11T05:05:53","date_gmt":"2022-07-11T02:05:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/into-the-woods-broadway-review-high-octane-unfiltered-sondheim\/"},"modified":"2022-07-11T05:05:53","modified_gmt":"2022-07-11T02:05:53","slug":"into-the-woods-broadway-review-high-octane-unfiltered-sondheim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/into-the-woods-broadway-review-high-octane-unfiltered-sondheim\/","title":{"rendered":"#&#8217;Into The Woods&#8217; Broadway review: High-octane, unfiltered Sondheim"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a39f18f6b0cc\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a39f18f6b0cc\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/into-the-woods-broadway-review-high-octane-unfiltered-sondheim\/#%E2%80%9C%E2%80%98Into_The_Woods_Broadway_review_High-octane_unfiltered_Sondheim%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;&#8216;Into The Woods&#8217; Broadway review: High-octane, unfiltered Sondheim&#8221;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9C%E2%80%98Into_The_Woods_Broadway_review_High-octane_unfiltered_Sondheim%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;&#8216;Into The Woods&#8217; Broadway review: High-octane, unfiltered Sondheim&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<p>The sublime new revival of the musical \u201cInto The Woods\u201d that opened Sunday night on Broadway is radical.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Because there is absolutely nothing radical about it.<\/p>\n<p>New York audiences in recent years have become accustomed \u2014 too accustomed, I say! \u2014 to the works of the late composer Stephen Sondheim being used as weighty canvases for the machinations of auteur directors.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"inline-module inline-module--review alignleft\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__inner\">\n        <span class=\"inline-module--review__eyebrow widget-heading-semi__label\"><br \/>\n            Theater review      <\/span><\/p>\n<p>        2 hours and 50 minutes, with one intermission. At the St. James Theater, 246 W 44th St.\n    <\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Whether it\u2019s John Doyle\u2019s \u201cSweeney Todd\u201d performed by actor-musicians on a bare stage in 2005 or last season\u2019s excellent gender-sw<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ed \u201cCompany\u201d helmed by Marianne Elliott, Sondheim shows have gotta get a gimmick. The most recent Central Park revival of \u201cInto The Woods\u201d 10 years ago changed the old man narrator character to a little boy lost on a camping <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">trip<\/a>. Sure!<\/p>\n<p>Not this latest \u201cInto The Woods,\u201d though. What we experience is the 1986 musical, plain and simple. (Granted, nothing Sondheim ever wrote was plain or simple.)<\/p>\n<p>The new revival started as a popular, streamlined concert at City Center this spring and has been schlepped over the river and through the woods and across 7th Ave. to the St. James Theatre pretty much as is, save for some new cast members.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-style-default\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/5712_cast-of-Into-the-Woods_photo-by-Matthew-Murphy-and-Evan-Zimmerman-for-MurphyMade.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"&quot;Into The Woods&quot; has a simple set, and is packed with Broadway talent. \" class=\"wp-image-22997735\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/5712_cast-of-Into-the-Woods_photo-by-Matthew-Murphy-and-Evan-Zimmerman-for-MurphyMade.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=2048 2048w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/5712_cast-of-Into-the-Woods_photo-by-Matthew-Murphy-and-Evan-Zimmerman-for-MurphyMade.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/5712_cast-of-Into-the-Woods_photo-by-Matthew-Murphy-and-Evan-Zimmerman-for-MurphyMade.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/5712_cast-of-Into-the-Woods_photo-by-Matthew-Murphy-and-Evan-Zimmerman-for-MurphyMade.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>\u201cInto The Woods\u201d has a simple set, and is packed with Broadway talent. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Evan Zimmerman<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The costumes by Andrea Hood are basic storybook clothes; there is an actual orchestra onstage; David Rockwell\u2019s set is a few birch tree trunks and some black steps. You do not leave thinking, \u201cWhat was the director doing with all those lasers?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>God, that\u2019s good.<\/p>\n<p>The razor sharp focus here, instead, is on a divinely cast, crystal clear staging of the fairytale musical that intertwines the tales of Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk and Rapunzel into a lesson about how adulthood has no happy ending.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>You won\u2019t soon forget Sara Bareilles\u2019 perfect rendition of \u201cMoments in the Woods,\u201d a notoriously tricky song in which the Baker\u2019s Wife tries to rationalize some taboo forest frolicking. The actress is so warm and thoughtful during the number, but also flies by the seat of her pants. I\u2019ve never seen such a relatable interpretation \u2014 she\u2019s the Baker\u2019s Wife of Park Slope.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/0246_Sara-Bareilles_photo-by-Matthew-Murphy-and-Evan-Zimmerman-for-MurphyMade.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Sara Bareilles plays the Baker's Wife in &quot;Into The Woods.&quot; \" class=\"wp-image-22997741\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/0246_Sara-Bareilles_photo-by-Matthew-Murphy-and-Evan-Zimmerman-for-MurphyMade.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=2048 2048w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/0246_Sara-Bareilles_photo-by-Matthew-Murphy-and-Evan-Zimmerman-for-MurphyMade.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/0246_Sara-Bareilles_photo-by-Matthew-Murphy-and-Evan-Zimmerman-for-MurphyMade.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/0246_Sara-Bareilles_photo-by-Matthew-Murphy-and-Evan-Zimmerman-for-MurphyMade.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Sara Bareilles plays the Baker\u2019s Wife in \u201cInto The Woods.\u201d <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Evan Zimmerman<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>As her husband, a deep-feeling Brian D\u2019Arcy James movingly wails \u201cNo More,\u201d confronting the memory of his lost father.  And Phillipa Soo, as a conflicted Cinderella, melts the audience with the ever-so-sad \u201cNo One Is Alone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There are two terrific Broadway debuts here \u2013 Cole Thompson as Jack and Julia Lester playing that peppy spitfire Little Red. Thompson is sweet and innocent as the beanstalk climber, and lifts our spirits with that goosebumps solo \u201cGiants In The Sky.\u201d  And in Lester, we witness a major new comedic talent emerge. All her well-known jokes feel fresh, and she is unbelievably funny.\u00a0My face was a lot red from laughing so hard.<\/p>\n<p>Gavin Creel gets giggles, too, as the Big Bad Wolf and alongside Josh Henry as the dummy princes. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/4313_Julia-Lester_photo-by-Matthew-Murphy-and-Evan-Zimmerman-for-MurphyMade.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Julia Lester makes a hilarious Broadway debut as Little Red. \" class=\"wp-image-22997729\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/4313_Julia-Lester_photo-by-Matthew-Murphy-and-Evan-Zimmerman-for-MurphyMade.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=2048 2048w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/4313_Julia-Lester_photo-by-Matthew-Murphy-and-Evan-Zimmerman-for-MurphyMade.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/4313_Julia-Lester_photo-by-Matthew-Murphy-and-Evan-Zimmerman-for-MurphyMade.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/4313_Julia-Lester_photo-by-Matthew-Murphy-and-Evan-Zimmerman-for-MurphyMade.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Julia Lester makes a hilarious Broadway debut as Little Red. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Evan Zimmerman<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>So, of all things, does Milky White the cow. The production uses an extremely expressive puppet that turns our bovine buddy into an adorable Golden Retriever. The night I attended, the role was played by understudy Cameron Johnson, who got as much applause as any singing part did.<\/p>\n<p>Patina Miller\u2019s Witch works best when the character is a cold realist \u2014 not unlike her \u201cCabaret\u201d Emcee-like take on the Leading Player in \u201cPippin.\u201d She\u2019s less affecting when she painfully sings to her adopted daughter, Rapunzel, or croons that famous lesson-song \u201cChildren Will Listen.\u201d Nevertheless, the actress is a vocal powerhouse.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInto The Woods,\u201d surprisingly, is turning into Sondheim\u2019s best-remembered show over better ones like \u201cSweeney Todd,\u201d \u201cA Little Night Music\u201d and \u201cCompany.\u201d Act 2 has always been a heavy-handed thicket of rapid tragedies that doesn\u2019t quite land, but nobody cares anymore. Thanks to the taped 1987 production and frequent high school stagings (there\u2019s even a \u201cjunior\u201d version for kids), the show has jammed itself into the minds and hearts of a generation of theatergoers.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Some Australian friends who didn\u2019t know the material remarked that they felt like they were at a panto, a boisterous call-and-response type holiday show in Britain and Australia.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>How wonderful it is to see a Sondheim musical inspire that sort of energy from a crowd decades later. Here\u2019s hoping that trend sticks \u2014 ever after.\n                        <\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/07\/10\/into-the-woods-broadway-review-high-octane-unfiltered-sondheim\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;&#8216;Into The Woods&#8217; Broadway review: High-octane, unfiltered Sondheim&#8221; The sublime new revival of the musical \u201cInto The Woods\u201d that opened Sunday night on Broadway is radical.\u00a0 Because there is absolutely nothing radical about it. New York audiences in recent years have become accustomed \u2014 too accustomed, I say! \u2014 to the works of the late&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":472760,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/4667_Sara-Bareilles-Brian-dArcy-James_photo-by-Matthew-Murphy-and-Evan-Zimmerman-for-MurphyMade-e1657504081360.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[131231,131240,27230,70731],"class_list":["post-472759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-7-10-22","tag-phillipa-soo","tag-sara-bareilles","tag-theater-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=472759"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472759\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/472760"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=472759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=472759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=472759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}