A (60:02)
Thank you, Mother. The last production of into the woods, the one that was at Encores and transferred to Broadway, I liked. I liked a lot. Cast was strong. It was a production that I thought really had no style or point of view. And that's not the worst thing in the world, because I think what really kind of made that Broadway revival pop for so many into the woods fans, as well as people who did not know into the woods super well, was that, unfortunately, for the last 35 years, into the Woods has been perhaps the number one musical theater victim to directors and designers who have ideas. Because it's a fairy tale, because there's all this magic and thematic ties into the show. Directors and designers are like, I've got an idea of how we're going to do into the Woods. And they just take a hit of acid and they go to town. I have friends who went to Northwestern who told me about a student production that, like, took place in a camp. Not like a sleepaway camp, like a concentration camp, and that the giant basically was like a watch guard. And you're sort of going, huh, what? I know there was a famous production that was, I think in Seattle, maybe Portland, where the design of the witch in Act 1 was that, like, the garden was her body, so she had nectarines on her breasts and she had cabbages and celery all over herself. And so the Broadway revival, the Encores Transfer Broadway revival, I think was a breath of fresh air for a lot of into the woods fans because it just did the show. It trusted the material. It didn't do any major rewrites. They did not include Our Little World, which I appreciate, and they just did it. And many of us who loved the show and have always felt that the show was good, but was sort of clobbered by people with ideas, it was nice to sort of see the. The material itself just breathe and succeed. And for people who claimed to never like into the woods and saw this production, they were taken aback because they were like, oh, this show is good. Maybe I just saw bad production similar to how I'm kind of feeling about Playboy of the Western World, but I did also feel like people got a little crazy with that one, because while I liked it, it was not mind blowing to me. It did not change any way in how I felt about the show. There was nothing about anyone's performance. They made me go, oh, I never thought to do a role that way. That, like, totally changes the game of how I feel about that character, about this show. I'm like, I've always known this show is good. And I feel like I know these characters pretty well. And of the original cast with the. With all the laughs and. And the pathos, I'm like, I know where the bodies are buried. I know. I know how things can succeed. There were certain moments that got laughs in this last revival that I did not expect, and that was fun. Like Sara Bareilles found a whole bunch of new laughs for the Baker's Wife, which I appreciated. She's probably the best baker's wife since Joanna Gleason, and that is super, super high praise. And this production of into the Woods I found to be more surprising and exciting in a lot of ways. There are things, things where it is weaker that the last revival was stronger. I felt that the cast for this bridge production overall was really great, with one exception, which is Katy Brabin as the Baker's Wife. She's a very talented, well respected musical theater actress, and she's a well sung baker's wife, but it's over sung. When she was doing Moments in the woods, she was doing it like it was a pop concert. I mean, not like she wasn't trying to act it, but she really put an emphasis on the vocals. And I'm like, this isn't really a singer's song. It's melodic, it has some range to it. But, like, if Emily Blunt can do it in the movie and Joanna Gleason can do it, you know, you don't have to worry about sounding amazing. This is not. I'm the greatest star. This is not Dorana, My parade. This is Moments in the Woods. And Braben for me, was just sort of a humorless baker's wife. She really committed to the stakes of the situation between the baker and his wife, but never really had the humor nailed, which is a shame, because I thought everyone else kind of did. I thought Jamie Parker was a very sympathetic baker, and that's a huge task to accomplish because the baker can be so fucking whiny. And he really made you feel for him. The MVP of the show, as you heard, with my mom, is Kate Fleetwood as the witch. She was just the tits. I don't know how else to describe it. Her witch. The design for her ugly witch was sort of like a bald cap with scraggly hair was sort of like, if Nan. I know I keep mentioning Catherine Tate, but if you ever watch the Catherine Tate show or look her up on YouTube, she's got a character named Nan who's like a cursing grandma. Nan meets Gollum is the best way I would describe the design and her attitude for the witch in Act 1. She's kind of. Or rather, I should say she's kind of like a British Elaine Stritch in the body of Gollum is how I would describe Kate Fleetwood's act one witch. She's like, oh, hello. When you wanna know, my little babe? And just, like, so over it from the jump. Which I appreciated, because the witch is smarter than everybody else, which is why she has no fucks to give, which is why she's tough, which is why she's abrasive. And that energy carried over to her transformation and the regret and the confusion she had of why everything went to pot for her when all she wanted was to be happy and be happy with her daughter and not sort of recognizing her own failings and then kind of her own tunnel vision in Act 2. Just, it's. She is, without a doubt the best live performance of the witch that I have seen and the best witch since Bernadette Peters. That is how good Kate Fleetwood is as the witch. And her last midnight was so strong and so powerful. Normally, when people do the shh at the top of last midnight from, you know, your fault into last midnight, there's many ways to do it. You know, Bernadette went sort of chillingly furious. Kate Fleetwood's witch Hirsch is an extension of just how over it she is. She's been listening to them blabber on and on and on, and it's like she realizes halfway through your fault that there is no hope. They are all going to die because they had one chance to solve it, which is give Jack to the giantess. And rather than have a genuine discussion about, like, why it's the right thing to do or have an actual strategy of how to fix this, everyone's just pointing fingers to feel better about themselves. And you watch her listening to all of this, and the realization of their doom creeps in on her. And the fact that no one else can sense this doom is now also annoying her. So when she shushes them, she's like, shut your stupid face. We're gonna die. It's all terrible. And we're gonna die. And it was so good. I don't know how else to explain it. She also sounds great. Her voice is fantastic, too. And her Stay With Me is really lovely vocally. I will say this. Into the woods surprised me at how well done the music was. Everyone sounded fantastic. Some people maybe a little too fantastic, like I said with Katy Brabin. I will also say that Cinderella, who is played by To Sima Dornford May. Can everyone just be called, like, James and. And Alexa Smith from now on? Because y' all are tripping up my tongue here and it's not even the third date. But Ms. Dornford may, I will say her voice is incredible. She's got a really strong belt that actually she uses quite a bit in Cinderella than I expected. And she's got a nice soprano voice, but it's a bit thin and her break is a little high. And while Cinderella is a soprano role, it's a light soprano, and a lot of the character is sung in sort of a mixy area. And so when she is doing steps to the palace, she's very much belting, like, I would say 80% of it. And things like her call to the birds in the prologue, it just doesn't have as much power in the soprano area of her voice as I would like it to be because of just where her voice sits. But she does a really beautiful job with no One Is Alone. I must say, her voice is fantastic. It's more just a personal taste I have with women who sing that role of, like, can you give me a little bit more? I keep saying light, but yet, like, lightness, legato ness, like a straight tone. Benanti sound is sort of what I go for, which I guess you could just say is Kim Crosby. I will say Ms. Dornford May was a fun and very strident Cinderella. What I enjoy about Anna Kendrick, Cinderella in the movie, and the movie is a mixed bag for sure, but I always enjoyed husband Anna Kendrick. Cinderella is so uncomfortable in the ball gown. She's so uncomfortable being a princess. And that is something that is also true of Ms. Dornford. May is like, even though she's no longer a scullery maid and she looks beautiful, she's like, this is not how I naturally am. And it feels like a costume. And I'm just sort of an odd girl who talks to birds. And I. And I appreciated that about her. Other standouts in the company, Our Jack was played by Joe Foster, who I thought that's probably the best Jack I have seen live. Definitely the best since Ben Wright. Sounded fantastic, had the right amount of innocence and earnestness, but never was super cloying. I guess my one issue with Gracie McGonagall as Little Red Riding Hood is. Like, she did sometimes get a little too strident as Little Red. Like, her red was very bold and brash, and that's a great color to have. But it was kind of that one note for all of Act 1. And then, of course, it started to crumble in Act 2 when, you know, she finds out that Granny is gone and all of that. But it was sort of a long time to wait for that exterior to crack. And so there were times in Act 1, I'm like, okay, this is a bit much right now. Can we soften it a bit? But she also sounded fantastic. Anyone else in the company? Oh, yes, our princes. Cinderella's prince, played by Oliver Seville or Saville and Rapunzel's prince, played by Rice Whitfield. Those we mentioned a little bit in my mom's section. But, like, those guys were so fucking funny as the princes. Their agony was sort of. They were turned on by the agony itself. They were turned on by the chase of the woman, and they were kind of turned on by each other. There was an overt, almost incest vibe to these princes and their agony. It's sort of like, I am so hot right now. I. I am attractive. I am turned on by my situation, and also, my brother is hot, and. And he's turned on by his situation, and what can I do? We're just two men in heat. And also, we're royals, and, you know, royals fuck family. That's sort of always been their gig. So, like, it is. It is played up for a very intensely sexual comedy, which I appreciated a great deal, because usually when you're watching Princes and Into the woods, it's more of a play on the bland leading man, you know, vapid baritone prototype. And then other times, they go a little more foppish with it. That was sort of what Joshua Henry and Gavin Creel did in the last revival of, like, they were kind of overly sexless in that revival, and in this production, they're overly sexed. And when given the choice, I will go for overly sexed every time. I think that sex is more interesting than sexless on a stage in terms of romance and in terms of. What's the word I'm looking for? Not contrivance, but in terms of inner conflict, inner turmoil. Design wise. There's been a lot of talk about sort of the spectacle, the lavishness of this production. The Bridge theater is actually a very intimate theater, and the stage itself is relatively small, but it goes very deep. And this production begins on the thrust of the stage with a black backdrop in the, you know, into the woods title projected. And in the middle of the thrust, sort of a giant table pops up. And the entire prologue is done around this table with characters popping up behind the table, coming in from the wings and just sort of like. It's this. It's almost sort of like a pop up book when each page is a new character. So like Little Red pops up from behind the table and the witch pops up from behind the table. And it's just very. It was very tight and very well maneuvered. And again, just kept with the pacing really lovingly. The design of the show, costume wise, I guess it was sort of like medieval. There was a lot of tunics going on and like rope belts. I would say someone can maybe describe it better in the Discord Channel or maybe pinpoint the era that the design is supposed to be, but I don't, I can't rightfully say. There are certain touches that I really enjoyed, like when they. When the stepsisters and the stepmother are off to the ball. The carriage and the horses are their purses. So they are wearing purses as they go across the stage. And one is the horse, one is the carriage. And it's very clever. The prologue is the best I've ever seen that prologue done live again outside of the original production that's filmed after that. It's hard for me to say when the production hit the high of that prologue ever again, it maintained a steady stream of really strong stuff. If I had qualms to say, it would be that. Transitions sometimes in this production were a little slow, especially in Act 1, where the midnights are a constant reminder of how little time there is. We've got two midnights gone, one midnight gone. And as time is ticking away and the stakes get higher, everyone needs to get a little more frantic. And in the scenes they are. But as scenes are supposed to sort of bleed into each other, this production has a hard time getting that to happen. Part of that is the density of the design. It's not, not overly flooded with woods. It's actually kind of a trick of there are two or three items of very realistic trees that come on that slide on stage to make it appear like the stage is flooded with trees. But it's really like, I would say a third of the stage is actually covered in. In scenic trees. And it's more sort of like they. They slide into different positions to make it look like different areas of the woods. And the lighting also changes a lot to make it look like different areas of the woods. Because I had heard so much about how intricate this design was. Like, you'll never see a more elaborate production of into the woods again in your life. The woods themselves, I was like, oh, it's actually kind of sparse when you look at it. But, I mean, it's beautiful. It's beautifully detailed. But it's like, I was, like, really expecting to just see the stage flooded with trees. And that wasn't really the case. The stage also itself has levels that were sort of of rises and falls to create different perspectives. Anyone who saw Guys and Dolls there knows what I'm talking about. Like, when Guys and Dolls was done, it was done environmentally. Here lies Love Style. And the floor that a lot of the audience was standing on would rise in different sections to create new scenes for Guys and Dolls. And that also clearly is possible when shows are done in a proscenium. And that is what happened with into the Woods. So, like, there's the table that rises in the middle of stage for the prologue. But then in Act 2, when the earthquake happens with the giant, the stage then rises on both sides and lowers in the middle to create sort of like a valley, as if, like, the giant has created a footprint into the stage, which is very impressive. There are other things that kind of, I thought, could use some tweaking. The magic portions of the show are sort of lackluster. The witch's transformation is done sort of lackluster. Kay Fleetwood goes to the back of stage, whips off her robe, turns back around looking like the little girl from the Shining with very, very long, jet black hair and a white, simple white dress. And it's not an impressive look, but I don't think that's necessarily what they're going for. It feels more sort of like they're going for a rebirth of the witch's beauty rather than like that she's come out of this enchantment glamorized. It's like, oh, she's, you know, she's reborn and sort of sort of like, rather than go for Supermodel, they're going for Margaret Qualley in the substance, where she emerges from Demi Moore. It's sort of like this is her purest, most, you know, virgin birth form, and she will glamorize after this. That is sort of the vibe I got, which. Which is what happens in Act 2. She gets done up more now that she's beautiful. Also, her exit from Last Midnight is kind of underwhelming. They open up the Stage, and she retreats into it with the ghost of Rapunzel, which sounds fun, but it was just sort of lackluster in the way that it was done. But there are also, like, some harmonies that they added to this production. Like Cinderella at her mother's grave has. I think it's three women offstage singing the voice of her mother. And when they sing ask the tree and you shall have your wish, it's done in three part harmony. And when the witch is doing the end of Last Midnight, they have Rapunzel sort of singing alongside her. So that's in harmony. This is a very strong production. Overall, I would highly recommend it. I would rate it probably an 8 out of 10, maybe an 8.5 out of 10. And compared to the Broadway production, which I would probably rate a 7.5 or 8 out of 10 as well. Where the Broadway production is strongest was in pacing. It was in casting. Where this production is strongest, it's in design, it's in creativity. If I could plop Sara Bareilles into this production and if I could tighten up some of the transitions and maybe ask for, like, one more go with the witch's transformation, I think that this would be an absolute stellar production for the ages. As it is, it's a really memorable production for right now, which is, you know, a major compliment, I think, in. In the grand scheme of things. I also wanted to say thank you to the house staff at into the woods for being so delightful. You guys at Bridge really know what you're doing. And I also want to give a quick shout out to the young man at the merch stand in the lobby at my performance. You did a really fantastic job. You were so professional, and you were so courteous, kind, and personable. And I hope that they recognize your value at the Bridge because you are doing good work over there. Thank you, young man. And finally, last up, but not least, up, Badding done Baddington the Musical. Now, before I get into any of this, I think it's time that we hear one last thing from Mama Dre, Mother Mazia. Going into Paddington the Musical, what did you know? And then what were you expecting?
