| re: INTO THE WOODS magic-what am I missing-potion? | |
| Posted by: | Michael_Portantiere 11:46 am EST 11/19/14 |
| In reply to: | re: INTO THE WOODS magic-what am I missing-potion? - MikeR 12:04 am EST 11/19/14 |
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| I was correcting the phrase "could care less," which means the opposite of the correct version, "couldn't care less." But it seems very few people even notice the error anymore because it's almost always wrong :-( If I may participate more fully in the discussion, this thread points up what I've felt from the beginning: INTO THE WOODS has apparently become Sondheim's most popular show (in terms of number of revivals, the fact that it's one of the few to be made into a movie, etc.), but I think that's largely because people respond to the presence of the fairytale characters they love so well, rather than to the actual storytelling of the show, which is flawed (especially in Act II). | |
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| re: INTO THE WOODS magic-what am I missing-potion? | |
| Posted by: | AlanScott 04:05 pm EST 11/19/14 |
| In reply to: | re: INTO THE WOODS magic-what am I missing-potion? - Michael_Portantiere 11:46 am EST 11/19/14 |
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| I sometimes say "I could care less" as a way of indicating that I care so little that I can't even be bothered to say "I couldn't care less." ;) I really like "I could care less," even though it's wrong. | |
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| re: INTO THE WOODS magic-what am I missing-potion? | |
| Posted by: | Michael_Portantiere 04:29 pm EST 11/19/14 |
| In reply to: | re: INTO THE WOODS magic-what am I missing-potion? - AlanScott 04:05 pm EST 11/19/14 |
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| To me, "I could care less" only sounds like it means "I don't care at all" if you say it with a question mark: I could care less? | |
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| lol oops. :) | |
| Posted by: | garyd 11:59 am EST 11/19/14 |
| In reply to: | re: INTO THE WOODS magic-what am I missing-potion? - Michael_Portantiere 11:46 am EST 11/19/14 |
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| I admit I often make the "could care less" goof. I thought I had overcome it but obviously not. I care but I suppose I should care more. Not sure I agree with second part of your post though I certainly have nothing but subjective intuition upon which to base by disagreement. However, I do agree the storytelling does seem to be flawed. | |
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| re: lol oops. :) | |
| Posted by: | Michael_Portantiere 12:07 pm EST 11/19/14 |
| In reply to: | lol oops. :) - garyd 11:59 am EST 11/19/14 |
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| Thanks. I just don't think it's a coincidence that Sondheim's most popular show happens to be the one with characters including Little Red Riding Hood, the Wolf, Rapunzel, Jack (in the Beanstalk), et al. I think COMPANY, FOLLIES, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, and SWEENEY TODD are all better shows than INTO THE WOODS, even though not as popular. It does seem to me, however, that SWEENEY has grown greatly in popularity over the years. Of course, even though the popularity of INTO THE WOODS can be and has been measured objectively, I too can only go on subjective intuition as to WHY this is true. | |
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| re: lol oops. :) | |
| Posted by: | AlanScott 04:17 pm EST 11/19/14 |
| In reply to: | re: lol oops. :) - Michael_Portantiere 12:07 pm EST 11/19/14 |
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| I think that even though the original Broadway production of Into the Woods ran 207 more performances than the original Broadeway production of Sweeney, more people may have seen Sweeney. Into the Woods has had more productions over the years, but, yeah, Sweeney has done well also. I don't think there's any question that the fairy tale characters are a big part of why ITW has been produced so much. It's perceived as being a family show because of that. | |
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| re: lol oops. :) | |
| Posted by: | Ann 05:57 pm EST 11/19/14 |
| In reply to: | re: lol oops. :) - AlanScott 04:17 pm EST 11/19/14 |
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| Probably if you just count their first acts, Into the Woods has been seen more. | |
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| re: lol oops. :) | |
| Posted by: | Michael_Portantiere 04:25 pm EST 11/19/14 |
| In reply to: | re: lol oops. :) - AlanScott 04:17 pm EST 11/19/14 |
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| "I don't think there's any question that the fairy tale characters are a big part of why ITW has been produced so much. It's perceived as being a family show because of that." Absolutely. I was amused, and yet I thought it made perfect sense, when I heard that the "junior" version of ITW consists of only the first act. | |
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| re: lol oops. :) | |
| Posted by: | garyd 01:55 pm EST 11/19/14 |
| In reply to: | re: lol oops. :) - Michael_Portantiere 12:07 pm EST 11/19/14 |
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| Good points. I also remember reading an article prior to the 2002 revival in which Sondheim said something to the effect that some changes were being made in an attempt to make ITW even more "kid friendly" to perhaps tap into the "Lion King" demographic. And, of course, he has always said that he thought/hoped ITW would be more of a cash cow than his other shows and I guess that is true. I always cringe when I hear of a high school production of "Follies". It just seems so odd. It's like a high school drama teacher deciding "Long Day's Journey Into Night" might make a dandy senior play production. | |
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| re: lol oops. :) | |
| Posted by: | Michael_Portantiere 03:27 pm EST 11/19/14 |
| In reply to: | re: lol oops. :) - garyd 01:55 pm EST 11/19/14 |
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| Have you heard of many high school productions of FOLLIES? I don't think I've heard of any. Which is not to say that other wildly inappropriate shows aren't done in high schools... | |
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| re: lol oops. :) | |
| Posted by: | garyd 09:23 pm EST 11/19/14 |
| In reply to: | re: lol oops. :) - Michael_Portantiere 03:27 pm EST 11/19/14 |
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| Yes, oddly enough, I have heard of several and there are several youtube examples. It almost comes across as child porn. | |
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| re: lol oops. :) | |
| Posted by: | Chromolume 10:03 pm EST 11/19/14 |
| In reply to: | re: lol oops. :) - garyd 09:23 pm EST 11/19/14 |
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| Colleges do it. The Boston Conservatory did a production of Follies back in 2008. They really shouldn't have. The majority of the students, as one would expect, didn't have the life experience to know how to play the material. (Granted, student productions cast youngsters as adults all the time, but when the overarching theme of the show is people looking back at themselves after 30 years, I think that's unreasonable acting material for a cast of mostly 20-year-olds.) I remember that the Hattie and the Phyllis were closest to having the sense of maturity needed to get into the roles, and to the other extreme, I remember that the Weissman resorted to some sort of embarrassingly phony "old man" walk to "define" his character. The rest of the principals learned their lines and songs but had nothing to say with them. The show also ran OVER 3 hours. Why did anyone think that show was a good choice? | |
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| re: lol oops. :) | |
| Posted by: | Michael_Portantiere 09:37 pm EST 11/19/14 |
| In reply to: | re: lol oops. :) - garyd 09:23 pm EST 11/19/14 |
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| Amazing! | |
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| re: INTO THE WOODS magic-what am I missing-potion? | |
| Posted by: | Ann 11:48 am EST 11/19/14 |
| In reply to: | re: INTO THE WOODS magic-what am I missing-potion? - Michael_Portantiere 11:46 am EST 11/19/14 |
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| I think MikeR knew that - you two just can't see eye to eye ;) | |
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| re: INTO THE WOODS magic-what am I missing-potion? | |
| Posted by: | MikeR 12:03 pm EST 11/19/14 |
| In reply to: | re: INTO THE WOODS magic-what am I missing-potion? - Ann 11:48 am EST 11/19/14 |
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| Actually, I did not, so I'm grateful for the clarification. | |
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| re: INTO THE WOODS magic-what am I missing-potion? | |
| Posted by: | Ann 01:15 pm EST 11/19/14 |
| In reply to: | re: INTO THE WOODS magic-what am I missing-potion? - MikeR 12:03 pm EST 11/19/14 |
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| Oh, gee, sorry. I thought you made a joke, and I laughed. I do think you and Michael are very similar in the kinds of things you post and that you would get along, though you don't usually seem to on the board. Just wanting us all to get along ... ;) | |
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| re: INTO THE WOODS magic-what am I missing-potion? | |
| Posted by: | AlanScott 04:03 pm EST 11/19/14 |
| In reply to: | re: INTO THE WOODS magic-what am I missing-potion? - Ann 01:15 pm EST 11/19/14 |
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| I thought the same thing. | |
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| re: INTO THE WOODS magic-what am I missing-potion? | |
| Posted by: | Michael_Portantiere 01:27 pm EST 11/19/14 |
| In reply to: | re: INTO THE WOODS magic-what am I missing-potion? - Ann 01:15 pm EST 11/19/14 |
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| Sometimes we do :-) | |
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| re: INTO THE WOODS magic-what am I missing-potion? | |
| Posted by: | Ann 01:29 pm EST 11/19/14 |
| In reply to: | re: INTO THE WOODS magic-what am I missing-potion? - Michael_Portantiere 01:27 pm EST 11/19/14 |
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| OK, I'm happy for that. | |
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| re: INTO THE WOODS magic-what am I missing-potion? | |
| Posted by: | SuzanneR 08:52 pm EST 11/19/14 |
| In reply to: | re: INTO THE WOODS magic-what am I missing-potion? - Ann 01:29 pm EST 11/19/14 |
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| Kum ba yah, my lord, Kum ba yah... | |
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