Threaded Order Chronological Order
| Into the Woods - Cheyenne? | |
| Posted by: mlop 11:32 pm EDT 07/26/22 | |
|
|
|
| Has anyone been to see Cheyenne Jackson in "Into the Woods"? Sunday was his first performance and tonight his second. Hoping to win the "Into the Woods Lottery" especially this week. | |
| reply to this message |
| re: Into the Woods - Cheyenne? | |
| Posted by: KingSpeed 04:36 am EDT 07/27/22 | |
| In reply to: Into the Woods - Cheyenne? - mlop 11:32 pm EDT 07/26/22 | |
|
|
|
| Cheyenne is perfect casting for this role. Probably more so than Gavin. Interesting enough, Cheyenne was Gavin's understudy in MILLIE. I don't think of them as the same type at all. | |
| reply to this message |
| re: Into the Woods - Cheyenne? | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 06:01 pm EDT 08/02/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Into the Woods - Cheyenne? - KingSpeed 04:36 am EDT 07/27/22 | |
|
|
|
| I haven't seen the role under Lear's direction (or, obviously, Gavin's performance of Wolf/Prince)... but I do think Cheyenne is notably more ideal casting for it, at least if one cares about the physical look of a fairy tale prince. I have to say when he did it at the Hollywood Bowl a few summers ago (with a generally incredible cast and quite the line-up of theater stars) ... he was fantastic! Directed by Robert Longbottom with basically the OBC costumes and very solid direction/staging, the cast for that production (which I'm always surprised didn't get more attention) was: Skylar Astin, as “The Baker” Sierra Boggess, as “Cinderella” Chris Carmack, as “Rapunzel’s Prince” Anthony Crivello, as “The Mysterious Man” Sutton Foster, as “The Baker’s Wife” Edward Hibbert, as “The Narrator” Cheyenne Jackson, as “Cinderella’s Prince / the Wolf” Hailey Kilgore, as “Rapunzel” Gaten Matarazzo, as “Jack” Patina Miller, as “The Witch” Rebecca Spencer, as "Jack's Mother" Shanice Williams, as “Little Red Riding Hood” and the voice of Whoopi Goldberg, as “The Giant” Tamyra Gray, as “Granny / Cinderella’s Mother” Stella Kim, as “Lucinda” Daniel López, as “Prince’s Steward” Edelyn Okano, as “Cinderella’s Stepmother” Grace Yoo, as “Florinda” Not everyone was entirely or thoroughly successful, or who I'd have wanted in the roles (looking at your Sutton and Skylar), but everyone did a good to great job and given more rehearsal I'm sure the ones I was less thrilled by would have done even better. (Sutton, for example, was wonderful in Act 2 but seemed to be playing more Cinderella in act 1... maybe a choice, maybe not... and Skylar I think is just not mature enough as an actor (maybe matched with an equally young Baker's Wife I'd have seen it more, or maybe that's what Sutton was going for, I dunno) -- but I had friends who thought he was great). The stand out for me was actually Sierra Boggess. Crivello was also wonderful. |
|
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
| re: Into the Woods - Cheyenne? | |
| Posted by: Jdnyc33 10:08 am EDT 07/27/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Into the Woods - Cheyenne? - KingSpeed 04:36 am EDT 07/27/22 | |
|
|
|
| Cheyenne last night was off the charts good. Almost stole the show and that’s saying a lot. The casting of sara bereilles in this role is 💯 | |
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
| re: Into the Woods - Cheyenne? | |
| Posted by: jmill 10:47 am EDT 07/27/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Into the Woods - Cheyenne? - Jdnyc33 10:08 am EDT 07/27/22 | |
|
|
|
| I was also there last night. I thought Cheyenne was delightful, charming, and looked like he was having a blast. That said, I think Creel, at Encores, was hilarious, especially with his preening and body language. Cheyenne isn't quite as funny, but performs and sings the role well. Two people who were in my group and had also seen Creel at Encores felt the same way. | |
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
| re: Into the Woods - Cheyenne? | |
| Posted by: gcarl44 08:46 pm EDT 07/30/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Into the Woods - Cheyenne? - jmill 10:47 am EDT 07/27/22 | |
|
|
|
| I was also there on Tuesday, and I saw the Encores version as well. In every respect the Broadway version is far superior. I must admit that I was gobsmacked. What an absolutely brilliant production. All the performances were outstanding. And the staging has been improved and tightened into a phenomenal, cohesive, piece of theater. And Sondheim's music and lyrics are performed with a level of clarity, brilliance, and beauty that I do not remember from previous productions. I do not remember a time when I have seen an audience treat every number as though it was a "showstopper". They seemed to embrace not just the song, but the performer who performed the song with all the love and gratitude they could muster. It was an evening in the theater that I will not forget. As for Cheyenne, IMHO I believe his is a superior performance. Yes Creel may have been funnier, but he was more over the top. Jackson is more centered (and a better singer). And his expressions and acting were funny when they needed to be. I was further amazed by Sara Bareilles, who was just delightful in every scene she was in. She has a lovely voice as well as great comedic chops. |
|
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
| re: Into the Woods - Cheyenne? | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 06:11 pm EDT 08/02/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Into the Woods - Cheyenne? - gcarl44 08:46 pm EDT 07/30/22 | |
|
|
|
| I think it's worth noting, and incorporating into the assessment of the audience reception of the songs, is that this production -- it may be perfect, brilliant, balanced in the right way, I haven't seen it - the point is it wouldn't necessarily matter as much as I think you're making it sound like it does, because this production has the benefit of the show not only being on VHS and DVD for decades, but also on YouTube for 16 years (presumably). Adult and teen audiences seeing this production have lived their entire content-consuming lives with Into the Woods OBC film available to watch any time on their home computer for free, or from the DVD. In addition to that, this production has the massive benefit of having 3 decades more of people and generations with access to not only the stage film and no less than 3 cast albums of it, but of performing it in school (high schools everywhere do it like clockwork, colleges do it, even middle schools do ITW Jr), seeing their classmates or family members do it in their schools... and that builds an enormous warmth and connection and familiarity with the play and its songs. AND the major Hollywood Disney film version (whether it's perfect or not -- and it is not) was a Christmastime cinema hit and has been out and around for 8 years now. So while I don't doubt that, as you say, "Sondheim's music and lyrics are performed with a level of clarity, brilliance, and beauty that I do not remember from previous productions" ... or whether or not I'll agree with that entire statement when I do see this revival... I think more than most shows, ITW doing a revival has a LOT of growing love and momentum and a special place in an inordinate number of young people's lives, and every decade it's out being a top produced show for schools, being recorded on albums and videos and film, and being on YouTube and Spotify etc in addition to those other things... it's just a unique situation for a musical that isn't by ALW and isn't an adaptation of a movie/book about young women or a Disney animated movie first. |
|
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
| re: Into the Woods - Cheyenne? | |
| Posted by: jjbkvm 08:30 pm EDT 08/02/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Into the Woods - Cheyenne? - Chazwaza 06:11 pm EDT 08/02/22 | |
|
|
|
| I agree. Plus having seen the original Broadway production I find $299 for a good orchestra seat a hard pill to swallow for what appears to be a concert production, regardless the cast. | |
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
Time to render: 0.030511 seconds.