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| re: My take on INTO THE WOODS | |
| Posted by: Revned 01:11 am EST 11/18/22 | |
| In reply to: re: My take on INTO THE WOODS - theaterisok 12:35 am EST 11/18/22 | |
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| Thanks for the kind response and for taking the time to read my long post! Dating myself here, I did see and love the original, both onstage and on TV. I understand what you’re saying, but in both of the cases you mention, I feel there are significant distinctions. I remember Kim Crosby stumbling and falling and skidding across the ground as Cinderella. But in the revival there are added somersaults that I don’t remember Crosby doing. Just one example of a joke being coarsened by being taken too far. To my eye, the approach to the princes was markedly different. Westenberg and Wagner were more grounded, and delineated the characters with a much lighter touch. The wit was more subtle and the musical staging of “Agony” was much simpler and more elegant, without the flamboyant gestures and showy choreography Creel and Karl are doing. They also wore very handsome uniforms, which created a more romantic and dignified effect than the garishly colorful fop costumes used in the revival. |
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| Link | "Agony" 1987 |
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| re: My take on INTO THE WOODS | |
| Posted by: portenopete 09:19 am EST 11/18/22 | |
| In reply to: re: My take on INTO THE WOODS - Revned 01:11 am EST 11/18/22 | |
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| I also really enjoyed reading your thoughts, probably because I feel a kinship with the sentiment you expressed about the coarsening of a show that is chock-a-block with Sondheim's trademark insight and wit and that I think is best served by a subtler approach. One of the best things about Robert Westenberg's original Cinderella Prince was his extreme humourlessness. I suppose Chuck Wagner took more or less the same approach, but he was possessed of genial, California surfer looks, whereas there was something about Westenberg's physiognomy- those broad, bony planes on his face and his deep-set eyes- that gave him a seriousness that seemed effortless. I saw him as George Seurat, as well as in both the live and PBS versions of Into the Woods- and I suspect that was his general style in most things he did. Gavin Creel- lovely though his voice may be- has always had a lightness about him that is about as far from Westenberg's stolid presence as I can imagine. As his fame and the audience adoration of him have grown over the years, it seems whenever I see him he is spending at least half of his performance slyly glancing out at the audience and grinning, the way a child in a school play would search out his parents and give them a little wave. (Andy Karl is a spectacular buffoon and in the right role- particularly Bruce Granit in On the Twentieth Century- he has been absolutely perfect.) |
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| re: My take on INTO THE WOODS | |
| Posted by: WaymanWong 02:34 pm EST 11/21/22 | |
| In reply to: re: My take on INTO THE WOODS - portenopete 09:19 am EST 11/18/22 | |
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| Thanks for remembering Andy Karl in ''On the 20th Century.'' He should've won the Tony for that (and ''Groundhog Day,'' as far as I'm concerned). | |
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| Sophistication? What's that? | |
| Posted by: peter3053 04:00 pm EST 11/19/22 | |
| In reply to: re: My take on INTO THE WOODS - portenopete 09:19 am EST 11/18/22 | |
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| We live in an age of extremes, it seems, and that tips over into performance, often. The original production was elegant, and with sophisticated theater magic; and exquisite costume design. It was up against Phantom, which was elegant, and with sophisticated theater magic, and exquisite costume design. In a time when people dressed to go to the theater, and went, prepared to listen, and absorb thoughtfully. HELL, NOW, I LOVE IT - I'VE GOT TO STAND UP, EVEN MID-SONG, AND SCREAM MY LOOOOOOVVVVVE!!!! WHOOO!!!! SHE HELD A LONG NOTE - WOW! HE PULLED A FACE!!!!!!!! Ah well, every day a little death. (I shudder to think what may be on stage in the Sweeney Todd revival - blood? You want blood????!!!!) |
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| re: Sophistication? What's that? | |
| Posted by: portenopete 07:18 pm EST 11/19/22 | |
| In reply to: Sophistication? What's that? - peter3053 04:00 pm EST 11/19/22 | |
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| Well, there's London. That's better. Showing signs of allcapsitis, too, but generally there's a grown-up vibe at the theatre. And the odd show- The Band's Visit comes to mind- elicited a hushed and reverential reaction when I saw it, enough that I didn't imagine Ethel Barrymore spinning in her grave. |
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