| The two 'stone' staircases roll out again...as well as the center platform, and the characters enter for their first run-in with the booming Judi Dench, our Giantess....whose amazing animated shadow was another highlight of the revival. With footsteps that literally make the theater shake. When the Narrator is thrown to the Giantess the Witch (who now wears a cape very similar to the ugly hag's costume of Act I), the audience clearly sees the shadow of the man...swinging from his feet in the hands the the Giant. Then he is dropped, and pages from his book fall from the flyspace stage left...a great touch. The death of Jack's Mother was underwhelming. The long staff of the Steward in the original worked well (but, then again, the camera angles of the video helped). Trent Kendall's smaller walking stick worked, thought it was obviously he didn't come close to Jack's Mother's head. Once the others notice she's "in poor condition", the Baker and his Wife lower her to the platform. She wasn't the wide-eyed statue that tht orignal was at her death, though it worked. "Lament" was okay...not Bernadette Peters, though. I think Vanessa needs to work on her sadness at Rapunzel's end. There are new lyrics in this song. New lines where added when the Baker goes out in search of Jack, so the Baker's Wife doesn't go with him at first after their small fight; "Will only a Giant's foot stop your arguing?!". Then Little Red says something about fighting, follwed by the Wife explaining its okay to argue sometimes. Then Jack is faintly seen crossing behind the backdrop upstage, looking for his cow...calling out: "Miiilllky!" - the Baker's Wife goes after him, thus setting up her meeting with the Prince. When the Baker comes upon the sad young maiden, Cinderella....who is supposed to be sitting before her Mother Grave, she sits stage right - as if the audience contained the fallen tree. The tree used for her Mother's reflection obviously couldn't be "fallen" because it is always onstage. The Baker's line is changed to: "You look just like the Princess...but dirty. You ARE the Princess by dirty!". I should have mentioned before the 'pose' the characters do in the presence of royalty; on their knees, heads down with their arms extended...where they got that I don't know. (NOTE: I believe this scene has changed since I saw it in that, Cinderella now appears to be sitting on a set peice of a broken tree...as if it were her Mother's Grave). A clump of trees slides away revealing the Prince on top of the Baker's Wife. "Moments in the Woods" was very good, Kerry O'Mally is just perfect for that role. Her death sent chills up my spine: the stage grows dark with a greenish spotlight on her, looking up - horrified - as the booming footsteps grow closer. Breaking trees are herd, and - with a loud crash - the spotlight goes out. "Your Fault" wasn't anything new...and if it was I was too caught up with every movement of the Witch building up to "Last Midnight" to notice. This song was the highlight for me. Near the end of "Your Fault" the Witch goes over to the basket where the Baker's Son is, on the stone steps, and takes him. "Last Midnight" was haunting, the new lyrics are amazing. After singing to the baby, she kisses him goodbye and returns him to his scared father. She scatters the beans, even eating them (another awesome addition)...with the sound of them going down her throat by the orchestra. She reveals (after hiding it under her long red sleave) that her arm is growing old and ugly once more, even ripping of her beautiful wig as the climax grows...showing us some graying hair underneath. The new lyrics make it obvious where the Witch is headed, to be with her mother, spurned and ugly..'safe inside the world that she's from'...then, singing "Mother here I coommeee!" she spins down a noticable, circular, trapdoor. Breathtaking and frightening. This was probably my favorite moment. I hate when the Baker says "Yes, maybe you shouldn't have" after the Witch's dramatic exit and the others conclude that they were wrong. So, he leaves them, and soon comes across the Mysterious Man, residing among broken trees which roll on. "No More" was typical, but a very nice moment for Stehpen DeRosa. He returns, and the group plans their attack on the Giantess. Cinderella has stolen a few of the Baker's lines, and Jack now has the idea of climbing the "old tower" (Rapunzel's Book; now torn and ripped) in order to strike the Giant. "No One is Alone" was a great moment - just as everything else - but it was a heart-warming, teary rendition. I've read some reviews saying that the set and lighting created the mood/image/memory of Sept. 11th. No big head of yarn falls to the stage at the Giantess' death (though I believe in L.A. a pair of bloody glasses where lowered to the stage). When I saw it, leaved and sticks fell from the fly space. The "Finale" began in a weird way...perhaps effective, but - thinking back while listening to the CD - it almost sounds like a commercial about drugs (?). The characters walk out and very slowly get into the "happily ever after" of the show. Soon they scatter and "begin again", bringing out the Broadhurst Janitor brooms and picking up the paper leaves. A huge purple-bound book, titled "Into the Woods" is brought out, and the characters dance into it........Gosh, I love this show! |
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AND HAPPY EVER AFTER! ...I wish... |