![]() ![]() Patina Miller’s Witch works best when the character is a cold realist - not unlike her “Cabaret” Emcee-like take on the Leading Player in “Pippin.” She’s less affecting when she painfully sings to her adopted daughter, Rapunzel, or croons that famous lesson-song “Children Will Listen.” Nevertheless, the actress is a vocal powerhouse. The night I attended, the role was played by understudy Cameron Johnson, who got as much applause as any singing part did. The production uses an extremely expressive puppet that turns our bovine buddy into an adorable Golden Retriever. So, of all things, does Milky White the cow. Julia Lester makes a hilarious Broadway debut as Little Red. Gavin Creel gets giggles, too, as the Big Bad Wolf and alongside Josh Henry as the dummy princes. All her well-known jokes feel fresh, and she is unbelievably funny. My face was a lot red from laughing so hard. Thompson is sweet and innocent as the beanstalk climber, and lifts our spirits with that goosebumps solo “Giants In The Sky.” And in Lester, we witness a major new comedic talent emerge. There are two terrific Broadway debuts here – Cole Thompson as Jack and Julia Lester playing that peppy spitfire Little Red. ![]() And Phillipa Soo, as a conflicted Cinderella, melts the audience with the ever-so-sad “No One Is Alone.” Sara Bareilles plays the Baker’s Wife in “Into The Woods.” Evan ZimmermanĪs her husband, a deep-feeling Brian D’Arcy James movingly wails “No More,” confronting the memory of his lost father. I’ve never seen such a relatable interpretation - she’s the Baker’s Wife of Park Slope. The actress is so warm and thoughtful during the number, but also flies by the seat of her pants. You won’t soon forget Sara Bareilles’ perfect rendition of “Moments in the Woods,” a notoriously tricky song in which the Baker’s Wife tries to rationalize some taboo forest frolicking. The razor sharp focus here, instead, is on a divinely cast, crystal clear staging of the fairytale musical that intertwines the tales of Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk and Rapunzel into a lesson about how adulthood has no happy ending. ![]() You do not leave thinking, “What was the director doing with all those lasers?” The costumes by Andrea Hood are basic storybook clothes there is an actual orchestra onstage David Rockwell’s set is a few birch tree trunks and some black steps. “Into The Woods” has a simple set, and is packed with Broadway talent. James Theatre pretty much as is, save for some new cast members. The new revival started as a popular, streamlined concert at City Center this spring and has been schlepped over the river and through the woods and across 7th Ave. (Granted, nothing Sondheim ever wrote was plain or simple.) What we experience is the 1986 musical, plain and simple. Not this latest “Into The Woods,” though. The most recent Central Park revival of “Into The Woods” 10 years ago changed the old man narrator character to a little boy lost on a camping trip. ![]() Whether it’s John Doyle’s “Sweeney Todd” performed by actor-musicians on a bare stage in 2005 or last season’s excellent gender-swapped “Company” helmed by Marianne Elliott, Sondheim shows have gotta get a gimmick. 2 hours and 50 minutes, with one intermission. ![]()
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