Tag Archives: Into the Woods

Fleeting: After Les Mis… Now What?

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It was said time and again that if Les Miserables made a killing in the box office then Cameron Mackintosh would focus his attention on bringing Miss Saigon to the silver screen as well. Well with that possibility becoming clearer and clearer everyday, you’d think I would go and update my wish list of what I would like to see happen with Miss Saigon. Well the truth is, not much has changed and as thus instead I’ll simply do another round up of musical productions that people are sniffing around for a big screen treatment.

RUMORED to be in DEVELOPMENT
Wicked
Considering how there is already a Wizard of Oz movie about to be released by Disney in March (Oz the Great and Powerful) that is a kind of prequel to the Wizard of Oz, I am not really entirely sure having another Wizard of Oz prequel would be overkill in the current yeah.

Thankfully out in the wonderful world of IMDB it appears that the currently slated date would be sometime in 2014.

Interesting… very very interesting.

Jersey Boys
Also… that same article mentions that the Jersey Boys appear to be in the development phase for a film adaptation. And yet… according to IMDB there is no real set date for the film to be released… but it does mention that such a film is currently in development.

FUN!
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Entertainment: Anna Kendrick as Elphaba in For Good

This came through my RSS Reader and I just had to share.

Earlier this year I wrote a post about Anna Kendrick being in a reading / workshop of a potential film version of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods as well as diving into speculation as to whether she could truly fill the role of Cinderella?

Also there were rumors flying about her taking the part of Cathy in Jason Robert Brown’s The Last Five Years that is also being rumored to be headed to film?

Well… here is a video of her singing “For Good” from Stephen Schwartz’s “Wicked” with none other than the original Glinda: Kristin Chenoweth. Not only that but Anna ended up singing Elphaba’s part…

So she’s got the pipes, but Cinderella is a fairly high vocal part and Anna sounds more in the mezzo-soprano range at most, well based on the videos I have seen thus far… so it remains to be seen / heard if she could hit the high notes, but at least in the above video she is getting closer.

Entertainment: Into the Woods film reading

It would appear that Into the Woods is getting into the Hollywood game as there was a reading done recently involving a “who’s who” list from Broadway. According to Broadway.com here was who was in attendance:

CHARACTER ACTOR PREVIOUS / CURRENT CREDITS
Baker’s Wife Nina Arianda Broadway: Venus in Fur (Tony win), Born Yesterday (Tony nom)
Stepmother Christine Baranski Broadway: The Real Thing and Rumors (Tony win); TV: The Good Wife
Florinda Tammy Blanchard Broadway: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and Gypsy (Tony noms)
Cinderella’s Mother/Granny/Giant Victoria Clark Broadway: The Light in the Piazza (Tony win) and Sister Act
Baker James Corden Broadway: One Man, Two Guvnors (Tony win) and The History Boys
Wolf Ivan Hernandez Off-Broadway: Cinderella’s Prince and the Wolf in the 2012 Central Park staging of Into the Woods
Lucinda Megan Hilty Broadway: 9 to 5; TV: Smash
Rapunzel’s Prince Cheyenne Jackson Broadway: Xanadu, Finian’s Rainbow and currently The Performers
Jack’s Mother Allison Janney Broadway: A View from the Bridge (Tony nom) and 9 to 5
Cinderella Anna Kendrick Broadway: High Society (Tony nom); Film: Up in the Air (Oscar nom)
Steward/Baker’s Father Michael McGrath Broadway: Nice Work If You Can Get It (Tony win) and Spamalot (Tony nom)
Witch Donna Murphy Broadway: Sondheim’s Passion and The King and I (both Tony wins); The People in the Picture, Lovemusik and Wonderful Town (all Tony noms)
Rapunzel Laura Osnes Broadway: Bonnie & Clyde (Tony nom) and currently in Cinderella
Jack Taylor Trensch Off-Broadway: upcoming Bare
Little Red Riding Hood Casey Whyland Broadway: Billy Elliot
Cinderella’s Prince Patrick Wilson Broadway: Oklahoma! and The Full Monty (both Tony noms)
Screenplay Narrator David Garrison Broadway: A Day in Hollywood, A Night in the Ukraine (both Tony nom), also of Wicked and Silence!

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Review: Natural Talent Productions’ Into the Woods

Show: INTO THE WOODS
Music and Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim
Book: James Lapine 		Location: Natural Talent Productions
Director: Raegan Kotz
Music Director: Harrison Ashley

Straight from Music Theatre International:

An ambivalent Cinderella? A blood-thirsty Little Red Ridinghood? A Prince Charming with a roving eye? A Witch…who raps? They’re all among the cockeyed characters in James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim’s fractured fairy tale. When a Baker and his Wife learn they’ve been cursed with childlessness by the Witch next door, they embark on a quest for the special objects required to break the spell, swindling, lying to and stealing from Cinderella, Little Red, Rapunzel and Jack (the one who climbed the beanstalk). Everyone’s wish is granted at the end of Act One, but the consequences of their actions return to haunt them later, with disastrous results. What begins a lively irreverent fantasy in the style of The Princess Bride becomes a moving lesson about community responsibility and the stories we tell our children.

Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods was Natural Talent Productions third show at the Arcada Theatre (the first two being Little Shop of Horrors and Jesus Christ SuperStar). With the intent of having a Junior version of the show in the mornings and the original production on afternoons and evenings over the course of the weekends… a bit overkill in my opinion but I can understand the intent for the most part. Me and my friends that went with me all kind of agreed that a more effective way of using both the original production and the junior version would be to have the junior version be the matinee shows and the original production be the evening shows all over the course of the weekend. Would seem to make the most sense, but I digress.

Let’s start with the set, I was pleasantly surprised with what they decided to do for set pieces when introducing the characters… rather ingenious in a way. I really liked seeing the curtains open and you see three life-sized books there that actually open up to reveal the actors in their individual scenes, very well done. When the books closed and were moved off to the side I was a bit put off kilter when I saw the set for the actual “woods”. Though using a video backdrop of the woods was one thing, and it flowed well with the individual trees in the foreground… two massive trees on either side of the stage seemed rather out of place until you realize their primary uses. The tree on stage right was where Milky White the Cow was primarily placed against while the tree on stage left was used to cover up the tower that Rapunzel stayed and later Jack and the Baker would perch while waiting for the giant.
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Personal Endeavors: Stage Musical “Wish List”

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Ask any actor/actress that enjoys being a part of theatre, chances are they probably have a short list of shows and/or roles they’d love to play. I’m no different despite this being more of a hobby for me than anything. Although I don’t have a stage play short list (I am usually game to most anything) I do have a musical theatre short list… two of those musicals I have either already done or am doing, so what do I have left?

Well let’s start with what I have already done:
– City of Angels
Yes, I was even willing to grow a beard for a show. =) I loved the musical: City of Angels ever since I first heard “The Tennis Song”, so when I read up on the synopsis of the show and started listening to more of the music I knew that this was a production I just HAD to be a part of. Little did I know what the director at Theatre-on-the-Hill had in store for me…

City of Angels is NOT based off the Nicholas Cage movie of the same name. Instead it is about a writer whose is hired to adapt a popular book of his for the big screen. As we follow the writer go through the perils of working in Hollywood we are also watching scenes from his movie unfold concurrently. Changes he has made in the script are seen live on the stage as it happens.

What I love about this particular show is how two seemingly separate storylines are intertwined. There are particular moments in the shows where you see only one story or the other, and sometimes you see them both happening concurrently. Sure it forces you to think more than the average show, but once you get it, it makes the whole thing even funnier and worthwhile.

There was one conversation I had with a friend whose career is in the performing arts and we agreed that if someone is truly serious about acting and performing they better damn well be willing to make a fool of themself on stage. Pride, image, ego, etc goes right out the door, there is simply no room for it. If you’re not willing to “look ugly” on stage, then you’re not really serious about acting.

I swallowed my pride for my art and to this day people still remember that role. That’s making an impression. People don’t always remember the leads or the straight forward roles, they tend to remember the crazy, off beat, quirky characters. Plus you have fun along the way. =)

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Entertainment News: Into the Woods in NYC and MN

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At first I was so excited that Into the Woods was going to get the outdoor treatment and seeing who was cast in the show at Shakespeare in the Park nearly convinced me to make the trip to NYC towards the end of July just to see it happen.

Now after just reading the possibility of The Public Theater talking to investors and raising the funds to see it make a turn on Broadway, it just makes me giddy with anticipation.

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