Into the Woods

Purists will approach this recording with trepidation but put that aside: “Into The Woods” is remarkable. The production values are spectacular. Disney’s money and Jonathan Tunicks’ orchestration skills have given this a massive orchestra and it’s been masterfully adapted so it is pure to the material. At no time is there a “star” of this recording: it is always the story. It would appear that with “West Side Story”, “Gypsy”, “Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum”, “A Little Night Music”, “Sweeney Todd” and now this, that Sondheim has brought musical theatre back to the silver screen, And oh, what a masterpiece it is.The cast is superb, a thrilling combination of stage legends, film legends and some new talent, every single character is clarified to the listener so that one easily understands and follows this brilliant plot. Every single actor surprises us on this recording. The two most surprising are Meryl Streep and Emily Blunt. But in every case, the cast is superlative.The concept: What would happen if Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and The Beanstalk, Rapunzel all took place in the same woods, at the same timed with the same witch the same wolf and the same giqnt? To connect them all, Lapine has created two new characters, A Baker and his wife,. It is their wish that connects every other story and character and for the first hour of the recording we laugh, we are moved and our senses are stimulated. As for recounting the plot; not here. Please:not me.It is foremost important to make sure everyone is aware that Meryl Streep is a classically trained singer and was a voice major at Vassar in the early 1970’s. We all recall how she lobbied for the role of Eva Peron in the disappointing film of “Evita.” That role went to Madonna and after hearing Streep sing “Stay With Me”, “Last Midnight” and “Children Will Listen “it is clear that her singing is among the best on the recording. Keep in mind we’ve heard Streep sing many times. “Postcards From The Edge” saw a beautiful rendition of “You Don’t Know Me.” Purists will forever have the voice and choices of Bernadette Peters who created the role in 1987. Streep has done nothing to replicate Peters’ performance while at the same time, not beating us over the head with it. The Witch is, without question, the only cast member who is not only good, but wise through experience. Other characters are “good” too, particularly Little Red Riding Hood, though her brassy, insistent attitude supplies much of the comedy as we are captured by the master work. Red Riding Hood’s singing voice is close to the painful; scream of little girls singing created by the musical “Annie” but falls just short of screaming, remaining in character and her handling of “I Know Things Now” is remarkable. Streep has chosen a spoken voice in the register of Contralto, so her spoken voice jumps from very low to a remarkable mezzo soprano when singing. We forgive this because the truth is that no one has portrayed The Witch with as much freshness, truth, and honesty. After listening to this twice, one could place it beside The Original Cast as a definitive recording, despite the missing songs and how the story has been cleaned up for a PG rating and the new instrumentals.So this is a wonderful addition to an already very classic piece of theatre. It manages to get across the point of the story, though a little weakly (the missing “No More” is a desolate choice). The liner notes have missed the point entirely regarding the song “No One Is Alone.” It is not a song of comfort but rather a song of warning. “No one acts alone; careful! No one acts alone!” Our actions, the little things we do in each day, affect the people in our community. This is the point of “Into The Woods,” Lapine and Sondheim didn’t set out to say nothing at all. It is only through working together as a community that we will survive.There was really only one or two moments on this recording when I felt slightly disappointed; all of them involved full company singing, when the lack of enunciation was very apparent. Singing Sondheim requires a great deal more percussive consonant than singing pop music or even Andrew Lloyd Weber. Sondheim’;s patter and complex lyrics wash over the audience but once; we must hear them. Not only this, but he selects his words for the purpose of effect; for Sondheim (and many singers) the consonants are percussion instruments. Likely because of vocal tracking in many studios (One of which was the world famous Abbey Road in London). Generally this fault would fall upon the musical director, in this case the legendary Paul Gemignani, who has directed and conducted every show and cast albums for every Sondheim musical since “Company” in 1969. Anyone familiar with his work knows full well that the diction problems with the full company here are not the fault of Gemignani. And truth be told, unless you’re a teacher of singing, a conductor or a theatre singer, you won’t mind. Each time I listen I accept it a bit more and it occurs only on the main theme with the full cast.The counterpoint that begins with “Though it’s fearful, though it’s deep and it’s dark and though you may lose your path…” remains but not in counterpart, as though we’re too stupid or unsophisticated to handle the brilliant three part counterpart that exists in the original 1987 Recording and on the vocal score. Perhaps it suited the film better; we shall see. As I said, I write strictly on the recording.If you are moved by this, I strongly recommend picking up the DVD of the Original Broadway Cast staring Bernadette Peters and the story will be clearer, more powerful and just as satisfying as this one. Far more honest. Far more dark. Far more true.

[Shipping was on time for the pre-order date and the package arrived on 12/15 in an Amazon Locker. Autorip MP3 version was standardly available on the same day as well.]Holy moly. The casting on this film (and hence, the soundtrack) was PERFECT because of the way they were able to display their emotions through song and lyric. I just came back from seeing a pre-screening of the film and if any of you are having doubts, toss them away and GO SEE THE FILM.For this review, I will highlight some of the songs while sharing my movie-going experience as well:The opening scene, as you all may know, is the iconic "Prologue." The transitions between scenes and characters are well done and the singing/emotions are 100% top notch. And by gosh, can the actors really show their desperation for their wishes. Notably exceptional and captivating in this song/scene are the two kids in the film: Little Red (Crawford) and Jack (Huttlestone). Crawford's innocence is portrayed exceedingly well and I think we all felt super bad for Jack when he had to give up Milky White :'(.My favorite scene in the film, as may be many of yours, is of course, "Agony." At the end of the scene, everyone in the theater gave a round of applause! Chris Pine and Billy Magnussen portrayed the two princes excellently. However, Anna Kendrick topped their performances with her Cinderella. She was SO GOOD with her higher rendition of "On the Steps of the Palace."As for "Little Girl," Johnny Depp's performance as the Wolf is slightly creepy... just the way I like it. And lastly, let's talk about Meryl Streep as the Witch. OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH. She's funny and her acting and singing are on point. Repeat 10x "Stay With Me."Some other notes:- James Corden (the Baker) and Emily Blunt (the Baker's wife) make a very convincing couple.- So is the mother and son relationship between Tracey Ullman (Jack's mother) and Huttlestone (Jack).- "Giants in the Sky" was pretty good as well. Good job, Jack!In summary, if you are a theater nerd like me or someone who simply wants to go watch a great film with a great soundtrack take the time to go watch it

Our greatest, living, Broadway creator and one of his best musicals, finally get the big screen adaptation they deserve! Stephen Sondheim's grand, cleaver, highly-listenable score is interpreted better than ever with a cast that could not be better. Even cast members I questioned are near perfect. It is that rare combination of great singing (notes and phrasing) and powerful acting. Typically we get one of the other and not both, not in EVERY role,Here we also get the best living musical arranger in Jonathan Tunick—a frequent Sondheim collaborator. His orchestrations are lush, evocative, and moving even in the several instrumental tracks the good folks at Disney included. (And a 100-piece orchestra—4x what we might hope for in a live production.)I listened to the entire 2-disc, FIFTY track recording all the way through as soon as it showed up in my Amazon Music app. Then downloaded it and listened again on big speakers. Magnificent. From the looks of the previews, the film will be just as opulent. We are, all of us, in for a grand, Sondheim Christmas as we go INTO THE WOODS. (Sondheim's clever intermingling of several classic fairytales may be confusing to anyone who has never experienced this musical on stage. The film will sort it all out for you—even with the alterations Disney requested to make it work for a broader audience and fit their desired "PG" rating. PARENTAL ALERT: This will NOT be a film for young kids. Too dark and confusing. Wait till March when Disney releases it's live-action "Cinderella": http://screenrant.com/cinderella-movie-2015-trailer-poster/.)