Into The Woods Reviews

Randy from Seattle, Washington

NOT WHAT I EXPECTED

While the casts’ vocals were on point, the whole production seems lackluster and disappointing. The neon lights were too bright and made the woods seem less scary and mysterious as the song lyrics made it to be. The costumes also seemed like an afterthought. I get that they were trying to be modern, but too modern to be costumes for a fairy tale musical.

Deb from Seattle, Washington

DISAPPOINTING

Seeing Into the Woods national tour when I was 12 changed my life and made me love musical theatre. I have seen several productions since including dinner theaters and high school productions. Sadly, I have seen high schools do it better. The direction, staging, and costumes were so weird! I feel like the cast was good, but the direction sometimes was just bizarre. Why did Cinderella's Prince have his hands in his pockets for most of his lines? Why did the narrator play EVERY small part. Why did she do the Giant's voice and while onstage? Completely distracting from the tension of the scene? My high school production had better props and special effects. I usually cry for most of the 2nd act but I had no tears and felt very little for the people on stage. I took a friend who had never seen the show before and my friend thought it was cheesy and confusing which broke my heart. So many meaningful lines were thrown away. The rhythm of the songs were off frequently. I was sad.

from Seattle, Washington

LOST IN THE TREES

As a long time subscriber to the 5th Ave, this musical missed the high marks for me. There we some great singers but I found the story not my fanatacy. So much more could have been done with LED lighting to better represent a tree and Repunsal could have dropped her hair on high.

Soundheim Fan from Seattle, Washington

MINIMALIST PRODUCTION OF A GREAT SHOW…FLOP

I took the family to see this last week, with two young girls that know the show well. We were all disappointed in the end result. The lights and stairs were a weak minimalist/modern take on the set, even those tacky neon signs introducing the characters were really bad. Costumes were a total afterthought without any inspiration. Without insulting performers I’ll just say some of the characters were good and some weak. Read some of the other critical reviews they have some good insight to the way this show missed such an amazing opportunity. If you want to see the show go see it somewhere else, like your local high school and you will have a better experience.

Educator from Fort Lauderdale, Florida

3 HOURS TOO LONG FOR CONTENT!

In all fairness, I thought the actors behind the characters of "Witch" and "Little Red Riding Hood" were phenomenal! Kudos to the "Cow+" animator--he's very funny. As for the play in general, three hours was way too long for the content--it can be condensed into two; some parts dragged and caused boredom. I don't regret going, but I wouldn't recommend it or see it again.

Jacob from Seattle, Washington

STAY AT HOME, THE PLAY IS STARK AND MILD

I was hoping to see the 80s-retro, bad-acid-trip, gender-bent-casting-of-color version of Into The Woods. I got the middle-school, thrift-shop, failed-fundraiser-budget-blown-on-one-prop, land-of-make-believe-on-rolling-staircases version of Into The Woods. Neon lights existed but were used to no great effect. The remaining props and effects looked straight out of shop class. The greatest sin, however, was the tempo. Into The Woods is an entire score of clever word play and tongue twisters intentionality contrasted with long, pregnant pauses and comedic beats. None of it can be rushed and remain effective. All of the tighter lines were garbled, and none of the jokes landed. This was a huge mistake. And it's a shame, as the cast were excellent singers and good actors regrettably delivering a mediocre performance in bad stage direction and mediocre show in bad set direction and cheap design. They deserved better, and so did Sondheim, and so did the audience.

Chris from Minneapolis, Minnesota

BIG DISAPPOINTMENT

The show had one speed…. Fast. A lot of the great humor was blown over like a junior high play, like kids who don’t get it, and Cinderella’s prince played it all wrong. He’s supposed to be charming. Not Regina George. Why was he such an asshole? How would any princess want to fall for him? And zero chemistry between the baker and his wife. No wonder they’re childless!! Seems like poor directing. I really think community theaters have done better work than this disappointing Guthrie production.

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