INTO THE WOODS at the 5th Avenue Theatre

My favorite Sondheim show!

INTO THE WOODS is the show that got me loving Stephen Sondheim. The first time I saw it was in Toronto, in a production starring Louise Pitre as the Witch. It was love at first sight. Not only were his words masterful (duh!) but the melodies really swept me away.

I laughed, I cried, I tried to keep up! After that I've seen the DVD of the Broadway production starring Bernadette Peters as the Witch, oh, about a thousand times.

Joanna Gleason as the Baker's Wife is incredible (she won a Tony for her performance). And Bernadette was truly fantastic. Yes she could be humorous at times, but she always portrayed a weightiness that made what she said matter to the other characters and to the audience, whether she was ugly or beautiful.

I saw the 5th Avenue Theatre-produced INTO THE WOODS on Opening Night, which was very exciting (duh!). What a great show, with great production values. The whole cast was fabulous, the music was fabulous, and it had a fabulous set, creating the perfect "woods" effect. (After all, these guys spend a fair bit of time running in, out, and about the woods!).

In this production, Little Red Riding Hood was cast as a young girl (the extremely talented Ireland Woods. Boy, she has the most amazing name ever!) instead of a girl on the verge of womanhood. The audience loved her, but it did add some new dimensions to her scenes with the Wolf, and with Jack. I've always seen Jack and Red as sort of the same age, both verging on adulthood, and then coming together to help one another at the end of the show.

Also new to me was Milky White being played by a real person (Eric Brotherson). I loved this! It added so much more to the whole quest, and Eric was amazing on all fours for the whole show!

Congrats 5th Avenue!