Into the Woods, Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s dark twist on fairy tales and an exploration of “happy endings”, contains a story where the lines between good and evil are not only blurred, but practically indiscernible. It is strikingly original musically and lyrically, truly in the distinctive Sondheim style, in that it is extremely cynical and contains highly intellectual lyrics. Additionally, it is deceivingly simple, but lyrically and musically incredibly complicated and sophisticated. It is one of Sondheim’s most popular musicals, appealing to all ages, and is still performed regularly even today, decades after its release. Due to its immense popularity and continued relevancy, it is no surprise that Into the Woods was adapted for
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The film production’s cast has such established actors and actresses as Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, Christine Baranski, Tracy Ullman, Chris Pine, Anna Kendrick, James Corden, and Johnny Depp. The strengths and weaknesses of both casts are dissimilar, as are their interpretations of the musical. While the theatrical production’s cast is talented in both acting and singing, the film’s cast’s singing abilities are not as cultivated, and a very few members of the cast are actually regarded as accomplished singers. Adjustments were made accordingly for both productions to allow all the voices to work in each production. One of the most demanding roles, especially musically, is the role of the Witch, played by Bernadette Peters in the 1989 production and Meryl Streep in the film. Peters is a distinguished singer who has a phenomenal singing voice with a wonderful range, and her acting is also superb. Meryl Streep, though she had dabbled in musicals prior to Into the Woods, is mainly known for her acting and she does not have nearly as dynamic a range as Peters. As with nearly all of Sondheim’s musicals, there are many ways in which his songs can be altered to better suit the performers and their capabilities. Accordingly, Peters’ performance as the Witch involves a much more …show more content…
The film employed multiple strategies in an attempt to create a highly moralistic tale with clearer lines – although still not very well-defined - between good and bad. This was a difficult feat to accomplish out of an extremely cynical musical where nobody is considered truly “good” or “bad”, but as the Witch puts it so aptly in Last Midnight, everybody is just “nice”. This, coming from a witch, typically an evil character in fairytales, who is neither all good nor all bad, makes the statement even more ambiguous. Some lyrics – even some songs - were removed from the musical for the film production to help in this delineation. An example of this is the song Maybe They’re Magic where the Baker’s Wife sings, “There are rights and wrongs/ And in-betweens” and “If the thing you do/ Is pure in intent/ If it's meant/ And it's just a little bent/ Does it
The film production’s cast has such established actors and actresses as Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, Christine Baranski, Tracy Ullman, Chris Pine, Anna Kendrick, James Corden, and Johnny Depp. The strengths and weaknesses of both casts are dissimilar, as are their interpretations of the musical. While the theatrical production’s cast is talented in both acting and singing, the film’s cast’s singing abilities are not as cultivated, and a very few members of the cast are actually regarded as accomplished singers. Adjustments were made accordingly for both productions to allow all the voices to work in each production. One of the most demanding roles, especially musically, is the role of the Witch, played by Bernadette Peters in the 1989 production and Meryl Streep in the film. Peters is a distinguished singer who has a phenomenal singing voice with a wonderful range, and her acting is also superb. Meryl Streep, though she had dabbled in musicals prior to Into the Woods, is mainly known for her acting and she does not have nearly as dynamic a range as Peters. As with nearly all of Sondheim’s musicals, there are many ways in which his songs can be altered to better suit the performers and their capabilities. Accordingly, Peters’ performance as the Witch involves a much more …show more content…
The film employed multiple strategies in an attempt to create a highly moralistic tale with clearer lines – although still not very well-defined - between good and bad. This was a difficult feat to accomplish out of an extremely cynical musical where nobody is considered truly “good” or “bad”, but as the Witch puts it so aptly in Last Midnight, everybody is just “nice”. This, coming from a witch, typically an evil character in fairytales, who is neither all good nor all bad, makes the statement even more ambiguous. Some lyrics – even some songs - were removed from the musical for the film production to help in this delineation. An example of this is the song Maybe They’re Magic where the Baker’s Wife sings, “There are rights and wrongs/ And in-betweens” and “If the thing you do/ Is pure in intent/ If it's meant/ And it's just a little bent/ Does it