Tag: into the woods

Dr. Phillips Center Presents Into the Woods

Dr. Phillips Center Presents Into the Woods June 2023

The Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts has announced that the hugely acclaimed and much beloved Grammy-winning Broadway production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Tony Award-winning triumph, Into the Woods, will go on sale for single tickets Friday, February 17.

The direct-from-Broadway production will play a series of select engagements across the U.S. in 2023, including seven performances in Walt Disney Theater. Starring Montego Glover as The Witch, Stephanie J. Block as The Baker’s Wife, Sebastian Arcelus as The Baker, and Gavin Creel as Cinderella’s Prince/Wolf reprising their Broadway roles, the strictly limited engagement will run from June 6 to June 11 presented by Dr. Phillips Center.

As one of only ten cities in the country selected to present this direct-from-Broadway production, the downtown Orlando arts center is excited to welcome Into the Woods and its incredible company to Walt Disney Theater, bringing four Broadway stars to Central Florida. 

Dr. Phillips Center Presents Into the Woods June 2023

Into the Woods, which became the first Broadway hit of the 2022/2023 season after its sold-out run at New York City Center Encores!, is directed by Lear deBessonet, with music supervision by Rob Berman, and choreographed by Lorin Latarro. This production is dedicated to the memory of Stephen Sondheim.

The company will include Cole Thompson as Jack, Katy Geraghty as Little Red Ridinghood, Diane Phelan as Cinderella, Nancy Opel as Cinderella’s Stepmother, Jason Forbach as Rapunzel’s Prince, Aymee Garcia as Jack’s Mother, David Patrick Kelly as The Narrator, Josh Breckbenridge as Cinderella’s Father, Felicia Curry as Cinderella’s Mother/Grandmother/Giant’s Wife, Ta’Nika Gibson as Lucinda, Brooke Ishibashi as Florinda, Kennedy Kanagawa as Milky White, Jim Stanek as the Steward, and Alysia Velez as Rapunzel with Erica Durham, Ellie Fishman, Marya Grandy, Paul Kreppel, Eddie Lopez, Ximone Rose, and Sam Simahk as understudies.

Into the Woods first premiered on Broadway in 1987, winning three Tony Awards, including Best Score and Best Book. It has since been produced worldwide and was adapted into a major motion picture in 2014. This production marks its first time on Broadway in more than 20 years.

Follow us for more updates: Facebooktwitteryoutubetumblrinstagram

A Cinematic Journey Into The Woods

into_the_woods

Based on the Stephen Sondheim play of the same name, Into the Woods is Disney’s big holiday movie for 2014.  The play itself is a tale about morality, vice, desire, and virtue.  Based on the concept that each fairy tale is supposed to teach us or our children a lesson to help them in life.  However the twist here is that several fairy tales collide to create the pillars of a whole new story where the object lesson is centered around the old saying, “Be careful what you wish for.”

I have to be perfectly honest here, before seeing this movie I knew very little to nothing about it.  Having never seen the play before or read much about it, never having heard the songs, I was going in blind.  There had been some brief discussion with my Disney Film Project Podcast co-hosts which contained a great deal of excitement from our own Rachel Kolb, who happens to be a huge fan of the play and knows a great deal about it.  When I’m in this situation I try not to come in with too many preconceptions.

The core story is about a Baker (James Corden) and his Wife (Emily Blunt) and their desire to start a family.  However they quickly learn that they have been cursed by their next door neighbor who happens to be a Witch played by Meryl Streep who really steals every scene she’s in.  Wanting to break the curse, and be able to have a child, the Witch assigns them to retrieve 4 seemingly normal items and bring them to her in 3 days time.  The trick however is that this sends them on a collision course with the fairy tales Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Rapunzel. 4 items.  4 stories.

The problem however is that the wishes of each of the major characters – the Baker, his Wife, the Witch, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack, and Rapunzel – have consequences.  Each of their stories plays out somewhat as you know them, but it’s what happens after this that matters.  But the wishes themselves are just allegorical wrappings for the choices the characters continue to make throughout the story.  And how they have to learn to take responsibility for those choices.

There is a lot of commentary that discusses the difference between the musical and the movie, from the removal of songs, to the changes of plot elements.  While not having seen the play, I’m guessing this serves 2 purposes; the shorter time a movie has to tell a story, and that some things that work on stage do not work as well on film.  While this is a somewhat dark story that has some moments that you may need to either explain or gloss over to your children, this is still a family film.  I might consider the age and maturity of any pre-teen children before seeing this film with them.  This is a very solid movie, based on a well constructed story, that I greatly enjoyed watching.

In addition to doing the web design and programming for the On the Go in MCO website, Todd Perlmutter is a host for the Disney Film Project Podcast.Follow us for more updates: Facebooktwitteryoutubetumblrinstagram