Let me start this blog post by saying that I am a huge Sondheim fan. I know that pretty much everyone who enjoys musical theatre is a Sondheim fan, but I feel that I need to say it. I have listened to Into the Woods countless times, watched the stage version on Netflix, and fallen in love, time and again, with both the score, and the way the Original Broadway Cast worked their magic on it. That being said, I was cautiously excited to hear that it would be made into a film. I saw the way that Les Mis became mainstream, and I could suddenly discuss it with my non-musical friends, and I hoped that this Sondheim adaptation would need end up like the slim downed, anemic version of Sweeney Todd released in 2007.
My best friend, her mother, and I skipped up to the really nice movie theater near us, the one with the Lay-Z-Boy recliners instead of movie theater seating, only to be disappointing that the Christmas day showings had all sold out! "Don't these people know that I love this musical more than a majority of the people who have tickets, the people who have never heard it, the people who wouldn't know Sondheim from a sonogram?!?!?!!?" I was dismayed and lost, but we found another theater, one with less comfortable seats (though they still let us bring our blankets in) and made it without a moment to spare.
The movie began, and I was hoping for that familiar hit, followed by "Once upon a time", but they started right in with the speaking. The music came in very shortly after, and we were off. Like I said, I was in love with the original cast, the comic overly dramatic voice of the bakers wife, the beauty of Bernadette Peters' balance of the good and bad of the witch, and the chubby little blonde "Little Red". None of these characters were to be found. We had a much drier, almost sad bakers wife, played by Emily Blunt, a witch played so masterfully by Meryl Streep that you could see the turmoil in her eyes, and a little red that had all the wit and fire, with a more realistic look, reminding us that while innocent, she was not quite so delicate and fragile.
There was music cut here and there, but ultimately the show had to be streamlined, I know of productions where the audience left at the end of act I thinking it was a long one act musical. The lack of the reprise of "Agony" left me longing for the comic relief preparing us for the less happy second act, and the narrations and lessons that everyone shares through song were certainly missed, but overall the film delivered.
I had in my mind exactly what each of these characters would sound like. None of them really channeled their OBC counterparts, but as an actor that's what we strive for, and this cast managed to recreate these characters, bringing them to life in a completely new way, while still delivering in all regards.
There were certainly standouts, Emily Blunt as the bakers wife both sounded beautiful and acted the role impeccably. Joanna Gleason certainly gave us the brash, loud, domineering bakers wife, who seemed just as likely to smack the baker over the head as to kiss him, while Blunt delivered us a tender loving wife, though I did miss Gleason's "I NEED YOUR SHOES!"
Meryl Streep nailed the role I was most concerned about before seeing the cast lists. Bernadette Peters borders on perfection in my mind, and her witch was so flawlessly played. Streep certainly took the character in another direction, one that would not have worked as well on stage but translated beautifully up close. Her rendition of "The Last Midnight" was easily one of my favorite moments of the entire film, she perfectly balanced the anger and sadness portrayed by the text and score.
Anna Kendrick as Cinderella was the casting I was most concerned about, even after having seen her kill in Camp and in Pitch Perfect. She always portrayed a more contemporary commercial sound to me, not the light, slightly operatic tones called for by the role of Cinderella, but she really pulled through, mixing in her own vocal style, to find a happy medium and delivered a stellar performance. "On the Steps of the Palace" was another incredibly well done scene, a very unique take on it that, again, employed a magic that film can capture, to take the scene out of time, a very brilliant take.
All in all Into the Woods was done justice by this film. Sondheim doesn't always translate well to the masses, his use of leitmotif is often missed, the delicate intricacies of his harmonies and the disjunction in the nature of his melodic lines are often misunderstood by audiences looking for something requiring slightly less thought throughout, but the beauty of the score will capture anyone who cares to spend the time listening. Making it to see this show was a star on the top of my Christmas Tree, and while it will never replace in my mind the perfection of the original production, or the joy I get seeing it on stage, I will be adding this to "sure I'll watch that again" list.
