Today we are analyzing all aspects of the brilliant brand new big screen edition of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's INTO THE WOODS.
That Happier Day Arrives "You can't just act, / You have to think," sing the collection of fairy tale characters populating Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's multi-Tony Award-winning 1987 fairy tale-themed musical INTO THE WOODS at its conclusion. And, in bringing the beloved and oft-produced family-friendly musical to the big screen, director Rob Marshall and the esteemed team he has collected for the Disney movie musical edition have done just that - a lot of thinking. Although various attempts to make INTO THE WOODS cinematic have been attempted over the intervening years since its Broadway debut nearly 30 years ago, it is with much satisfaction and relief to now report that the INTO THE WOODS movie we have been given is, in a word, extraordinary. Diehard fans may quibble that a verse has been cut here and a reprise has been cut there, but the vast majority of Stephen Sondheim's whimsical, charming, lyrical and emotive score has been retained - and, in some cases, expanded upon - while being overseen by the master himself, ably abetted by his frequent collaborators, genius orchestrator Jonathan Tunick and reliable conductor Paul Gemignani. The trio have ensured that not only does the score as heard and seen onscreen function in as just a powerful and impacting manner as it does in the stage show, but that it effortlessly flows with the cinematic realization of the material as envisioned by original bookwriter and director, now screenwriter, James Lapine. Much as it soars to the utmost heavenly heights of movie musical euphoria on its sparkling soundtrack, released in a nearly 90-minute deluxe 2-disc recording earlier this week, so does the score in the film buoy and complement the visual, thematic and dramatic action and atmosphere of the specific fairy tale world painstakingly created and effortlessly presented by the filmmakers. And, what a remarkable and magical world these woods really are.
Photo Credits: Disney
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