Review Roundup: INTO THE WOODS Hits the Road, What Are the Critics Saying?

The tour of James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods officially opened at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC!

The complete cast of Into the Woods - many coming direct from the Broadway production - includes Montego Glover as The Witch, Stephanie J. Block as The Baker's Wife, Sebastian Arcelus as The Baker, Gavin Creel as Cinderella's Prince/Wolf, 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, Rayanne Gonzales as Jack's Mother (DC only), David Patrick Kelly as The Narrator, Josh Breckenridge 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.

Let's see what the critics are saying...

Mary Lincer, BroadwayWorld: In the first act of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's 1987 musical Into the Woods, numerous characters from familiar fairy tales go through the familiar events of their tales with a narrator (in this production, the energetic David Patrick Kelly) narrating and a with a few interpolated characters along for the ride. In act two, all the familiar happy endings go south, and the characters must actually figure out to to team up and learn how to live in the real world with its uncertainties, unpredictabilities, and mixtures of joy and sorrow. This touring revival, which recently left Broadway, runs about 2¾ hours, but time flies. The genius of the show is the turning of each character inside out and the seeing of how they tick, what they choose, why they act, and how they feel. Sondheim's songs reveal nearly everything a sentient being can come up with, and Lapine's book completes him. The singer-actors in this production do both creators proud.

Peter Marks, The Washington Post: DeBessonet’s approach suits the musical’s prescriptions so well, because the concert format strips away many of the usual embellishments. The story is all. David Rockwell’s ingenious set plants the 17-member orchestra, conducted by John Bell, in the middle of the woods, with birch trees descending from the heavens as the characters embark on their forest quests. Tyler Micoleau illuminates the backstage wall in ethereal ombré hues of pinks and greens, and Andrea Hood’s amusing costumes walk a runway existing somewhere between chic and Grimm.

Emily Wyrwa, The Daily Free Press: Unfortunately, Block’s performance seemed to be the exception rather than the rule in this production. Despite director Lear deBessonet’s stripped-back production that aimed to make the show feel less mystical and more human, the show felt more intellectually stimulating than emotional.

Samantha H. Chung, The Harvard Crimson: The entire cast is excellent, each actor bringing a fresh and sincere take on their role. Montego Glover (“Witch”) and Stephanie J. Block (“Baker’s Wife”) are standouts in their respective roles. Glover exudes presence every time she steps onstage; she revels in her villainous power, yet her conflicting goals and human desires still show through. Block, a well-known performer in the theater industry, shines both on her own and alongside her real-life husband Sebastian Arcelus, who plays the Baker. They inhabit their roles with an infectious chemistry, particularly in the upbeat duet “It Takes Two.” And Gavin Creel’s charisma is off the charts in his dual role of Cinderella’s Prince and the Wolf.

Penny Tannenbaum, BroadwayWorld: At the center of all this wonder is Montego Glover's electrifying performance as the Witch. All too often, the defanged and chastened Witch is portrayed as reformed and fundamentally changed after intermission. That impression, a holdover from previous encounters with Sondheim's Witch, didn't last long here. Glover is still playing the blame game viciously, maliciously, and fiercely after regaining her youth, pointing her crooked finger at Jack as a surviving She-Giant from above wreaks rampaging vengeance upon the whole kingdom.

Catey Sullivan, Chicago Reader: With a cast of Broadway veterans (Stephanie J. Block has been out as the Baker’s Wife since the show opened here; Ximone Rose took the role Friday night) and an onstage orchestra, deBessonet’s staging brings a clarity to the ancient fairy tales Sondheim reshaped and merged (with book writer James Lapine) into a haunting meditation on love, loss, blame, and moral quandaries not even a seemingly all-powerful witch (Montego Glover) could solve.

Ted C. Fishman, New City Stage: Where to begin? There’s glamorous Montego Glover as the witch who literally transforms in the woods and who delivers a heartstopping, chilling and beautiful rendition of the late-hour anthem “Last Midnight.” And the lessons she imparts in “Children Will Listen”—echoing the simple dulcet version delivered by Cinderella earlier—are equally powerful. Katy Geraghty takes on the always hungry, always cross but ultimately touching Little Red Ridinghood and who with hilarity and song and some gazelle-like skipping raises the worth of mirth with girth. In so doing, Geraghty reinvents a role which is usually played by pixie-like cuties. Then there’s those audience favorites, the two vain princes, played by Gavin Creel and Jason Forbach, both of whom add endless and enchanting, perfectly choreographed comic touches to every moment they have on stage. There’s the dear puppeteer, Kennedy Kanagawa, who, though wordless, creates one of the productions most original characters whom the audience actually cheers for. I should mention everyone else, but, in the words of the show, “then again no.”

Average Rating: 81.4%

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