Yesterday, my wife and I went to see Into the Woods. I was really excited about this production for several reasons. I have never seen a live performance of the musical, but I have loved many of the songs for a long time. I also was very impressed with all the previews I had seen so far (of course, previews can be very unreliable). Then, of course, everything Meryl Streep does is amazing! But with the excitement there was also a hint of worry that it would end up being as musically disappointing as Les Miserables.
Fortunately, the casting for this show was phenomenal! I tend to be hyper critical when it comes to vocal performances, and I cannot recall any moment where I was cringing at what I was hearing. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised at the how all the actors handled Sondheim's difficult music.
I knew Meryl Streep would be good, but I did not realize how good! Her Stay with Me had me completely memorized and enthralled. Emily Blunt's voice was an especially nice surprise! Apparently, she went threw intense voice training in the months leading up to production, and she must have taken to singing very naturally because she sang beautifully! I enjoyed hearing Anna Kendrick sing on a different level than Pitch Perfect, and she rose to the occasion nicely. I was extremely impressed with the young Daniel Huttlestone (also in Les Miserables)! It was inspiring to see suchh a young man able to communicate so much musically. Johnny Depp was fantastically creepy as always! If I had to pick a least favorite actor, it would have to be Chris Pine who definitely seemed a little out of his element.
The exceptional musical performance aside, the story itself for Into the Woods felt a little fragmented and confusing at times. Because of this, the movie felt a little too long. Also, sometimes plays just don't transfer well to a large movie screen and some scenes just felt corny. For example, there is a scene with the two princes that just felt weird. It was two guys singing about their masculinity while dancing around in the water. Now...I think they were purposely trying to create some kind of an oxymoron, but I felt it just took what some people hate about musical theatre and magnified it on the big screen.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Into the Woods. There are many opinions out there over whether the acting or the singing is more important to a production. I, not surprisingly, am of the mindset that a musical will only be as good as the quality of the musicians. In this movie, the cast chosen was able to nail the music, which made me walk away from the theater happy.