The second official movie trailer for “Into the Woods” was released this past Friday, Nov. 7, generating hype as the script transitions from stage to film.
“Into the Woods” puts modern twists on The Grimm Brothers fairytales. A witch conspires to teach important lessons to various characters of popular children’s stories, including “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Cinderella,” “Jack and the Beanstalk” and “Rapunzel.” All of these fairytale characters tie together to create an original story involving a baker and his wife whose simple wish is to reverse a curse so they can start a family. The plot intensifies as these characters come together, are betrayed and reminded of the cost that their true wishes hold.
The musical was first performed for Broadway in 1987, and included stars such as Bernadette Peters, Joanna Gleason and Chip Zien. The musical was revived on Broadway in 2002 which included stars Vanessa Williams, John McMartin and Laura Benanti.
The musical earned Tony Awards for Best Original Score (Stephen Sondheim) and Best Book of a Musical (James Lapine), beating “The Phantom of the Opera.” The film adaptation of “Into the Woods” will feature stars like Meryl Streep, Johnny Depp, Emily Blunt, Anna Kendrick, among others. All of these actors have had previous roles showcasing their voices, so the feeling of a live Broadway musical performance is brought to the movie version.
This isn’t the first time that a Broadway production has moved over to the big screen. Over the past several decades, shows ranging from “West Side Story” (1961) to “Mamma Mia!” (2008) and “Les Miserables” (2012) have made into films.
However, this is the first adaptation of a Broadway play or musical ever produced by Walt Disney Pictures.
The difficulty in taking a Broadway show to film is that it puts a lot of pressure on production. The huge fanbase of the show itself has high expectations for the movie to give them the same thrill as watching the show live.
Not only does the movie need to please fans of the musical, but it also has to attract a modern audience of film.
Overall, the screen adaptation by Lapine is fairly close to his original stage musical. The musical has a very big web of characters crossing together that wouldn’t cross paths in the original stories. Staying true to the fairy tale feel, the musical has an omniscient narrator throughout the play. One of the large changes from the play to the movie is the use of the baker’s voice as the narration. Another noticeable change is the cut of the Mysterious Man. “Into the Woods” has a very eerie feel to it, and the character of the Mysterious Man continues to bring mischief and teaches lessons to the other characters. Streep’s role is a combination of the Witch and the Mysterious Man, but more so of the Witch.
Trying to please so many people can be harder than one may think, but with a good team behind the musical such as Marc Platt, who produced the multiple Tony Award-winning musical “Wicked” on Broadway, there is no room for failure for “Into the Woods.” Having that type of expertise working on the film gives it a good perspective on how a show and a film would be put together. Also, having Lapine (who wrote the book) and Sondheim (lyricist), on board can help lead director Rob Marshall to stay authentic to the original Broadway musical.
The movie is to be released on Dec. 25, 2014 in movie theaters everywhere and is rated PG. The genre of the film can be defined as comedy, family, fantasy and musical.
With the great anticipation building, if the production crew stays true to the core of “Into the Woods”, then “All will be a happy ending.”
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