Into the Woods
starring: Bernadette Peters, Joanna Gleason, Chip Zien, Tom Aldredge, Robert Westenberg
directed by: James Lapine
directed by: James Lapine
List Price: $24.98
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Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Audience Rating: Unrated
Binding: DVD
Brand: Image Entertainment
EAN: 0014381596724
Format: Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Label: Image Entertainment
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
Number Of Items: 1
Picture Format: Academy Ratio
Publisher: Image Entertainment
Region Code: 1
Release Date: August 27, 1997
Running Time: 153 minutes
Sales Rank: 1263
Studio: Image Entertainment
Theatrical Release Date: March 20, 1991
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Editorial Review:
Description:
A baker and his wife journey into the woods in search of a cow, a red cape, a pair of golden slippers and some magic beans to lift a curse that has kept them childless. Tony Award winners Bernadette Peters, Joanna Gleason and the rest of the original Broadway cast weave their magic spell over you in Stephen Sondheim's masterpiece, directed by James Lapine, a seamless fusion of fairy tale characters and what happens after 'happily ever after. 'With oft-recorded songs such as 'Children Will Listen' and 'No One is Alone,' 'Into the Woods' is a music lover's delight from start to finish--and will forever cement Stephen Sondheim's unparalleled position as the giant of the American musical theater.
Amazon.com essential video:
Fractured fairy tales of a darker hue provide the remarkable context for Into the Woods, which deconstructs the Brothers Grimm by way of Rod Serling. While the faces and names are familiar, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, and company inhabit a sylvan neighborhood in which witches and bakers are next-door neighbors, handsome princes from once-parallel fables are competitive (and equally vain) brothers, and all the stories intersect through unexpected new plot twists.
Stephen Sondheim's Tony-winning score favors intricate ensemble numbers that present the characters' divergent, then overlapping fears and desires. And it's the latter category that provides a primary thread to James Lapine's ingenious puzzle of a book, which coheres around the inevitability--and treachery--of our innermost wishes. That theme is given farcical energy in the first act, which offers enough comic invention, tart dialogue, and witty music for a satisfying evening of theater as is.
Instead, Sondheim and Lapine offer a bold, darker second act that takes a look at what happens after 'happily ever after,' elevating the work beyond inspired parody toward allegorical gravity. By the final scenes, with the one-two punch of the score's two most enduring songs, 'No One Is Alone' and 'Children Will Listen,' what began as a clever diversion has touched deeper nerves and primed some tear ducts. This video production by the original Broadway cast gets its marquee shimmer from Bernadette Peters's wonderful witch, but the standout (and Tony winner as Best Actress) is Joanna Gleason, who gives the Baker's Wife a mixture of warmth, pragmatism, and sudden, poignantly romantic radiance.
The DVD version is comparatively no-frills, given its American Playhouse origins, but multiformat digital audio renders the musical performances in immaculate detail. --Sam Sutherland
Amazon.com:
Fractured fairy tales of a darker hue provide the remarkable context for Into the Woods, which deconstructs the Brothers Grimm by way of Rod Serling. While the faces and names are familiar, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, and company inhabit a sylvan neighborhood in which witches and bakers are next-door neighbors, handsome princes from once-parallel fables are competitive (and equally vain) brothers, and all the stories intersect through unexpected new plot twists.
Stephen Sondheim's Tony-winning score favors intricate ensemble numbers that present the characters' divergent, then overlapping fears and desires. And it's the latter category that provides a primary thread to James Lapine's ingenious puzzle of a book, which coheres around the inevitability--and treachery--of our innermost wishes. That theme is given farcical energy in the first act, which offers enough comic invention, tart dialogue, and witty music for a satisfying evening of theater as is.
Instead, Sondheim and Lapine offer a bold, darker second act that takes a look at what happens after 'happily ever after,' elevating the work beyond inspired parody toward allegorical gravity. By the final scenes, with the one-two punch of the score's two most enduring songs, 'No One Is Alone' and 'Children Will Listen,' what began as a clever diversion has touched deeper nerves and primed some tear ducts. This video production by the original Broadway cast gets its marquee shimmer from Bernadette Peters's wonderful witch, but the standout (and Tony winner as Best Actress) is Joanna Gleason, who gives the Baker's Wife a mixture of warmth, pragmatism, and sudden, poignantly romantic radiance.
The DVD version is comparatively no-frills, given its American Playhouse origins, but multiformat digital audio renders the musical performances in immaculate detail. --Sam Sutherland
Average Rating: 
Rating:
- Linden LivingBought this for my daughter for Christmas as she is a huge musical fan. This was on her "must have" ... Read More
Rating:
- Doesn't get any betterSo few musicals are available on DVD, but this is one of the greatest. From creative team to cast, you ... Read More
Rating:
- FantasticI have always loved this play and had recently seen it done in a local theater. I took my sister and they ... Read More
Rating:
- PleasedI am very pleased with this product. One I really liked the movie and would recommend it to anyone who hasn't ... Read More
Rating:
- Into the Woods DVD Into the Woods DVD arrived promptly and in great shape. This is a great story. One of my favorite musicals. ... Read More
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