What we experience is the 1986 musical, plain and simple.
The new revival started as a popular, streamlined concert at City Center this spring and has been schlepped over the river and through the woods and across 7th Ave. to the St. James Theatre pretty much as is, save for some new cast members.The costumes by Andrea Hood are basic storybook clothes; there is an actual orchestra onstage; David Rockwell’s set is a few birch tree trunks and some black steps.
There are two terrific Broadway debuts here – Cole Thompson as Jack and Julia Lester playing that peppy spitfire Little Red. Thompson is sweet and innocent as the beanstalk climber, and lifts our spirits with that goosebumps solo “Giants In The Sky.” And in Lester, we witness a major new comedic talent emerge. All her well-known jokes feel fresh, and she is unbelievably funny. My face was a lot red from laughing so hard.Julia Lester makes a hilarious Broadway debut as Little Red.
“Into The Woods,” surprisingly, is turning into Sondheim’s best-remembered show over better ones like “Sweeney Todd,” “A Little Night Music” and “Company.” Act II has always been a heavy-handed thicket of rapid tragedies that doesn’t quite land, but nobody cares anymore. Thanks to the taped 1987 production and frequent high school stagings , the show has jammed itself into the minds and hearts of a generation of theatergoers.
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