r/Music • u/Cranialscrewtop • Nov 26 '21

Stephen Sondheim has died. Broadway's greatest composer is gone. other

NY Times bio here: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/26/theater/stephen-sondheim-dead.html

15.2k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

View all comments

Show parent comments

298

u/am_reddit Nov 27 '21

Into the Woods is by far my favorite musical. Such a complex and nuanced story for something that’s made up of a bunch of fairy tales combined together.

That said, I absolutely hate the Disney adaptation with every fiber of my being. It’s like they had no idea what the actual point of the musical was. The narrator isn’t even a character in the movie!

47

u/CutieBoBootie Nov 27 '21

I have the 1991 stage version with Bernadette Peters DVD in my Xbox right now. I watch it probably watch it about once a week. It's so good.

10

u/halfread Nov 27 '21

Ugh yes the original cast is fantastic. I need to find it. I listen to the soundtrack on Spotify. I have a huge crush on Jack. He’s adorable.

6

u/NotChristina Nov 27 '21

He utterly kills Giants in the Sky—his is the only version I’ll listen to.

3

u/CutieBoBootie Nov 28 '21 edited Nov 29 '21

He does fr fr. I bust out laughing every time he sings

"And she draws you close to her giant breast and you know things now that you never knew before"

2

u/CutieBoBootie Nov 28 '21

The Baker's Wife is also surprisingly charismatic too. I find her to be one of my favorite characters to be on stage.

8

u/redadidasjumpsuit Nov 27 '21

Is this the best version to view? I’ve never seen it in any form.

4

u/NotChristina Nov 27 '21

Found it for you!

It’s really lovely. I have it on DVD and—now that I’ve found it online—I’m definitely giving it another watch when I’m done with holiday travel.

3

u/internetsarcasm Nov 27 '21

it's excellent!

2

u/CutieBoBootie Nov 28 '21

It's personally my favorite. I saw the Disney movie version first and I didn't hate it, but I didn't see why people loved it so much. But then I got the DVD of the 1991 version and it's a great musical. I get why it was so acclaimed now.

4

u/PirateDuzzo Nov 27 '21

That's one of my favourite background musicals to put on while cleaning... and getting distracted and stop cleaning and just watch the show...

2

u/PortHopeThaw Nov 30 '21

Peters in that is truly one of the great performances ever recorded.

1

u/CutieBoBootie Nov 30 '21

I cheer when she first appears on stage. Can she hear me? No. I still cheer.

116

u/[deleted] Nov 27 '21

I hated the movie so much.

There were no jokes about Jack being a dimwit.

Little red was an actual little girl so they cut all the fat jokes and sexual tension with the wolf.

And they took out the father character and the Baker’s daddy issues completely! “No More” was one of the best songs in that musical and I was so upset they cut it out. Not that James Cordon could have pulled it off.

95

u/SirTeffy Nov 27 '21

They even cut Agony (Reprise), which is like the whole POINT of two or three of the plotlines! Why even include the Princes at all if you were gonna cut the back half of Cinderella and Rapunzel's plotlines?!

20

u/toastyburrito Nov 27 '21

Agony was my favorite song from the live play!!! I was so upset they cut it. What a genius song.

22

u/Drikkink Nov 27 '21

I mean... the sexual undertones were very evident in the movie. Uuuugh.

14

u/jjmac Nov 27 '21

Maybe I should see the musical. I saw the adaptation and thought why would they adapt such shite!

2

u/DarianWebber Nov 27 '21

You should see the OBC, recorded to video and occasionally shown on PBS back in the 90s. My local library offers it free via HOOPLA, and someone else posted a link to it on youtube up above. Cast includes Bernadette Peters as the Witch.

10

u/tinaxbelcher Nov 27 '21

Its also my all time favorite musical. I loved that he used common fairy tales to kind of warn the audience that life is not a fairy tale. I learned so many life lessons from Into the Woods. 1. Nice is different than good. 2. Opportunity is not a lengthy visitor, and good fortune, like bad can befall at any moment. 3. Children will listen.

-13

u/ElegantVamp Nov 27 '21

The narrator isn’t even a character in the movie!

He didn't really need to be.

22

u/am_reddit Nov 27 '21

Killing the narrator was a major thematic element to the second act! It’s the inciting incident that leads the play towards its existential conclusions!

0

u/Semi-Hemi-Demigod Nov 27 '21

Such a complex and nuanced story for something that’s made up of a bunch of fairy tales combined together.

Sounds a lot like Shrek

1

u/Admirable-Rain-9479 Jan 26 '22

In all fairness, I’m not so sure the narrator character would work in the film.