Theater with a Little Theater on the Side

Into the Woods set in Regent's Park

Hello to all those in a country where eggs are in the refrigerated section of the grocery store! Just another day in paradise here. My paradise at least. So, I've attended my first class of the semester, and let me tell you, I may never go back to New York. Not only is our teacher fairly brilliant, but the class itself sounds more like scheduled fun than something to be graded on. Every week we'll be heading off to either a theatrical, dance, or musical performance, and then writing about it. I KNOW! Can you believe I get credit for this? This week's play is entitled Deathtrap, and surrounded by an outstanding cast is the incredible Jonathan Groff of Glee. I'm so excited and will be sure to post my thoughts. As if that isn't enough, I have another class that focuses solely on theater (so not the dance and music) with multiple theater trips around the city. However, it doesn't begin until Thursday.

Tonight I was lucky enough to see Into the Woods in the Open Air Theater in Regent's Park, which was great. The location itself is enough to make the trip worth it. There are lights strung all around the absolutely beautiful park and tons of food to be had right outside the theater. Everyone sits at picnic tables and chows down before the show, with no rushing to their seats like in the U.S. The tickets were even reasonably priced at 15 pounds. As this show is my favorite musical it is pretty much impossible for me to not enjoy a production; however, it also means that I have seen many variations, and I know what I like and expect. While the set and lighting were incredible as they seemed to grow out of and be a part of the wooded area that surrounded them, they did come with a somewhat scattered feeling. Often chorus member were just hanging about the scene, with no apparent purpose, but still strangely choreographed. The changes made because of the environment were brilliant though. The recreation of the giant, the bed formed from humans, and the umbrella beanstalk were all delightful touches.

The cast as a whole was a joy to watch, with the group numbers standing out as very strong pieces. Perhaps it's because I'm used to Broadway, but across the board, I felt the solos could have used more power. I wasn't quite as blown away by the voices as I usually am. The notable exceptions to this were the "charming, not sincere" princes. They won the show with their comedy and truly stunning sound. Their comedy did seem to be the only bit that was consistent with what I'd seen in the U.S. though. Overall, I found the show played less to the comedic side that I'm used to, and more to the weirder and slightly more sexual side. Perhaps it was the British actors or perhaps it was the British crowd, who seemed to laugh far less than their American counterparts. The switch of the narrator to a young boy seemed a stroke of genius to me. He tells the story with innocence and imagination, as fairy tales should be told. I thoroughly enjoyed the show as a whole, and am sure to be singing the tunes from it for weeks.

On a non-theater-related note, I MADE CHICKEN SALAD TODAY! To anyone normal this is not a big deal, but as my specialty is chocolate chip pancake and only chocolate chip pancakes, it was a great achievement. Picture may be on the way.