A Very Worthwhile Experience
Review of Into the Woods at the 5th Avenue Theatre
Written by Zoe Underland during an Arts Criticism workshop at Glacier Middle School
Have you ever been to a musical where you felt like you were in the story? Well that’s what I felt like when I went to the 5th Avenue theater, and watched Into the Woods. The theater itself was a whole another story. It was very beautiful and fantastic. Also how they tied in each and every character into the same story was VERY creative too. The musical was amazing, the singing was beautiful, the dancing was awesome, and the lighting was full of emotion. You really should watch Into the Woods because the music is outstanding!
The story starts off with a poor baker and his wife wanting for a child. A witch then later tells them of the curse she has brought to their family, and the only way for them to have a child is if they get these 4 things for her: hair as yellow as corn, a slipper as pure of gold, a cow as white as milk, and a cloak as red as blood. So as the baker and his wife enter the woods and they both end up encountering these 4 people with the things that they need. It’s a really great story.
I recommend watching Into the Woods because the melodies are beautiful. My reason for this is because I really enjoyed the overlapping voices in some of the songs, especially the “I Wish” melody. In the song the baker, Cinderella, little red, jack, and the baker’s wife sing at the same time of what they wish for. For example Cinderella says "I wish to go to the festival”, and the baker and his wife sing at the same time saying, “ I wish for a child.” That is why I enjoyed the overlapping voices in some of the music in Into the Woods. So if you like that type of music, I recommend watching Into the Woods.
Another reason why I recommend watching Into the Woods is because of its outstanding plot. Into the Woods has such an amazing and detailed plot and story. The musical includes and ties in many different types of fairytale characters very well and makes the story even more interesting. Into the Woods makes the plot very suspenseful too because of how they made the characters talk and speak and all of the sets and special effects made it amazing and tense. This is my last reason why I recommend this musical. It really is and truthfully amazing.
These are my examples of why I thought that Into the Woods was amazing and a VERY worthwhile experience, and is why I very much recommend going to the musical if you haven’t yet. I also have a really good feeling that many other people agree with me on this, and of how good this play really is. Into the Woods has outstanding and wonderful music filled with stories, feelings, laughter, happiness, and sadness. The play was ultimately very successful and was so amazing, and definitely was not what I expected. I was blown away by not just the play but of the theater too. So one last time I really recommend watching Steven Sondheim’s Into the Woods!
Lead Photo: Sarah "SG" Garcia, Cayman Ilika, Eric Ankrim, Porscha Shaw, Yusuf Seevers, Anne Allgood, and Nik Hagen. Photo Credit: Mark Kitaoka
The TeenTix Press Corps promotes critical thinking, communication, and information literacy through criticism and journalism practice for teens. For more information about the Press Corps program see HERE.
This review was written as part of an Arts Criticism workshop at Glacier Middle School in Jessica Fishman's 6th Grade Language Arts classes, taught by Press Corps teaching artists Jordi Montes and Jay Chavez.
