Sondheim / Lapine: Into the Woods (1991 Original London Cast) [Cast Recording]

Stephen Sondheim, Julia McKenzie, Nicolas Parsons, Jacqueline Dankworth, Clive Carter, Imelda Staunton, Into The Woods (Related Recordings) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 28, 1991)
• Original Release Date: 1991
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Cast Recording
• Label: RCA Victor Broadway
• ASIN: B000003F41
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #72,303 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Once upon a Time

2. Into the Woods

3. Fly Birds, Back to the Sky

4. Witch's Entrance

5. Jack, Jack, Jack Head in a Sack

6. You Wish to Have the Curse Reversed?

7. The Curse Is on My House

8. Into the Woods

9. Cinderella at the Grave

10. Hello, Little Girl

11. I Guess This Is Goodbye

12. Maybe They're Magic

13. Our Little World

14. I Know Things Now

15. A Very Nice Prince

16. First Midnight

17. Giants in the Sky

18. Agony

19. It Takes Two

20. Stay With Me

See all 32 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A very good production . . ., June 29, 2000

By 

Sean "jjpeachum" (LOOK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sondheim / Lapine: Into the Woods (1991 Original London Cast) (Audio CD)

This recording benefits from British accents. I do indeed like Julia McKenzie (as The Witch), but I prefer the original Bernadette Peters. This recording also has the opening prolgue divvied up among several tracks, so if you just want to hear the "Witche's Rap" really quickly, you can skip right to it and give it a quick listen. "Our Little World," the new duet, is a gem. Some might say, "So, Steve sold out for a comedy song, huh?" But, hey -- who cares? It gives Rapunzel more to do than just walk around and go, "Aaahhhhh ... " (whether singing or screaming). But, it is more than just a comedy number underneath, because it shows the relationship between The Witch and Rapunzel better than any pages of dialogue could do. I thought that they would have the Prologue in full on this recording, but they did the truncated version that is featured on the OBCR. However, on the "No One is Alone" track, it does feature the dialogue between Jack and The Baker. The dialogue inclusion there, and the missing dialogue in the Prologue, makes for somewhat of an uneven recording (especially since The Baker's reprise of "Maybe They're Magic" and the Stepmother's "You'll Never Need to Walk" is also missing), but still enjoyable none-the-less. Some people say that the new song is dumb, and that London Cast Recordings are inferior, to which I say, "SO IS YOUR MOM'S FACE! " This recording is a must for any die-hard ITW fans.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Magnificent New Look at INTO THE WOODS, July 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Sondheim / Lapine: Into the Woods (1991 Original London Cast) (Audio CD)

Stephen Sondheim's shows are usually dark, whether dealing with murder (SWEENEY TODD, ASSASSINS), midlife crisis (FOLLIES), prejudice (WEST SIDE STORY) or overbearing parents (GYPSY). When seeing a show by Sondheim, as opposed to say Rogers and Hart, the theatergoer will usually feel a little shaken up, forced to face thoughts and ideas that are uncomfortable. With INTO THE WOODS, Sondheim again forced his audience to think, and has again shook them up with the deaths of good people. The original Broadway production, starring Johanna Gleason, Chip Zien and Bernadette Peters was dark in its written form but not so much as its physical presentation. The London production, under a different director, was much darker in its music, lighting, costumes, and staging. For instance, in the New York production, when the Narrator is dropped from a lethal hight by the giant, the audience simply heard narrator Tom Aldrege's screaming trail off into a loud thud. In London, a dummy of Nicholas Parsons was dropped from the catwalk onto the stage.

This CD, in a way that I cannot adequately describe, is darker than the Broadway version. The often reprised title song is now much faster, and actually more effectively creepy than the OKLAHOMA!-styled rendition of the Broadway production. My only complaint is not really a complaint at all, but an acknowledgement of two different cultures tackling the same music that many devoted American Sondheim fans have accepted in a certain American style. Little Red Ridinghood for instance, being a lower-class character, has a cockney accent that may startle those who loved Danielle Ferdland (forgive my misspelling of the name) on the Broadway CD.

I do have to criticize not the CD iself, but the billing of the performers of the London production, which is very strange. For example, the actress who plays the small role of Jack's Mother has third billing and the actor who plays the leading man, the Baker, seventh, in a smaller font size. The child actors, Little Red and Jack, who have major supporting roles, aren't billed at all. A silly thing to be angered about, but interesting nonetheless.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compare to 1987 Broadway Cast, October 2, 2002

By 

Brad - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sondheim / Lapine: Into the Woods (1991 Original London Cast) (Audio CD)

I haven't yet gotten the chance to see (or purchase) the Revival Cast of Into the Woods, but this album takes a very different viewpoint from the Original 1987 Cast. The most obvious difference will be the addition of the song "Our Little World," cut from the original show but put back for the London Production (mainly to show off Julia McKenzie's varied, albeit different, voice). The London production is in a much darker tone; you will find slower tempos, more obvious dissonance, and heavier singing. This remains, however, my favorite recording of the show not only for the reasons previously stated, but also because it is far more musically accurate (towards the original libretto) than the Broadway version. A fantastic addition to the library of a Sondheim purist, but if you're looking for the "fun" version, I suggest the Broadway cast.