Reader Reviews
Into the Woods (Landor Theatre, Inner London)
Back to Show Details| Score | Comment | Date |
 | Pretty poor, Cinderella's prince wasn't great. Don't think the costumes matched either. music was alright. - james | 21 Oct 09 |
| I really thought it couldn't be done and how glad I am to be proved so utterly wrong. Robert McWhir has taken what is, by any standards, a huge Broadway musical and fitted it brilliantly into that small box called the Landor Theatre. I don't know where to begin, I was so blown away by the whole production. From the first moment when the narrator, played with great charm by Ian Dring, delivers the opening line "Once upon a time" you are in for a theatrical treat. The ingenious set consisting of a series of huge books of fairy stories stacked this way and that across the stage gives the cast multiple ways of making their entrances and exits, even allowing them to clamber over the top of the books at times, and here ably aided by two mesmerizing Goblins who, and I've never seen this device used before, literally help move the cast and thereby the plot along. With 18 actors on stage at any one time it is a wonder they weren't bumping into each other, but instead their cleverly choreographed movements made this production seem effortless which I suspect it was anything but! If I have any reservations about individual performances they are small when compared to the overall excellence of this production. I understand it's a sell-out run which should make any producer, worth his salt, sit up and think about giving this brilliant production a transfer. Simply put - it's Superb! - rds | 08 Oct 09 |
| I have to agree with Glynn, I thought the actor playing the wolf was out of his depth vocally, as was alot of the cast. If I'm being totally honest I thought this production smacked of amateurism - I was hugely surprised to read the program after the show and see how many West End credits there were between the performers! I think the director and musical director failed the cast, as they were more talented than their performances suggest. - peter hawthorn | 07 Oct 09 |
| Fabulous show, but I have to totally disagree with barbara. The wolf may have looked the part but his vocal and acting performance was way under par with the rest of the cast. Unbelievable and vocally sounded tired.however leo andrew and Sarah head blew me away!congrats to the Landor . ! - Glynn | 28 Sep 09 |
| Saw Into the Woods at the Landor and thought it was terrific. I can't help wondering if your reviewer and Chris saw the same production as I did. What wrong notes???? - Arlene Pauls | 25 Sep 09 |
| 'Into the Woods' is one of the more difficult pieces in the musical theatre canon, both in its musical complexity and its intricate plot with large numbers of small roles interweaving. This production failed on so many levels I was left wishing I had my money back. The direction by Robert McWhir was inconsistent and ill-conceived, characters one minute treating the piece as a serious tale and the next diving into panto. The costumes did not sit comfortably with the actors, and the set was too large and cumbersome for them to move around the stage without great effort. Perhaps the biggest let down was the absolutely abysmal accompaniment provided by the Musical Director, who only played half the notes on the score and managed to still get most of it dreadfully wrong - the worst having to be 'Steps of the Palace', which didnt even remotely resemble the original accompaniment. If one cannot rise to the technical and musical challenges that a composer like Sondheim presents, don't even try. Very disappointing. - Chris | 24 Sep 09 |
| I saw Into The Woods yesterday & thought it was brilliant. The cast was exceptional & they handled the confined conditions at the Landor very well. I enjoyed Leo Andrew as the baker, Sue Appleby as Cinderella, Lori Hayley Fox as the witch, Rebecca Wicking as Little Red Riding Hood, & the handsome, Shallow, Princes who had great comic timing, especially Ryan Forde Iosco (wolf & Prince). WELL DONE ROBERT McWHIR - Barbara Ahern | 23 Sep 09 |
