State of the Art

There is an interesting and unusual revival of "Into the Woods" playing off-West End at the Bridge Theatre, with talks of a potential West End transfer. I was intrigued the moment I saw the poster. Cautiously so. "Into the Woods" is one of my favorites. It is one of those pieces that is always worth seeing, and always a disappointment when compared to the original production. "Into the Woods" is a brilliant musical. Possibly one of the top five best of all time. But it is a show that I, and many others, believe will never have a cast top the original. That's ok. It's still very much enjoyable with different performers. But with the original, it's as if you're watching living, breathing people...not actors playing characters. The humor, incredibly important to the show, was crafted on them, the character's voices, in some instances, written for them. There are some lines that will just never land the same way. Kate Fleetwood (The Witch) ...

  I'm so grateful that pro shots (professionally filmed live performances) are becoming more of the norm. The release of "Hamilton" on Disney+ did more than lift our spirits during the pandemic, it made great art easily accessible to the masses, and preserved the show, forever (on a much wider scale than the Lincoln Center Archives.) In recent years the trend is becoming more and more mainstream - with England's National Theater Live leading the charge with their cinema releases of their MainStage shows, which are now also available to stream on their website.  Theater always seems to be a bit on the back foot when it comes to "keeping up with the times" in terms of technology and PR tactics. Actors Equity, the American union for stage actors, while claiming (and I'll take them at their word), good intentions regarding protecting their performers, has done a huge disservice to the very art, and artists, they're supposed to be championing. Yes, the wa...