In the Seats of the Nederlander
There were cats on the walls and dragons on the ceiling. The Nederlander Theater, what was once the Oriental Theater, was decked out floor to ceiling in unique and ornate details.
Our seats were on the first floor, granting us an eye-level view of “Into the Woods”. This was a huge change of pace from the bird’s eye view we usually get from our typical balcony seats!
See, usually we use a service called HotTix, a website run by the League of Chicago Theatres that helps member theatres sell out their shows by offering a number of tickets at half-off face value, and without many of the fees that drive up prices on sites like Ticketmaster. Even at half price, however, I usually save a few extra bucks and stick to the balconies. This time however my sister was treating me with ground-level tickets that she scored for free via a college program.
For a Tuesday show that started at 7:30, the crowd seemed rowdy. I think most of the crowd had to have seen the movie version as there seemed to be a ton of anticipation.
For those of you who haven’t seen it Into the Woods, interweaves the tales of Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, and Rapunzel into a story that goes beyond the happily ever after (at least in the 2nd act!). It also remains truer to some of the older fairytale traditions, and it isn’t as Disneyfied.
On top of the raucous crowd there were also a large number of children in the audience. I was amazed by this as the show didn’t end until almost 10:30! Way past my bedtime!
Off “Into the Woods” We Go
Before long the orchestra began to play. The crowd began to settle. Then Into the Woods, we went.
For this show, there was no opening curtain, as the simple set of three houses dangled above the stage.
The set remained simple throughout the show. The houses were soon replaced with logs that dropped down from the ceiling. Beyond just the music the orchestra played a key role in the stage design as well. The set seemed split where the orchestra sat which created a wooded path that cut behind them. The players almost acted as trees obscuring whatever ventured deeper in.
It was really fascinating to have such a great view of the orchestra. The show displayed an often-overlooked part of theatre as you could see the conductor pick up stage cues and the instruments created on-stage sound effects for the actors. It was certainly a different experience compared to the usual hidden orchestra.
One of my favorite characters was the cow and the puppeteer who brought the cow to life, twice (well once with the help of the witch!)
The story kept the puppeteer on his toes as it broke the 4th wall here and there creating laughs for the viewers.
Although the costumes worked together, the cast of characters was color-coded in a way and coordinated well. However, some costumes were a bit too loudly patterned.
My sister and I spent a good amount of time during Act Two trying to tell if Little Red Riding Hood’s Dress was flower print or strawberries. Even at the end, neither of us could say for certain which it was.
At the end of the show, the audience stood and loudly clapped while the cast members bowed. The orchestra played on as the audience filtered out, continuing to shine on stage.