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Ian Maddox

From Chicago, Broadway to Troy, Alabama

For their spring musical, Troy Theatre and Dance has decided to perform “Into the Woods,” a musical rich in history and content. This week, I decided to get into the thick of it and review its music!

In 1986, at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, California, “Into the Woods” premiered. It ran 50 shows and was actually altered halfway through to include the song “No One Is Alone.”

From there it moved to Broadway in 1987 and ran 765 performances in two years, keeping much of the original cast from the San Diego crew.

It was adapted into a film in 2014 by Rob Marshal, John DeLuca and James Lapine and is available to watch on Disney+.

The phenomenal musical score was written by Stephen Sondheim and won a Tony Award for Best Musical Score. If you haven’t had a chance to watch it, I highly recommend borrowing a friend's subscription and pulling up the score on YouTube, or even better . . . going to see the play here in Troy!

For this review, I’ll be using the movie adaptation of the soundtrack.

            One of my favorite parts about this musical is how frequently the themes overlap with one another. Often, you’ll hear the songs being referenced back to characters using other songs in new songs! It’s a difficult thing to describe, but results in a very cool experience.

Most of the songs are whimsical and comical but still carry a weight to them. One of my favorites is “The prologue: Into the Woods.” It’s a very fun medley that tells us each character’s backstory.

It’s hard to pick favorites within the rest of the score as many of the melodies repeat themselves, using different lyrics as the story requires.

Many of the songs have chaotic lyrics, overlapping and building off of one another. Each character has its own specific sound to them, making it interesting when they overlap.

The instrumental ties it all together. Epic orchestral accents, chimes, horns . . . it brings it all together and establishes this story in the fairytale world it’s trying to convey.

Based on the Grimm Brothers’ fairytales, it’s dark and at times uncomfortable. We can see this especially during the wolf's solo “Hello, Little Girl.” Despite portions like this, I still found the music very enjoyable, adding many of the songs to my own personal playlists.

            I’m going to force myself to pick a few favorites now, despite how difficult it is. I enjoyed parts of every song, finding something new and different each time I listened.

In no particular order, my top three favorites from this film-adapted musical are “Agony,” “Prologue: Into the Woods,” and “It Takes Two.”

“Agony” is fun to listen to, each prince singing in a way competing with the other to sound the most pained and incorporating some themes from other places in the musical.

“Prologue: Into the Woods” has a very strong choral sound. It’s fun to listen to all the interweaving lyrics, picking out which character is singing what.

“It Takes Two” was very sweet. I liked hearing the baker and his wife renew their relationship through the trials they were forced to undergo.

            I loved this musical, and I would highly recommend those interested to go and watch the musical here in Troy April 18th through the 28th. For just $5 for students and $10 for others, this musical is well worth a listen.

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