****Truth be told, learning music can be hard. Particularly when the music stems from the creative fount of Stephen Sondheim’s brain. The thrusting lyricist behind “West Side Story” and the musical architect of such works as “Sweeney Todd” and “Sunday in the Park with George” is known for his wildly intricate music.
Thankfully, the cast of “Into the Woods” is a formidable phalanx of music readers, and have nearly conquered the prologue to the show (aptly named “Into the Woods: Prologue”).
“This prologue is about to be awesome,” said Caroline Bresnahan, 12.
If you recall one of my past beats the cast went into this process like Hercules going down into Hades. It was not hard to imagine tongues of flame shooting out of the sheet music, taunting our young actors. But as we all know (spoiler alert) Hercules makes it out of Hades scot-free, and that appears to be the direction the cast is going.
“Sometimes the cast on the iTunes Broadway recording sings it a bit differently, but the Broadway recording is quite helpful,” said Bresnahan.
The prologue is a jolting baptism by fire, as it kicks off the show and it is easily one of the most difficult numbers. It forces the cast to stay on their toes right off the bat, lest they fall screaming into hellfire. Its name lulls you into a false sense of security, because prologues are usually pretty short, correct?
Incorrect! The prologue is a whopping 11 minutes and 58 seconds on the Broadway recording.
“I noticed that this song is pretty long,” said Bresnahan.