jessiemil42
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ITW Jr???The middle school musical that I will hopefully be crewing on is ITW Jr. I have some questions....
1) Not that I want to see the little kids completely fail, but does the Jr. version have the difficult pieces that the regular version does? Because I have performed Little Red in the regular version when I was 13, and all of the music was really difficult.
2) Which songs are left out?
3) Is the storyline completely different? I saw information on it, (on MTI's website) and it said it only had one act & 80 - 90 minutes long.... so how's the storyline going to fit into that timeframe?
I just want to make sure that our middle school can handle it.
=D
Thanks!
(Sorry.. I searched in case there was already a post about this, but I didn't find one....)
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Baker
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Although I've never been in it, I think I can answer most of your questions.
All Jr. shows are shortened to one act, but Into the Woods actually cuts out the entire second act, so the show ends happily with the Baker's Wife alive and everyone gets there wish.
I'm not sure what songs are cut, but I know nearly all of them are shortened and I know that Hello, Little Girl is cut. I'm thinking On The Steps Of The Palace is cut too, but I might be totally wrong.
The songs that remain are definitely simplified. The range for each part is smaller than the real show and often songs are transposed to a key that is more accessible to children.
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jessiemil42
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I think it takes most of the greatness out of the show when you cut the second act.
They won't even let the high school do the regular version of ITW because it's Sondheim, but I just hope the middle schoolers can handle it.
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Flash Kid
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Hi! I was in it. Songs left out are:
All of act II besides (Children Will Listen)
(And if you count the London song "Our Little World" that was out too)
I was Cinderella's Prince/ Wolf. Beginning of Hello Little Girl was cut and parts of Agony were cut. A lot of keys were changed and frankly, working with an accompaniment CD is he** on ice.
Nobody dies except The Baker's Father and it ends in a happy ending (Just like original act I but it goes no further. Rapunzel does not get pregnant and Little Red doesn't become homicidal-ish.
PM me for more questions!
FK
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Not Dead Yet
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Basically, they killed ItW. Killed it good.
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sunshinekate
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I'm assistant directing ITW Jr starting in about a month! I'll tell you how it goes.
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Not Dead Yet
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That's pretty sweet.
I shouldn't talk. I may hate the Jr. version, but the truth is, I'd kill to be in anything remotely related to Into the Woods.
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EponineMNFF
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Yeah, the Jr version is pretty bad, but you know, I don't despise it, because I wouldn't know about the show if it weren't for being in the jr version!
It's a good way to expose kids to Sondheim, but if they're advanced enough to do the full version (and you can get the rights), they definitely should.
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musicalFREEK
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I saw the Jr.version and they cut half of every song out, cut all of the good lines and changed the key of some (that wasen't worded well I know) of the songs they really butchered (did i spell that right) it ... badly... I mean the second act is the BEST
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kozafluitmusique
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| EponineMNFF wrote: | Yeah, the Jr version is pretty bad, but you know, I don't despise it, because I wouldn't know about the show if it weren't for being in the jr version!
It's a good way to expose kids to Sondheim, but if they're advanced enough to do the full version (and you can get the rights), they definitely should. |
My elementary/middle school did into the woods jr. when i was in fourth grade...the year i could have done drama, but that was the year they changed who did the musical.
let's just say ITW has always has had a special place in my heart and it's one show i would die to be in.
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postmodern-mango-salsa
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| Not Dead Yet wrote: | | Basically, they killed ItW. Killed it good. |
They did the same thing to Seussical, practically.
From what I'm reading, I'm seeing that they are completely stripping these AMAZING plays of their depth.
I mean, that's what made them good.
If you want kids to sing sondheim, have a revue.
If you want them to be in an amazing play, de-rhyme the lyrics and make it a play, but destroying the meaning is just... awful.
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Baker
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| postmodern-mango-salsa wrote: | | Not Dead Yet wrote: | | Basically, they killed ItW. Killed it good. |
They did the same thing to Seussical, practically. |
The Seussical cuts make sense though - the plot is still intact. The New York off-Broadway run that just played recently was actually closer to the Seussical, Jr. script than anything else.
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postmodern-mango-salsa
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| Baker wrote: | | postmodern-mango-salsa wrote: | | Not Dead Yet wrote: | | Basically, they killed ItW. Killed it good. |
They did the same thing to Seussical, practically. |
The Seussical cuts make sense though - the plot is still intact. The New York off-Broadway run that just played recently was actually closer to the Seussical, Jr. script than anything else. |
Yeah, if you want a sugar-coated version... I mean, one cut in particular (it completely slips my mind which one it was) made it a non-semi-depressing play!
Now, I think there is a time and place for all cuts, but you don't take out things to make it "happier"
I mean, god forbid they make a Sweeney Todd Jr... Sweeney might not even show up 
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lottielou22
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Yes, it really is pretty butchered. In my opinion, they way they have the script, none of the characters really develop. They cut at least a verse out of every song but I Know Things Now (that one only lost two lines.) The beginnings of Cinderella At The Grave and Stay With Me are gone. I think Hello Little Girl is gone too... maybe somebody already mentioned that...
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