Thank heavens for Sondheim as Star Trek makes an illogical Netflix exit

Off to the Bridge Theatre in London, and a new production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Into The Woods, directed by Jordan Fein and designed by Tom Scutt.

- Erica Wagner

It’s an endearing, energetic production: the puppetwork of Milky White the cow is particularly delightful, and Gracie McGonigal’s Little Red Ridinghood has a fierce, real vulnerability.

I saw the original production on Broadway when I was a teenager ~ and, full confession, didn’t think it was up to much. I know, I know! Now, of course, I understand that this complex, tragic reworking of classic fairy tales is a show about loss and longing — and that it works so much better when you are, yes, middle aged. When I was 19, “happy ever after” sung in a minor key seemed just a bit off to me. Now it makes me cry. In a good way, I promise.