My Review of the show was posted on Saturday night, figured I'd share it here for whoever wants to read it. It's shorter than my
Hello, Dolly! review as I said much of what I wanted to about
Into the Woods in a
previous Broadway World review. Also, since I wanted to focus more on the show as a whole and not just Jodi's role in it, she's only featured in two paragraphs, shared here in case folks just want to know about her performance:
Jodi Benson may be a renowned stage and screen performer whose iconic turn as Ariel in The Little Mermaid made her a household name for Disney audiences, but she also has a unique perspective when it comes to INTO THE WOODS. Namely, in her unfamiliarity with it. The forty-year-old musical has remained popular with audiences, but Benson admittedly only ever saw the original production and has otherwise not revisited it until her performance. As a result, she brings a much fresher take to the Witch. One that isn’t steeped in reverence and homage to what had been done before. She looked at the material and drew a performance based on the text and her own introspection. It allows for her to put her own stamp on the role, while delivering to audiences a dramatic rendition of the Witch in a new light as well.
In a word, she is marvelous. She hones in on the character’s maternal instincts more than other depictions, making her more sympathetic. Through her performance, we have a fresh and inspired reading on the sacrifices one makes in parenthood and the burden of risk with every decision a parent makes. I still have chills thinking about her vocal delivery in “Stay With Me” during Act One. It’s a song that could be sung as wild histrionics based on the diva-ness of the performer. Benson instead taps into the melancholy of the lyrics, the powerlessness a parent feels when their child wants to leave. Most of all, what I loved about Benson’s take to the Witch was her refusal to play the Witch as a Diva. Which is ironic given how she served the ultimate Diva role three years prior as Mama Rose in Gypsy, then as a biddy Diva in 2024’s Hello, Dolly! (also directed by Kristen Sheola). Here, she makes the Witch a much more layered interpretation. Someone whose choices have adversely affected others, and so her motivation is to correct this mistake while still wanting her own wishes to be granted. The downfall of the Witch throughout Act Two thus becomes much more tragic under Benson’s eye. By the time we reach “Last Midnight,” we see a woman who’s broken. She’s lost her powers, her daughter, her faith in the system. And the way she delivers that song becomes less a cautionary tale for the characters’ fate, but more an elegy for how they got there.
Also, finally getting the chance to reply to some of the replies after that last Jodi review from 2024.
UmbrellaFish wrote: ↑Mon Jun 24, 2024 5:28 pm
Any chance this sparks a new trend of Encore bringing Disney legends to headline splashy shows? I’m already dream casting Jodi, and Paige O’Hara, and Susan Egan in more productions!
Hello, Dolly! mainly happened because Jodi had worked with the director (Kristen Sheola) on
Gypsy and the success of that Fort Myers production (which Broadway World did not cover, so Aaron had to write about it via
his own web site). Sheola and her husband had worked with Encore, with a lot of Encore folks worked on
Into the Woods as well, but Encore itself followed up
Hello, Dolly! with
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (2025),
La Cage aux Folles (2025) and
Frozen (2026). I think also, since Encore functions on a strictly volunteer basis for its cast/crew, getting Jodi was more a lighting in a bottle opportunity that wasn't going to happen again (but never say never) post-
Dolly.
This production of
Into the Woods was done directly in-house by Dr. Phillips Center, and was two years in the making - stemming directly from the success of
Hello, Dolly!. So, who knows, maybe DPC will collaborate with Jodi again, and she might convince Paige and Susan to sign on for a show. I personally would love a Jodi-led production of
Mame with Jodi as Mame and Susan as Vera.
DisneyFan09 wrote: ↑Mon May 19, 2025 2:21 pm
Escapay wrote: ↑Mon May 19, 2025 10:13 amI've met Jodi a few times in my life, too, so hoping to have a brief moment after the film to just say hi again to her as well.
Cool. Was she nice?
She's always been nice every time I met her. After the screening of
The Little Mermaid last year, she was in the hallway just meeting people who happened to pass by, and she waved over to my siblings and I to come and take a picture with her. I think by now, there's a knowing sense of "I remember your face, please forgive me for not remembering your name" whenever she sees me now. And we've chatted very briefly a couple times on Instagram - she actually re-shared a few of my Instastories over the years, including the most recent ones for
Into the Woods.
Anyway, for those curious about that D23 screening last year, it was mostly done as a chance to revisit
The Little Mermaid as well as promote
The Little Mermaid: A Musical Adventure re-opening at Disney's Hollywood studios. The panel before the film was largely a mix of Jodi's reflections on the film, including some very poignant and touching remarks about her support for the LGBTQIA+ community:
I love to hear everyone's story. I love to know what feelings and emotions they have the first time they saw the film and when I sing the song and what that brings up in them. It's a trigger core memory: where were you the first time you saw the film, what were you wearing, what did your bedroom look like? Who in your family saw the film with you? Who did you play with in the pool when you played Ariel? And all of these elements. But the stories just are mindblowing. Children have learned how to speak that were were non-verbal. I have a huge, huge fanbase on the spectrum of incredible individuals and how they relate to Ariel: feeling that they need to be heard, their voice need to be heard. They want to be seen, they want to be valued.
I also have a huge following in the LGBTQIA+ community that I adore. Again, finding their voice, finding how they can be who they are authentically and vulnerable and real. It's just amazing to me how many people connect to my character and then indirectly connect to me. And so I get to be a little piece of your story, of your life story, and it's such a privilege. It really is a privilege for me. Not to be cheesy, but I get to be a little bit part of your world and your journey. Again, I take it very seriously and it really does matter to me. This isn't my job. This is who I am, this is the essence of who I am. So when I am representing my character in our film and within the company, it has great value to me. These wonderful, wonderful people in these communities that feel unseen - I am privileged that I can let them be heard, let their voice be heard, and let them feel counted and valued.
But it was mostly also just a chance to show off some of the new things they added to the stage show. To be honest, I'm not a big fan of the additions (the CGI animation for "Daughters of Triton" is... a choice). But I've always had affection for the stage show since I was a kid (the first year it came out, my cousins, siblings, and I saw it three times in one day). So I'm glad it still exists, even if it's in a new form that does at least have a spiffy new design on the stage and a few more unique effects for making Ariel more mobile on that stage.
PatchofBlue wrote: ↑Sun Mar 01, 2026 1:46 pm
I dearly hope some brave soldier is willing and able to upload the show, or at least key parts. I would kill to hear her rendition of "Last Midnight."
Unfortunately, audio/video recording was not allowed. I don't know if a soundboard recording was made for posterity, though if it was, it likely wouldn't be made public.
That being said, to further talk about Jodi's performance in the role, it can best be described (beyond what I wrote in my review) as an amalgam of the Old Hag from
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the actor Carol Kane, and just a little bit of Ursula from
The Little Mermaid. She doesn't use her regular voice (speaking or singing), but created one specifically for the Witch. And throughout Act One, she plays more into the comedy when interacting with the Baker and others, having fun with it while still being menacing. Scenes with Rapunzel were definitely more maternal, you can tell she focused more on making sure that the Witch was more sympathetic there. It's a reading of the character that I liked this time around; after all, she still did raise the child as her daughter and actually loved her (unlike Mother Gothel in
Tangled). So the sheer agony when she's singing "Stay With Me" and "The Witch's Lament" is truly felt. You can hear the pain in her as she's pleading for Rapunzel to stay, and later when she's mourning her death. When she's transformed towards the end of Act ONe, she does vamp it up a bit, but never goes full Diva. And in Act Two, she really turns up the seriousness for the character, so by the time it's "Last Midnight," you see a full arc for the Witch from the beginning to end. She sings the song very much like she's fed up with everyone and giving up herself, and makes some choices with delivery that reflects that.
Like, after hearing her for nearly forty years as Ariel, even as the voice ages over time, it still sounds the same. Hearing her sing in
Gypsy and
Hello, Dolly!, you can still get that Ariel-ness sometimes when you heard it. But for
Into the Woods, she really dug deep to create a new voice to work with, and it was amazing. I thought it would be easier to suspend the disbelief in Act One when she's old and ugly, but even in Act Two, even if I was already familiar with her performing style, just having that different voice emerge from her mouth - so sharp, so biting, so angry - it was a true testament to her range. Too many folks know her just as Ariel or Thumbelina or Barbie. I'm so glad she can finally show off other facets of her talent with these recent musical productions.
Alby
And, it just so happens that this commercial came out the year I was born! 
