Into The Woods ~ Medley ~

Into the Woods, It's Time to GO!

One of my favorite musicals is coming to film in 2014. The recent years of making classic musicals into film productions has yielded mixed results. Most recently, with Les Miserables, I have felt hope in the adaptations that could come in the future; I thought LM captured so much of the essence of the story, if not the musical.

Now, high school is when I first became acquainted with the musical, ItW. I fell in love with the musical and the method of story mixing and matching of fairytales from ye olde brothers Grimm. I got to be Rapunzel in our HS play's adaptation. I was forced into a golden fro of a wig, but I survived it all, somehow. I feel especially qualified, thus, to judge the upcoming film that will appear Dec. 25th of 2014.

So far the cast looks promising; Jonny Depp as the wolf, Meryl Streep as the witch, etc. Good casting, a director that has experience with musicals (Rob Marshall, Chicago) and working with Depp (Stranger Tides, Pirates), and a fan base of many many thousands. We'll see what this production brings.

Here is the soundtrack of the 1987 production with Bernadette Peters as the witch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiGRPYmTFV0&feature=share&list=PL2DA15F0D67DB64B7

And here is the a three minute run of a later production, the 2002 revival with Vanessa L. Williams as the witch:
http://youtu.be/eSTM2NCmP-g

Back in Business

It's been a long hiatus from the blogosphere, and oh so much has happened since I last posted. Rather than try to catch up on the last four months, I am starting at the present and starting most especially with:

CAKE!

Dad, the incorrigible yard saler, found me a steal in the form of Pampered Chef pans. Included in the

set were the instructions for making a 3-tiered checkerboard cake. When you have finished the product, it looks like a normal cake. But inside? Raspberry and Vanilla cake, thrillingly alternating in columns and rows. Plus, there is Hershey's Chocolate Icing on top. You just can't argue with that goodness.

The top is one I made for Marie's family. The bottom picture, which shows the slice, was actually my first try at this cake. And yes, those "hugs" candies on top are raspberry flavored. To my knowledge, the only place to find them is at Hershey's Chocolate World. A recent jaunt to Jenny and Nathan's took me there and, little did I know at the time, gave me the perfect garnish for the next cake. 

So make yourself some cake. Eat it. Celebrate the fact that you can have cake on non-birthdays.