On November 23, producers Marc Platt and John Deluca, as well as actresses Meryl Streep, Christine Baranski and Tracey Ullman participated in a Q&A in New York for the theatrical release of “Into the Woods”. The camaraderie between the three actresses, Tracey, Christine, and Meryl, was remarkable, according to a NYC blogger who attended the Q&A. They have all worked together in the past, they are all friends, and they clearly had hung out together before they met us! These women were wonderful to watch in action on the dais, they have done many press conferences and wanted to make it enjoyable for themselves, as well as for us. I do love how bloggers do not ask the “regular” questions that these folks get asked over and over again. My favorite question was about how the movie made them think about being parents themselves! Christine Baranski, mother of two evil daughters in the movie talked about wanting your kids to marry “up.” In the movie she wanted her daughters to marry up so much so that she was willing to cause physical damage to their feet to get them to accomplish that goal! In real life she just wants her kids to marry people who can help them to have a fruitful and productive life, without physical damage!

Tracey Ullman shared how her (real) son now acts and she was trying to promote him from the dais! Just like in the movie where she was just trying to teach her son how to survive! And Meryl spoke about how as parents we always want to shield their kids from the dangers and evils in the world, just like her character the Witch did with her “adopted” daughter, Rapunzel. I can relate, I am not raising my son to see him leave when he turns 18! I have to follow him and protect him always! Musically these three actresses have always been singers. Meryl Streep was hysterical when she showed us how she cleared her nasal passages when she was preparing, something she remembered from her days at Yale! Tracey let us all in on a little secret – she was a Pop Star in 1984! A real hit single! And Christine Baranski has been a famous Broadway singer for years! Again, everyone in the movie sang incredibly well. Producer Marc Platt gave these three women their rightful props: “It takes more than just a vocal instrument and what’s so great about these three ladies as well as the rest of the cast is you can sing if you have a great voice, but to connect that instrument to the text and connect it to the subtext, what lies underneath and the emotion is indeed a rare talent.” Producer John Deluca also gave everyone a lot of credit for their hard work, “these actors really dove into this with every part of their beings. Sondheim is so tricky technically and it is a bit of a challenge for everything, to let that technique go you need to really dive into it and really study it and work and work and we really worked them to the bone.” Meryl Streep paid special homage to Bernadette Peters, the actress she first saw do the role on Broadway. She said she never bought the album but the singing stayed in her head all these years. And they all agreed having to do this singing 8 days a week in a play was something to be respected! Lastly, they shared how it was a pleasure watching Stephen Sondheim hear his music played by a 64 piece orchestra. He had only ever heard it played by the 16 member orchestra on Broadway. And they made us feel like we were there enjoying watching him as well!