Anna Kendrick jumps from being a singing freshman in Pitch Perfect to a perfectly tuned Cinderella in Rob Marshall’s Into the Woods and she does it with ‘’Disney style’’. A fresh musical piece included in the movie is entitled “On the Steps of the Palace” and it centers on the young actress and her hypnotizing musical aptitudes, which prove to be in total accordance with a Cinderella of the century, glamorous and high fashion. The outer share of the character is not the only major change encountered in the Disney character of Anna Kendrick.
Steven Sondheim is the creative name attributed to “On the Steps of the Palace” and in a behind the scenes video, he gives an important symbolic relevance to Cinderella’s melodious message and to the music in the movie, as a whole: ‘’Songs in Into the Woods are often songs that stop the action (…) Cinderella stops and talks about her experience’’. And this is exactly what occurs once Anna Kendrick, the fugitive, stops on the steps of the palace, just as the title of the song implies. Into the Woods abandons the traditional crystal shoe and the white ball gown found in the written versions of Cinderella, as the character is seen wearing a golden shoe (which gets stuck into – ironically enough – ‘’pitch on the stairs’’) and still a royal gown, but an amber one.
Instead of running away with fear, as she traditionally does, Cinderella rests (unwillingly though) to ponder upon her current position and upon her possible relationship with the prince – and this is the modern Cinderella. Just as Steven Sondheim indicated, the prince and apparently even time stops to give Anna Kendrick a break for ‘’introspection’’, one delivered out-loud in warm and accurate pitches. In the same behind the scenes video, Meryl Streep – who plays the villainous witch in the movie – hints at the wit in Cinderella, that being probably the most important trait indicating the modernism of the character: ‘’Anna Kendrick plays an ambivalent Cinderella… Cinderella is not sure she wants to be with the prince, which is a function of her intelligence and her natural smarts.’’
Anna Kendrick proves to be a gifted singer and a witty Cinderella while ‘’On the Steps of the Palace’’. Steven Sondheim has done a playful and smart job with the lyrics of the track and applied a very pleasant-sounding craft on its pitches’ variations. Into the Woods will premiere on 25 December as quite a cheerful Christmas present.