Sunday, November 27, 2011

Just Because: Ben Wright



I have been wanting to do a feature on actor Ben Wright ever since I started FH. In the early 90's I listened to the Into The Woods soundtrack constantly and loved that I got to see the show via the PBS television version. I kept putting off posting about Ben hoping that I might track down some great image or he might appear in a new movie, tv show or stage production. Sadly I think Wright has left the business. His last Broadway credit is the 1996 production of State Fair and with the exception of playing 'Angry Man' in a 2008 short, Wrights last film credit was the 1994 Penny Marshall flick Renaissance Man.



I love Wrights vocals and Jack's few songs are some of my favorites. Into The Woods is a show in which the soundtrack is almost better than the actual show. The lyrics to many of the songs have so much meaning and say so much they cannot possibly be captured with just one listen. If anyone knows what Ben is up to please shoot me a line. If you have not listened to ITW you should, the entire cast is superb and Bernadette Peters' Children Will Listen is magnificent.







5 comments:

Brian said...

Into The Woods was/is one of the best shows I have seen on Broadway.Have seen it 3 times, with Bernadette Peters,Phylicia Rashad and Vanessa Williams (in the revival a few years ago) as the witch and it was the first time I had seen Joanna Gleason (the bakers wife) on stage and loved her.I can't believe it's been 24 years since I first saw it....OMG I'm soooo old *sigh*

Tye said...

Love Joanna in the filmed version as well Brian. Was Ben in any of the versions you saw?

Brian said...

He was in the the show the first time I went.Plus I have the dvd and usually watch it over Christmas every year.I was 16 or 17 and I remember thinking how cool it was when we were getting near the theatre that we could see this giant leg "stepping down" over the building. The funniest thing,the second time I went to see it,at intermission the people seated next to me started to leave because everyone had their wishes "come true",so they thought it was over.I heard them saying they had no idea the show was so short,so I had to tell them there was still a lot more to come LOL

Tye said...

Thanks Brian!

Anonymous said...

I took acting lessons from Ben and voice lessons from his mom when I was in high school. Something made me think about them tonight so I started googling and came across your blog. There still isn't much out there, but he did do this in 2012.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8vfZgQyT48