Welcome back to the "Mom Review"! My sidekick Noelle is now a teenager at 13 but she is still willing to share her thoughts on the movies, plays and other family-friendly events we experience to give our Berkshires.com readers a different take on the local cultural scene. First, I'll share my thoughts, and then Noelle will share hers.

I would have been OK leaving it at "happily ever after."

Noelle and I saw Barrington Stage Company's "Into the Woods" on Sunday, June 23. I have never seen the play or the movie, so I didn't know what to expect. 

I loved the first act; it was fun and funny and witty and cool. The story, for those of you who also are unfamiliar with it, centers on a childless baker and his wife who are trying to lift the curse that is preventing them from starting a family. The witch who had cast the spell tells them to secure four items in order to negate the spell: a white cow, a red cape, a gold shoe and blonde hair. (The actual list was much more poetic, but you get the idea.) The couple must go "into the woods" to find these items. While there, they encounter fairy-tale favorites Jack (of Beanstalk fame), who has a white cow; Little Red Riding Hood, who of course has a red cape; Cinderella, who has a gold shoe; and Rapunzel, who has blonde hair (which turns out not to be the RIGHT blonde hair, but you'll have to see it to understand that). The spell is broken and they all live happily ever after.

Well, it's not quite that simple. 

There is much hilarity in the resolution of the spell. Barrington Stage's performance has strong actors with lovely voices and gorgeous live music (can't go wrong with Stephen Sondheim). The story of act one is a crowd-pleaser that all ages will enjoy; reminder that Barrington Stage doesn't allow kids under 5 in the theater. At intermission you'll be left tapping your toes and chuckling with happiness at how well it worked out for everyone and how wonderful life is. The baker and his wife found happiness with a baby, Cinderella found her prince, Jack found prosperity with the magic chicken and golden harp, Rapunzel found freedom and Little Red Riding Hood found how nice it is not to be eaten by a wolf and how important it is to always, always listen to your mother.

Ah, intermission. Sweet, sweet intermission.

Can I make a recommendation? If you bring a child under 10, or maybe even 12, just leave at intermission. You'll all be happier. Don't believe me? Fine. Stay and watch it all fall apart. Not for Barrington Stage, where the performance is still as technically riveting as the first half, with perhaps the exception of the vengeful giantess, whose voice just isn't quite right. It's really just the story itself. They say the story is "much-loved," but I don't know by whom. It's dark and messy and just plain depressing. The moral(s)? Be careful what you wish for: You might get it. There are unintended consequences to every action. Children don't listen to their parents so why bother. Retribution and revenge can sometimes be OK.

And let's not even talk about the misogyny of the female character who cheats on her husband and is killed nearly immediately while the (also married) male character who cheats with her gets to live.

What the heck? Where did my fairy tale go?

I've mentioned before in these reviews that there's enough gloom and doom in the world without adding to it. Maybe that wasn't the case when Sondheim wrote "Into the Woods" in the 1980s. I don't know; I was just a kid in the '80s and everything seemed awesome to me then as I roamed my neighborhood free as a bird with no cell phones monitoring me and nothing to do but make up street games and ride my bike until the sun set. But these days, our country is a mess, kids are being locked in cages and shot in schools, adults are yelling at each other on social media and over the dinner table, we seem closer than ever to a nuclear war, and our commander in a chief is a big liar. I need my happily ever after SOMEWHERE.

None of that is the fault of Sondheim, or Barrington Stage. You can't please everyone all the time. If I had a do-over, though, I would have left at intermission and felt happy the rest of the day instead of uneasy and confused.

So in conclusion, here's my note to fellow parents about this show, which runs through July 13: You can't bring kids under 5. Kids up to ages 10 or 12 might enjoy some of the first act (though be aware there is a little sexual content) but likely will be confused by the second act (where there is a little more sexual content and then lots of death). Or just stay home and watch something that actually does end happily ever after. "The Little Mermaid" usually does the trick for me.

Noelle says: I agree with Mom that the second half was creepier and not as good. The first act could be a story on its own. When they said "stay tuned" and I found out there was a second act, I was surprised, because I thought it was over. Kids under 10 won't like it. The takeaway seemed kind of confusing; mine is that parents shouldn't tell their kids to do anything because they're not going to listen anyway, though I don't really think that's what they meant! The costumes and set were great, and I mostly liked the music, though sometimes there was some overlapping that made it hard to understand. I especially thought it was cool to see the band director from my school playing in the live orchestra. I like seeing musicals and the first act was great.

Welcome back to the "Mom Review"! My sidekick Noelle is now a teenager at 13 but she is still willing to share her thoughts on the movies, plays and other family-friendly events we experience to give our Berkshires.com readers a different take on the local cultural scene. First, I'll share my thoughts, and then Noelle will share hers.

Well, I liked this one more than "Dumbo." Which isn't saying much, because I didn't like "Dumbo" all that much. In fact, I haven't much liked any of the Disney live-action remakes of the classics. (Spoiler alert: I will not be seeing "The Lion King." I hate talking animals that aren't cartoons.)

But OK. "Aladdin" wasn't ALL awful.

We saw it at Hathaway's Drive-In Theatre under the stars, which is always fun - if you don't mind the bugs and the less-than-stellar sound quality. Yes, I know, both of those would be improved if we sat INSIDE the car, but I still don't know how that would work with four people. So instead, the kids cozied up with a pile of blankets and pillows in the hatchback of my little Pruis with the backseat folded down and their heads sticking out and we adults gripped cans of bug spray while sitting on folding chairs flanking the car - well away from my admittedly wimpy radio playing the soundtrack on front-seat-only speakers. Hence the less-than-stellar sound quality. (And while we're talking about drive-in etiquette, if you own a large car - which includes crossovers like a Kia Sportage, Mr. and Mrs. Rude Vermont Couple - please follow the rules and don't set up camp in the spots reserved for little cars. And once the movie starts - I'm looking at you, Mr. and Mrs. Chatty Massachusetts Family - stop talking already. Sound does carry in a large open field. Who knew?)

Back to the movie. In "Aladdin," a magical genie helps a charming street rat find love with a princess. If this isn't too creepy for a 40-something mom to say, Aladdin was pretty charming, all right. Played by Mena Massoud, he was sweet and cute and devilish and I just wanted to hug him tight. Unfortunately, he seemed too young for Naomi Scott, who played Jasmine and who seemed much older even though the she's actually a year younger than Massoud in real life.

That might have been because Disney got a little political with Jasmine in this remake. The cartoon Jasmine had an independent, stubborn streak, for sure, but this Jasmine was all about becoming the sultan and women's rights and speaking up for herself; in fact, she sings a new song in this version that's actually called "Speechless" (I won't be silenced/you can't keep me quiet/won't tremble when you try it/all I know is I won't go speechless.) As the mother of a daughter, I appreciate Disney's effort to try to take the original princess in her belly-baring clothing and make her a little more of a modern feminist figure. But more modest clothing and one song don't really change the fact that she's a princess whose father has basically locked her up for fear of losing his precious little girl. So, yeah. It's nice for Disney to try to modernize its princesses, but this particular one was a tough sell.

And now to the elephant in the room: the Genie. I was a huge fan of Robin Williams, not just as the voice of the Genie in the original Aladdin but in pretty much everything else he did, including the silly but classic "Mrs. Doubtfire." He was the perfect actor to portray the versatile, funny, cranky, swanky, loveable and insecure Genie.

Will Smith tried. And in many ways, he succeeded - but mostly when he tried to make the Genie his own creation, not just a copy of Robin Williams. In those cases, he failed, because all I could think of was that he just wasn't as good as Robin Williams. I'm not sure any living actor could fill those shoes, so kudos to Smith for trying and not falling flat on his face.

The other characters were kind of mediocre - Jafar was evil but didn't really steal any scenes. The Sultan wasn't quite as dopey and bumbling as in the original. The animal sidekicks seemed to play a lesser role. There were two new characters - Jasmine's maid, who (spoiler alert) ends up falling for the Genie in an unnecessary plot twist, and the head guard, who gets to play out a nice little ethical dilemma of whether to stay loyal to the Sultan or to Jafar when Jafar steals the throne. A moral message, parents!

Overall, as with most of the live-action remakes, younger kids likely will be less entertained than with the cartoon versions - not only because they aren't exactly the same (and we know how kids like things that are familiar) but also because they just are darker than the originals. Granted, it's hard to turn the casual violence of the animated "Aladdin" into real life without some of that, but it's just the nature of the movie business these days, it seems. Even "kids movies" are dark and serious. Maybe that's why I'm not liking them as much. Maybe, just maybe, there's enough darkness in the world that I want happy and bright and light.

We'll be watching "Toy Story 4" next. We'll see if that fits the bill.

Noelle says: "Aladdin" was OK. There was nothing to make my mom cry, so that was good. I liked watching it from the back of the car in the drive-in, except it starts so late I fell asleep for some of it near the end. I don't know who could stay awake for the second movie after it! But I thought the Genie was really funny. I agree with my mom that little kids probably won't like it. I might try to get her to see "The Lion King" anyway. We'll see.