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Into the Woods is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. It debuted in San Diego at the Old Globe Theatre in 1986, and premiered on Broadway in 1987. Bernadette Peters' performance as the Witch, and Joanna Gleason's portrayal of the Baker's Wife, brought acclaim to the production during its original Broadway run. Into the Woods won several Tony Awards, including Best Score, Best Book, and Best Actress in a Musical (Joanna Gleason), in a year dominated by The Phantom of the Opera.
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Quotations
Agony! Far more painful than yours! When you know she would go with you, If there only were doors.
Hello, little girl, what's your rush/You're missing all the flowers/The sun won't set for hours/Take your time..
I wish..
(Opening and closing lines of the play)
Rapunzel, Rapunzel/ What a strange name/ strange but beautiful/ and fit for a prince.
There's no possible way/To describe how you feel/When you're talking to your meal!
(about his baby) He always cries when I hold him.
Encyclopedia
Into the Woods is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. It debuted in San Diego at the Old Globe Theatre in 1986, and premiered on Broadway in 1987. Bernadette Peters' performance as the Witch, and Joanna Gleason's portrayal of the Baker's Wife, brought acclaim to the production during its original Broadway run. Into the Woods won several Tony Awards, including Best Score, Best Book, and Best Actress in a Musical (Joanna Gleason), in a year dominated by The Phantom of the Opera. The musical has been produced many times, with a 1988 national tour, a 1990 West End production, a 1991 television production, a 1997 tenth anniversary concert, a 2002 Los Angeles production and a 2002 Broadway revival.
Inspired by Bruno Bettelheim's 1976 book, The Uses of Enchantment, the musical intertwines the plots of several Brothers Grimm fairy tales and follows them further to explore the consequences of the characters' wishes and quests. The main characters are taken from the stories of Little Red Ridinghood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel, and Cinderella, tied together by a more original story involving a Baker and his wife and their quest to begin a family, most likely taken from the original story of Rapunzel by the Brothers Grimm. It also includes references to several other well-known tales.
Plot summary
Act I
A narrator notes that wishes are more important than life itself to three sets of characters: Cinderella, who wishes to attend the King's festival; Jack, a lonely, impoverished and simple young man who wishes that his cow, Milky-White, would give milk; and the Baker and his Wife, who wish they could have a child. Little-Red-Ridinghood buys some bread from the Baker to take to her grandmother in the woods. An ugly old Witch reveals that the Baker's father had stolen from the Witch's garden to feed his pregnant wife, taking some of her magic beans. The Witch cursed the family, making them unable to have children, and taken the Baker's sister Rapunzel. The curse will be lifted if the Baker and his Wife can find the four ingredients that the Witch needs for a certain potion: "the cow as white as milk, the cape as red as blood, the hair as yellow as corn, and the slipper as pure as gold", all within the next three days—the Witch cannot touch any of these ingredients, or the potion will not work ("Prologue").
All begin journeys into the woods: Jack's mother sends a reluctant Jack to sell his beloved Milky-White, while Cinderella decides to escape to the festival, first visiting her mother's grave and receiving a beautiful gown and shoes ("Cinderella at the Grave"). Little Red Ridinghood goes to her grandmother's house and is stalked by a hungry and lusty wolf along the way ("Hello, Little Girl"). The Baker and his Wife con the sad Jack into selling Milky-White ("I Guess This Is Goodbye") for five beans that the Baker's father had stolen from the Witch, telling Jack that they're magic (not knowing that they really are). The Baker sends his Wife home with the cow and discourages her from returning to the woods ("Maybe They're Magic"). The Witch has locked Rapunzel, who has hair "as yellow as corn", in a tower to shield her from the outside world ("Our Little World"). When Little Red Ridinghood arrives at her grandmother's house, she is swallowed by the Wolf, who has also feasted on her grandmother. The Baker (who has been following her) slays the Wolf, pulling Little Red Ridinghood and her grandmother from the beast's innards, and Red rewards him with the red cape ("I Know Things Now"). Jack's mother is angry that Jack was duped, returning only with beans, and tosses them aside, not knowing they will grow into a beanstalk that reaches into the clouds. Cinderella leaves the festival before the "First Midnight".
The Baker's Wife spots Cinderella's pure gold slippers, but she is also taken with Cinderella's Prince ("A Very Nice Prince"), until Milky-White runs away. Jack, meanwhile, returns from the giant's home with five gold coins, hoping to buy back Milky-White ("Giants in the Sky"). The Wife confesses that she has lost the cow to the Baker, who is angry and tells her to stay home. Cinderella's and Rapunzel's Princes sing of their endless longing ("Agony"). The Baker's Wife fools Rapunzel into letting down her hair and steals a piece. The Mysterious Man appears and gives Milky-White back to the Baker and his wife, who now have three of the four items. The Baker realizes that his Wife has helped considerably, and admits the need for them to join together in their quest ("It Takes Two").
Jack then arrives with a hen that lays golden eggs and attempts to buy Milky-White back, but she has died. The Baker's Wife meets Cinderella again, and almost succeeds in getting one of her shoes. As the second midnight arrives, the Witch discovers that the Prince has been visiting Rapunzel and begs Rapunzel to return to her ("Stay with Me"). The Witch angrily cuts off Rapunzel's hair and banishes her to a desert, and her Prince is blinded while trying to escape from the Witch. The Mysterious Man gives the Baker money to buy another cow, and Jack, convinced by the sarcastic Little Red Ridinghood, who now has a new wolfskin cape and a knife for protection, returns once again to the Giant's home to steal a magical harp.
Cinderella's Prince is giving another festival and spreads pitch on the stairs to try to capture and identify her ("On the Steps of the Palace"). The Baker's Wife arrives and attempts to trade her remaining bean for Cinderella's one remaining slipper; Cinderella throws the bean aside but, needing two shoes, trades shoes with the Wife and flees. The Baker arrives, and they have now found all four items sought by the Witch before the end of the third day. Jack's mother reports that a Giant has fallen from the beanstalk and is dead. As the third midnight approaches, the Witch discovers that the new cow is not pure white—it has only been covered with flour. However, the Witch revives Milky-White, and the items are fed to her by the Baker and his Wife. Jack milks her, but when he turns the goblet upside down, he reveals that it is empty. The Baker's wife reveals that she plucked the hair from Rapunzel. The Witch furiously explains that the magic will not work because the Witch had touched Rapunzel's hair that they had used in the potion. The Mysterious Man appears and tells the Baker to feed the hair-like strands on the ear of corn to the cow. Now Milky-White gives milk, and the new potion works. The curse is broken, and the Witch drinks the potion, becoming youthful and beautiful, although she loses her magical powers.
Cinderella's Prince searches for the maiden whose foot will fit the golden slipper. The stepsisters mutilate their feet trying to cram them into the slipper, but the prince finds Cinderella, whose foot fits the slipper, and she becomes the Prince's bride. The Witch explains that the Mysterious Man is the Baker's father, who had abandoned him, but the Man dies before the Baker can talk to him. Rapunzel finds her Prince and restores his vision with her tears. Another beanstalk grows from the final bean Cinderella threw away. The Baker's Wife becomes pregnant. Everyone congratulates himself of being able to live happily "Ever After".
Act II
Once upon a time, later, in the same far-off kingdom, everyone is living happily despite some minor inconveniences: the Baker and his Wife have their precious baby boy, Jack and his mother are rich and well-fed, and Cinderella is living with her Prince Charming in the Palace ("So Happy"). The Baker's Wife would like a larger cottage.
Suddenly, everyone in the Kingdom is knocked over by an enormous crash, and enormous footprints have destroyed the Baker's home and the Witch's garden, sparing only a few beans. The Baker and his Wife decide that they must tell the Royal Family, although the Witch says that the Royal Family can't do anything about it, and safely escort Little Red Ridinghood to her grandmother's house after her mother was killed by the Giant. Jack decides that he must slay the Giant (as he knows how, from his previous experiences), and Cinderella learns from her bird friends that her mother's grave was disturbed and decides to investigate. While everyone else is drawn back into the woods to deal with the threat from the vengeful Giantess, the two Princes have grown bored with their marriages and now lust after two new princesses: Snow White and Sleeping Beauty ("Agony" Reprise).
The Baker, his Wife and Little Red get lost in the Woods and find the Witch, and the Royal Family and their steward, who reveal that the castle was destroyed by the Giant. The Giant then appears, and everyone realizes that this Giantess is the widow of the Giant that Jack killed by chopping down the beanstalk, and she wants to kill Jack in revenge. To satisfy the Giantess, everyone offers her the narrator as a sacrifice, until they realize how lost they would be without him. Nevertheless, the Witch throws him into the Giant's arms and he is killed. Jack's mother finds the group and aggressively defends her son, angering the Giant's widow, and Cinderella's Prince's steward clubs Jack's mother to make her be quiet, inadvertently killing her. The Giantess leaves to search for Jack, and Rapunzel runs underneath her and is trampled, to the horror of the Witch and her Prince ("Witch's Lament").
The Royal Family leaves to hide in a Hidden Kingdom, the Witch decides to sacrifice Jack to the Giantess, and the Baker and his Wife decide they must find him first and split up to search. While Cinderella's Prince seduces the Baker's Wife ("Any Moment"), the Baker finds Cinderella and convinces her to join their group for safety. The Baker's Wife realizes her error and decides to return to her happy life with the Baker and their son ("Moments in the Woods") just moments before being accidentally crushed by the angry Giantess. The Witch finds Jack, who had found the Baker's Wife's body, and wants to give him to the Giantess, causing an argument—the characters first blame each other for their predicament, until they all blame the Witch together ("Your Fault"). Disgusted, the Witch purposefully throws away the rest of her magic beans, reactivating her mother's curse and making her vanish ("Last Midnight"). The Baker, grieving after his Wife's death, leaves his child with the others and is visited by his father's spirit, which convinces him to face his responsibilities ("No More").
The Baker returns to the group and helps them plan to kill the Giantess, using Cinderella's bird friends to peck out the Giant's eyes at an area smeared with pitch, where Jack and the Baker can finally deliver a fatal blow. Cinderella, after leaving her unfaithful Prince, helps comfort Little Red Ridinghood upon realizing that her grandmother has been killed by the Giantess as well, while the Baker explains to Jack his inability to say what is really morally correct ("No One Is Alone"). Everyone helps to slay the Giantess, and each of the previously deceased characters returns to describe the lesson they learned. The Baker's Wife returns (in the form of a spirit) to give him one final lesson: tell their child the story of the Woods—actions have consequences, even for future generations. The Baker becomes the Narrator of the tale, and all the characters seem satisfied, except for a final "I wish" from Cinderella ("Finale: Children Will Listen").
Productions
San Diego production, 1986
Into the Woods began at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, where it opened on December 4, 1986 and ran for 50 performances. Many of the performers from that production were in the Broadway cast. John Cunningham, who played the Narrator, Wolf and Steward, was replaced by Tom Aldredge, who played the Narrator and Mysterious Man. LuAnne Ponce, who played Little Red Ridinghood, was replaced by Danielle Ferland. Ellen Foley, the Witch, was replaced by Bernadette Peters.
Original Broadway production, 1987
Into the Woods opened on Broadway at the Martin Beck Theatre on November 5, 1987, and closed on September 3, 1989 after 764 performances. It starred Bernadette Peters, Joanna Gleason, Chip Zien, Kim Crosby, Ben Wright, Danielle Ferland, Chuck Wagner, Merle Louise, Tom Aldredge, and Robert Westenberg. The original production won the 1988 New York Drama Critics' Circle Award and the Drama Desk Award for Best Musical, and the original cast recording won a Grammy Award. Joanna Gleason won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical, and James Lapine (book) and Stephen Sondheim (original score) also won the Tony Award.
Peters left the show after 5 months due to prior commitments and was replaced by Phylicia Rashad, who was later replaced by Nancy Dussault. In 1989, Betsy Joslyn took over for Ms. Dussault, then left to join the national tour, and Ellen Foley returned to the role of the Witch at the end of the run.
Tenth Anniversary benefit performances of this production were held on November 9, 1997 at The Broadway Theatre (New York), with the original cast.
United States tour, 1988
The United States tour began on November 22, 1988 with Cleo Laine playing the Witch, replaced by Betsy Joslyn in May 1989. Rex Robbins played the Narrator and Mysterious Man, Charlotte Rae played Jack's Mother, and the Princes were played by Chuck Wagner and Douglas Sills. The tour played cities around the country, such as Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Los Angeles, California, Atlanta, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
London production, 1990
The original London Production opened on September 25, 1990 at the Phoenix Theatre and played until February 23, 1991. It was directed by Richard Jones, choreographed by Anthony Van Laast, and produced by David Mirvish, with costumes by Sue Blane and orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick. It starred Clive Carter, who was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award. Some story aspects and one song that were cut from the original production were added to the London production. The song "Our Little World" was added. This song was a duet sung between the Witch and Rapunzel giving further insight into the care the Witch has for her self-proclaimed daughter and the desire Rapunzel has to see the world outside of her tower.
Television production, 1991
Into the Woods, with the original Broadway cast, was taped in May 1989 and was aired on U.S. public television on March 20, 1991. This version has since been released on DVD.
Broadway revival, 2002
The 2002 Broadway revival, directed by James Lapine and choreographed by John Carrafa, began previews on April 13, 2002 and opened April 30, 2002 at the Broadhurst Theatre, closing on December 29 after a run of 18 previews and 279 regular performances. It starred Vanessa L. Williams as the Witch, the recorded voice of Judi Dench as the Giant, and cast including John McMartin (Narrator), Stephen DeRosa (the Baker), Gregg Edelman (Prince/Wolf), Christopher Sieber (Prince/Wolf), and Laura Benanti (Cinderella).
The plot was retooled, with a subplot added involving The Three Little Pigs restored from the earlier San Diego production. Other changes included the addition of the song "Our Little World," a duet between the Witch and Rapunzel that was part of the London production; Jack's cow was a puppet with a live performer inside who dances; "The Last Midnight" was sung by the Witch as a menacing lullaby to an infant held hostage. There were two Wolves rather than only one, sung by the two performers who also play the Princes.
The revival won the Tony Awards for the Best Revival of a Musical and Best Lighting Design.
London Revival, 2007
A revival at the Royal Opera House's Linbury Studio in Covent Garden had a limited run from June 14 through June 30, 2007. This is the second Sondheim musical to be staged by the company, following 2003's Sweeney Todd.
Catalan production, 2007–2008
Boscos endins was the Catalan adaptation by Joan Vives with the collaboration of Joan Lluís Bozzo. It was first presented by the Theatre Company Dagoll Dagom in Girona at the Festival Temporada Alta on November 22, 2007, and in January it was held at Teatre Victòria, in Avinguda del Paral·lel, Barcelona.
Adaptations
Junior version
The musical has been adapted into a child-friendly version for use by schools, with the second act completely edited out, as well as certain elements from the first. The show is shortened to fit in a 60–80 minute range, and the music transposed into keys that more easily fit young voices.
Film
In October 1994, a reading of a screenplay (written by Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel) was held at the home of director Penny Marshall, with a cast that included Robin Williams as The Baker, Goldie Hawn as The Baker's Wife, Cher as The Witch, Danny DeVito as The Giant, and Roseanne Barr as Jack's Mother. In late 1995, Daily Variety reported that Jim Henson Prods. and Storyline Entertainment would be producing the movie, with director Rob Minkoff. In January 1997, Daily Variety reported that the projected film was put in "turnaround" by Columbia Pictures, still with director Rob Minkoff; that two new songs were written by Sondheim for the film; and that Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan and Susan Sarandon were in talks to star. However, more recent information about Storyline's upcoming projects no longer count the film among them.
Casting history
The principal casts of notable productions of Into the Woods
Musical numbers
Act I
- "Prologue: Into the Woods" – Narrator, company
- "Greens, Greens" (as part of Prologue) – Witch
- "Cinderella at the Grave" – Cinderella, Cinderella's Mother
- "Hello, Little Girl" – Wolf, Little Red Ridinghood
- "I Guess This Is Goodbye" – Jack
- "Maybe They're Magic" – Baker's Wife
- "Our Little World" – Witch, Rapunzel (added during the original London production)
- "I Know Things Now" – Little Red Ridinghood
- "A Very Nice Prince" – Cinderella, Baker's Wife
- "First Midnight" – Company
- "Giants in the Sky" – Jack
- "Agony" – Cinderella's Prince, Rapunzel's Prince
- "A Very Nice Prince" (reprise) – Cinderella, Baker's Wife
- "It Takes Two" – Baker, Baker's Wife
- "Second Midnight" – Company
- "Stay With Me" – Rapunzel, Witch
- "On the Steps of the Palace" – Cinderella (with Jack and Little Red Ridinghood in 2002 revival)
- "Ever After" – Narrator, Witch, Florinda, Lucinda and company
Act II
- "Prologue: So Happy" – Narrator, company
- "Agony" (reprise) – Cinderella's Prince, Rapunzel's Prince
- "Witch's Lament" – Witch
- "Any Moment" – Cinderella's Prince, Baker's Wife
- "Moments in the Woods" – Baker's Wife
- "Your Fault" – Jack, Baker, Cinderella, Little Red Ridinghood, Witch
- "Last Midnight" – Witch
- "No More" – Baker, Mysterious Man
- "No One Is Alone" – Cinderella, Little Red Ridinghood, Jack, Baker
- "Finale: Children Will Listen" – Baker, Baker's Wife, Witch, company
Analysis of book and music
In most productions of Into the Woods, including the original Broadway production, several parts are doubled. Cinderella's Prince and the Wolf, who share the characteristic of being unable to control their appetites, are played by the same actor. Similarly, the Narrator and the Mysterious Man, who share the characteristic of commenting on the story while avoiding any personal involvement or responsibility, are played by the same actor. Granny and Cinderella's Mother, whose characters are both matriarchal characters in the story, are also typically played by the same person.
The show covers multiple themes: growing up, parents and children, accepting responsibility, morality, and finally, wish fulfillment and its consequences. William A. Henry III wrote that the play's "basic insight... is at heart, most fairy tales are about the loving yet embattled relationship between parents and children. Almost everything that goes wrong—which is to say, almost everything that can—arises from a failure of parental or filial duty, despite the best intentions." Stephen Holden writes that the themes of the show include parent-child relationships and the individual's responsibility to the community. The witch isn't just a scowling old hag but a key symbol of moral ambivalence. James Lapine said that the most unpleasant person (the Witch) would have the truest things to say and the "nicer" people would be less honest. In the Witch's words: "I'm not good; I'm not nice; I'm just right."
The score is also notable in Sondheim's output because of its intricate reworking and development of small musical motifs. In particular, the opening words, "I wish", are set to the interval of a rising major second and this small unit is both repeated and developed throughout the show, just as Lapine's book explores the consequences of self-interest and "wishing." Sondheim also wrote the first act almost completely in iambic meter. This specific meter is abandoned in the second act, a symbol of the abandonment of the traditional fairy tale storyline. The dialogue in the show is characterized by the heavy use of syncopated speech. In many instances, the characters' lines are delivered with a fixed beat that follows natural speech rhythms, but is also purposely composed in eighth, sixteenth, and quarter note rhythms as part of a spoken song. Like many Sondheim/Lapine productions, the songs contain thought-process narrative, where characters converse or think aloud.
Sondheim drew on parts of his troubled childhood when writing the show. In 1987, he told Time magazine that the "father uncomfortable with babies [was] his father, and [the] mother who regrets having had children [was] his mother."
Awards and nominations
Original Broadway production, 1987
London production, 1990
| Organization | Category | Result |
|---|
Laurence Olivier Awards
(1991) | Best Director of a Musical (Richard Jones) | | | Best Actress in a Musical (Imelda Staunton) | |
Broadway revival, 2002
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