Into the Woods

Into the Woods (1987), a musical play by James Lapine (book), Stephen Sondheim (music, lyrics). [Martin Beck Theatre, 764 perf.; NYDCC Award.] A handful of familiar fairy tales and an original one were combined, all of the characters and events overlapping in the same forest. The first act followed the traditional storylines, but the second half went beyond the happy endings to explore the consequences of the characters' actions. Notable songs: Children Will Listen; No One Is Alone; Agony; Giants in the Sky. Critics were divided on how effective the script was but praised the score and applauded the superior cast that included Bernadette Peters, Joanna Gleason, Chip Zien, Robert Westenberg, and Tom Aldredge. Audience reaction was not so mixed, and the musical (produced by Rocco and Heidi Landesman and others) became one of Sondheim's longest runs and most‐produced works across the country. A beautifully staged Broadway revival in 2002 was highly commended but failed to show a profit.

Into the Woods, a 1987 Broadway musical by James Lapine (libretto) and Stephen Sondheim (music and lyrics) that utilized familiar and original fairy tales. In a storybook setting, various characters set off into the woods with particular tasks. Jack goes to sell the family cow, Little Red Riding Hood travels to see her grandmother, Cinderella steals away to visit the grave of her mother and, in an original sub‐plot, a baker and his wife search for specific items demanded by a witch that has rendered the couple childless. The same witch holds her daughter Rapunzel a prisoner in a tower. Once in the forest, Jack obtains the magic beans that allow him to climb the beanstalk to kill the giant. Cinderella goes to the festival and meets her Prince while Little Red outwits the wolf and he is killed, and Rapunzel is rescued by her Prince. The first act ends with everyone singing ‘Happily Ever After’, but in the second act the characters must face up to the responsibilities brought on by their earlier actions. The giant's wife seeks revenge, killing Red's grandmother, and terrorizing the countryside. The baker's wife has a brief affair with Cinderella's shallow Prince, and the disenchanted Rapunzel runs off and is trampled by the giant. The survivors eventually kill the female giant and the musical ends on a bitter‐sweet note with parents learning about the power of their words on their offspring and children finding that ‘No One Is Alone’ in this world.

— Thomas S. Hischak