First performed: 1986, Old Globe Theatre, San Diego, CA
First seen by me: 1988, Martin Beck Theatre, NY
Productions seen: six
Score: Stephen Sondheim
Book: James Lapine
Plot: Once Upon a Time, Cinderella wanted to go to the ball, Little Red Riding Hood wanted to visit Granny's cottage, a baker and his wife were desperate for a child, and Jack had to sell his aged pet cow for a new one and exchanges her for magic beans. They must all go into the woods to get their wishes, including the neighbourhood Witch to visit her daughter Rapunzel. Everyone gets their wish and live Happily Ever After... or do they?
Five memorable numbers: NO ONE IS ALONE, CHILDREN WILL LISTEN, AGONY, GIANTS IN THE SKY, A MOMENT IN THE WOODS
After the success of SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE, Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine wanted to work together again and decided on exploring the moral ambiguities of living Happy Ever After when the actions you have done to get there have consequences. Cinderella marries her Prince but what if he was raised to be charming but not faithful? Jack steals from and later kills The Giant but what of the grieving Giant's Wife who wants revenge on the little killer who abused their hospitality? And what do you do when parents or children are taken from you - do you blame others or yourself? Although Sondheim denies there was any deliberate intention for the work to reflect the AIDS crisis that was contemporary to it's writing, you cannot help but read it as a reflection on those times of sudden death, recrimination and the forming of community. It's continued success down the years shows the world has not changed much...
The show had a short initial run at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, giving Sondheim and Lapine a chance to see where the show might be enlarged and clarified before it opened at the Martin Beck Theatre in 1987 with the wonderful cast of Bernadette Peters as The Witch, Chip Zien as The Baker, Joanna Gleason as The Baker's Wife, Kim Crosby as Cinderella, Robert Westenberg as Cinderella's Prince as well as The Wolf and Danielle Ferland as Red Riding Hood. The show ran for nearly two years and won three Tony Awards - Gleason for Best Actress, Best Score and Best Book - but losing out in it's production awards to THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. More importantly, just after a year after it opened, INTO THE WOODS was the first musical I ever saw on Broadway.
Lapine's glorious original production was the best introduction to Broadway and luckily it was filmed with the reunited original cast just before it closed and is available on DVD. The first London production only lasted five months at the Phoenix Theatre, largely due to Robert Jones' ugly, over-intellectualised production but it did feature two memorable performances from Julia McKenzie as The Witch and Imelda Staunton as a pugnacious, determined Baker's Wife; Imelda went on to win the Best Actress Olivier Award for Best Actress. A far more cohesive and enjoyable production was John Crowley's 1998 revival at the Donmar - it's smaller stage giving the action more of a focus - with yet another Olivier Award-winning Baker's Wife, this time the wonderful Sophie Thompson, in a cast which also included Jenna Russell as Cinderella, Damien Lewis as her Prince and a break-out performance by 17 year-old Sheridan Smith as Red Riding Hood.
The last three productions I have seen illustrated how versatile directors have found the material - the Landor staged INTO THE WOODS in their 60 seat pub theatre in 2009, the Open Air theatre in Regents Park staged a spectacular production in 2011 with a multi-level set disappearing off into the surrounding trees which certainly gave the piece a vibrant setting, even if not all the directorial choices held up, but did give Hannah Waddingham as The Witch, Jenna Russell as The Baker's Wife, Beverley Rudd as Red Riding Hood and Michael Xavier as The Prince / The Wolf excellent chances to shine. In 2016, the American Fiasco Theater Company brought their INTO THE WOODS to the Menier which had a cast of 10 and a near-bare stage. The show survived of course but the relentless "look what we can do with a rope" got old very quickly. A lovely performance from Harry Hepple as The Baker helped save the day.
I still remember the excitement of buying the orginal cast recording at Tower Records and racing home to play it, reading the libretto and studying the colour foldouts of production shots - and that excitement has not diminished over 36 years, it was a worthy winner of that year's Grammy for Best Cast Recording. It's a score which moves me greatly, especially in the second act where Sondheim unleashes a succession of songs that cut through to a universal sadness: the Witch's "Lament" then her goodbye to the small-minded humans with "Last Midnight"; The Baker's burnt-out cry for a moment of rest "No More" which leads into the anthemic "No One Is Alone" where the characters realise that a family is not just blood relatives - and in between these there is one of Sondheim's most under-rated solos, The Baker's Wife's "A Moment In The Woods", it's this song that makes the role a real award magnet and makes INTO THE WOODS one of my all-time favourite musicals.
So... what video to pick? In truth I did not mind the Disney film which despite being truncated actually stayed true to the spirit of the show but it has to be the original Broadway cast, and here is the press reel of clips for broadcast purposes; they are not in chronological order but give you a real flavour of the production featuring the marvellous performances of Bernadette Peters, Joanna Gleason, Chip Zien, Danielle Ferland, Robert Westenberg, and Kim Crosby among others.
The last three productions I have seen illustrated how versatile directors have found the material - the Landor staged INTO THE WOODS in their 60 seat pub theatre in 2009, the Open Air theatre in Regents Park staged a spectacular production in 2011 with a multi-level set disappearing off into the surrounding trees which certainly gave the piece a vibrant setting, even if not all the directorial choices held up, but did give Hannah Waddingham as The Witch, Jenna Russell as The Baker's Wife, Beverley Rudd as Red Riding Hood and Michael Xavier as The Prince / The Wolf excellent chances to shine. In 2016, the American Fiasco Theater Company brought their INTO THE WOODS to the Menier which had a cast of 10 and a near-bare stage. The show survived of course but the relentless "look what we can do with a rope" got old very quickly. A lovely performance from Harry Hepple as The Baker helped save the day.
I still remember the excitement of buying the orginal cast recording at Tower Records and racing home to play it, reading the libretto and studying the colour foldouts of production shots - and that excitement has not diminished over 36 years, it was a worthy winner of that year's Grammy for Best Cast Recording. It's a score which moves me greatly, especially in the second act where Sondheim unleashes a succession of songs that cut through to a universal sadness: the Witch's "Lament" then her goodbye to the small-minded humans with "Last Midnight"; The Baker's burnt-out cry for a moment of rest "No More" which leads into the anthemic "No One Is Alone" where the characters realise that a family is not just blood relatives - and in between these there is one of Sondheim's most under-rated solos, The Baker's Wife's "A Moment In The Woods", it's this song that makes the role a real award magnet and makes INTO THE WOODS one of my all-time favourite musicals.
So... what video to pick? In truth I did not mind the Disney film which despite being truncated actually stayed true to the spirit of the show but it has to be the original Broadway cast, and here is the press reel of clips for broadcast purposes; they are not in chronological order but give you a real flavour of the production featuring the marvellous performances of Bernadette Peters, Joanna Gleason, Chip Zien, Danielle Ferland, Robert Westenberg, and Kim Crosby among others.
