A cow as white as milk, a cape as red as blood, the hair as yellow as corn, and a slipper as pure as gold…
A crossover between various fairytales… a Baker and his Wife must obtain these four critical items in order to raise a curse.
Into the Woods sure is a fun musical! I was first introduced to this musical after seeing the 2014 Disney movie production—I absolutely loved it! The songs I still know by heart and I often listen to the soundtrack while I clean as if I am a village commoner:) My mom and dad went to London for their honeymoon and had the pleasure of seeing it live on West End (basically London’s broadway). My mom described it as a “magically funny experience I’ll never forget”. I was super jealous.
Into the Woods draws multiple qualities and characters from various Grimm fairy tales, including Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel and Jack and the Beanstalk. Director James Lapine and composer Stephen Sondheim were inspired by the characteristics and morals of the main characters of these stories. And so, rather than creating a whole new fairytale, they created the characters of the Baker and his Wife in order to mend various tales together!
They aimed to make the first act about each character’s individual quest, and the second act about the consequences of their actions and coming together as a community. Sondheim also claims that he drew on parts of his troubled childhood, using his parents as the basis for characters like the Baker and Jack’s Mother.
The original cast
By the end of Act I, each of the fairytale characters wishes have come true. Cinderella gets her prince, Jack gets the giant’s harp, the curse is lifted off of the baker and his wife and so on. In Act II, it all goes downhill… A giant is released. The princes are unfaithful. The couple ends up fighting. The characters question a lot about themselves and even who they are with. So, really nobody lives happily ever after. It is basically the antidote to Disney so I think it’s pretty ironic Disney picked it up! Although it is quite fitting that they left out some dark endings such as Rapunzel getting killed.
The movie got great reviews and sat comfortably with original fans of the musical and not to mention the cast is phenomenal: Anna Kendrick plays Cinderella and Chris Pine the Prince. The Baker and his Wife are played by James Corden and Emily Blunt. Meryl Streep is the Witch and Johnny Depp, the big bad wolf.
Watch this hilarious scene from the movie that pokes fun at the “charming” princes who are really just full of themselves (one of my favorite):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmixlJ79ZF0
Into the Woods puts a twist on your conventional fairytale and will sure surprise you.