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Into the Woods is a 1987 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. The musical intertwines the plots of several Brothers Grimm fairy tales, exploring the consequences of the characters' wishes and quests. The main characters are taken from "Little Red Riding Hood" (spelled "Ridinghood" in the published vocal score), "Jack and the Beanstalk", "Rapunzel", "Cinderella", and several others. The musical is tied together by a story involving a childless baker and his wife and their quest to begin a family (the original beginning of the Grimm Brothers' "Rapunzel"), their interaction with a witch who has placed a curse on them, and their interaction with other storybook characters during their journey. The second collaboration between Sondheim and Lapine after Sunday in the Park with George (1984), Into the Woods debuted in San Diego at the Old Globe Theatre in 1986 and premiered on Broadway on November 5, 1987, where it won three major Tony Awards (Best Score, Best Book, and Best Actress in a Musical for Joanna Gleason), in a year dominated by The Phantom of the Opera. The musical has since been produced many times, with a 1988 U.S. national tour, a 1990 West End production, a 1997 10th-anniversary concert, a 2002 Broadway revival, a 2010 outdoor Regent's Park Open Air Theatre production in London, which transferred to a Shakespeare in the Park production in New York City, and a 2022 Broadway revival. A Disney film adaptation, directed by Rob Marshall, was released in 2014. The film grossed over $213 million worldwide, and received three nominations at both the Academy Awards and the Golden Globe Awards. Synopsis Act 1 The narrator introduces four groups of characters: Cinderella, who wishes to attend the king's festival; Jack, who wishes his cow, Milky White, would give milk; a baker and his wife, who wish to have a child; and Little Red Ridinghood, who wishes for bread that she can bring to her grandmother. The baker's neighbor, an ugly and aging witch, reveals the couple is infertile because she cursed his father for stealing her vegetables, including magic beans, which prompted the witch's own mother to punish her with the curse of age and ugliness. The witch took the baker's father's child, Rapunzel. She explains the curse will be lifted if she is brought four ingredients—"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"—within three days. If they fail to do so for any reason, they will forever be barren. All begin the journey into the woods: Jack to sell his beloved cow; Cinderella to her mother's grave; Little Red to her grandmother's house; and the baker, refusing his wife's help, to find the ingredients ("Prologue"). Cinderella receives a gown and golden slippers from her mother's spirit ("Cinderella at the Grave"). A mysterious man mocks Jack for valuing his cow more than a "sack of beans". Little Red meets a hungry wolf, who persuades her, with ulterior motives, to take a longer path and admire the beauty of the woods ("Hello, Little Girl"). The baker, followed by his wife, meets Jack. They convince him that the beans in the baker's father's jacket are magic and trade them for the cow; Jack bids Milky White a tearful farewell ("I Guess This Is Goodbye"). The baker has qualms about their deceit, but his wife reassures him ("Maybe They're Magic"). The witch has raised Rapunzel in a tall tower accessible only by climbing Rapunzel's long, golden hair ("Our Little World"); a prince spies Rapunzel. The baker, in pursuit of Little Red's cape ("Maybe They're Magic" Reprise), slays the wolf and rescues Little Red and her grandmother. Little Red rewards him with her cape, and reflects on her experiences ("I Know Things Now"). Jack's mother tosses aside his beans, which grow into an enormous stalk. Cinderella flees the festival, pursued by another prince, and the baker's wife hides her; asked about the ball, Cinderella is unimpressed ("A Very Nice Prince"). Spotting Cinderella's gold slippers, the baker's wife chases her and loses Milky White. The characters recite morals as the day ends ("First Midnight"). Jack describes his adventure climbing the beanstalk ("Giants in the Sky"). He gives the baker gold he stole from the giants to buy back his cow, and returns up the beanstalk to find more; the mysterious man steals the money. Cinderella's prince and Rapunzel's prince, who are brothers, compare their unobtainable amours ("Agony"). The baker's wife overhears their talk of a girl with golden hair. She fools Rapunzel and takes a piece of her hair. The mysterious man returns Milky White to the baker. The baker's wife again fails to seize Cinderella's slippers. The baker admits they must work together ("It Takes Two"). Jack arrives with a hen that lays golden eggs, but Milky White keels over dead as midnight chimes ("Second Midnight"). The Witch discovers the prince's visits and demands Rapunzel stay sheltered from the world ("Stay with Me"). Rapunzel refuses, and the witch cuts off Rapunzel's hair and banishes her. The mysterious man gives the baker money for another cow. Jack meets Little Red, now sporting a wolfskin cape and knife. She goads him into returning to the giants' home to retrieve a golden harp. Torn between staying with her prince and escaping, Cinderella leaves him a slipper as a clue ("On the Steps of the Palace") and trades shoes with the baker's wife. The baker arrives with another cow; they now have all four items. A great crash sounds, and Jack's mother reports a dead giant in her backyard. Jack returns with the harp. The witch discovers the new cow is useless, and resurrects Milky White, who is fed the ingredients but fails to give milk. The witch explains that Rapunzel's hair will not work because she touched it, and the mysterious man offers corn silk instead; Milky White produces the potion. The witch reveals the mysterious man is the baker's father, and drinks the potion. The mysterious man falls dead, the curse is broken, and the witch regains her youth and beauty. Cinderella's prince seeks the girl who fits the slipper; Cinderella's desperate stepsisters mutilate their feet ("Careful My Toe"). Cinderella succeeds and becomes his bride. Rapunzel bears twins and is found by her prince. The witch finds her, and attempts to claim her back, but the witch's powers have been lost in exchange for her youth and beauty. At Cinderella's wedding, birds blind her stepsisters, and the baker's wife, now very pregnant, thanks Cinderella for her help ("So Happy" Prelude). Congratulating themselves on living "happily ever after", the characters fail to notice another beanstalk growing ("Ever After"). Act 2 The narrator continues, "Once upon a time... later." Everyone still has wishes—the baker and his wife face new frustrations with their infant son, newly rich Jack misses the kingdom in the sky, Cinderella is bored with life in the palace ("So Happy")—but is relativel.... Discover the Sara Jones Roger Woods popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Sara Jones Roger Woods books.