Into the Woods

One of the great Stephen Sondheim's last great musicals combines four favorite fairy tales to make one classical epic: "Cinderella," "Jack & The Beanstalk," "Little Red Riding-Hood," and "Rapunzel." A fifth story is, of course, needed to bind them together, which comes here in the story of a poor baker and his wife who wish for a child, and to get it, strike a bargain with a witch to fetch the ingredients for a potion: "The cow as white as milk, the cape as red as blood, the hair as yellow as corn, and the slippers as pure as gold." The baker rescues

Red Riding-Hood from the wolf and is rewarded with her cloak, and then sells

the beans to Jack for his cow, while his wife plucks a hair from Rapunzel in her tower, and relieves Cinderella of her last shoe, since she is having trouble

escaping in one high-heeled slipper. Over the first act, we see the stories unfold just as we know them from our childhood, ending with "Happily ever after." In the second act, however, the characters' continuing stories are shown as not as

happy as we thought. Cinderella and Rapunzel's princes have lost their hearts' desires in the having of them, and start chasing after Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. Red Riding-Hood has become obsessed with killing wolves, and

defending herself. Rapunzel, simultaneously missing her Witch-mother and

hating her, has moments of hysteria. As for the Baker, he feels insecure as a father, and his wife wishes their house were bigger. And the Giant's wife comes down another beanstalk to get revenge on Jack for murdering her husband.

Disaster strikes when, in desparation, the characters sacrifice the Narrator to the Giant, and thus destroy the person keeping the stories in order. Chaos ensues as the black and white so well divided before flow together. Heroes lie, Witches are right, Giants are good, heroes die. But still, the characters are able to stay together and defeat the giant and resolve their stories on their own. The moral of the story is simple: Learn from the stories, but don't live by them, as sung by the legendary Bernadette Peters as the Witch. She proves amazingly good at

playing the hideous old crone, and later becomes more of a Gothic beauty,

more suited to her beautiful voice and fantastic acting skills (Last Midnight, who would have thought a waltz could be so chilling?) The rest of the original

Broadway cast is also fabulous. Danielle Ferland is delightful as Red Riding- Hood, a Shirley Temple with a delightful mean streak. Robert Westenberg

makes the Prince funny and sad, and as the Wolf, brings out the lustful

undertones of the character, and Chip Zien and Joanna Gleason evoke

memories of Desi and Lucy as the married couple, while Kim Crosby is a

surprisingly independent Cinderella. All the cast sings one of Sondheim's

strongest scores, and brings the musical into the range of 10/10.

This is a movie episode of a TV series called American Playhouse, where the famous play "Into the Woods" is showcased. It is a fun, dark twist to various fairy tales combined where a childless baker and his wife cannot have a child until they follow the orders of their next-door neighbor, the Witch, to obtain a cow as white as milk, a cape as red as blood, hair as yellow as corn and a slipper as pure as gold. This brings together famous fairytale characters like Jack, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel and Cinderella into the mix to help.

This TV episode version I saw was a recorded stage play, but it was well acted out with neat special visual and sound effects, especially in the Giant's footsteps and the Witch's magic spells. It is captivating to see famous scenes from each fairytale blend in together throughout the main course of events of the baker and his wife searching for the Witch's items, such as the Baker's wife running into Cinderella into the woods, who happened to trip down some steps and looses her slipper, and the Witch (who is actually Rapunzel's mother) casting a spell on Rapunzel's prince. And, this all leads to a thrilling sequence when the character must deal with the Giant from the Jack and the Beanstalk tale.

This play also take a more dramatic and in depth look at each character, including the agony of the Princes finding love to the aftermath after Cinderella marries her prince. It's brilliantly played out and the plot gives a reality check that not all stories end in happily ever after - or at least not without some sacrifices and courage.

It's a great play for the audience, but not 100 percent innocent for children; therefore, it's best to have some parental guidance for the kids if or when they watch it.

Grade A

This is by far one of my favorite Broadway shows ever. Bernadette Peters is absolutely unparalleled on the stage, Sondheim and Lapine have pulled off another masterpiece, and Joanna Gleason TOTALLY deserved her Tony award for this. In my mind, this musical was far superior to the one that beat it out for 1989 Best Musical (Phantom of the Opera). Anyone who liked this would like "The School for Scandal", which stars Barbara Bryne (Jack's Mother). I suggest you check it out.

"Into the Woods" has to be my favorite musical of all time, and the video production has to be my favorite video of a musical of all time. The cast is incredible, the costumes are enchanting, the set is dazzling, the dialogue is fun, the music is beautiful, and the entire production is 100% perfection.

For those not familiar with Sondheim's greatest work, "Into the Woods" blends four famous fairy tales- Cinderella, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, and Jack and the Beanstalk- into one continuous story, intertwined with the tale of a lonely Baker and his Wife who long for a child of their own.

Tom Aldrege is amazing as the Narrator and Mysterious Old Man, he will truly make you examine how you've lived your life during his heart-wrenching duet with the Baker, "No More". Kim Crosby is mesmerizing as Cinderella, and she brings an underrated sense of comedy and excitement to the role of the rags-to-riches servant who simply doesn't know what she wants. Barbara Bryne, as the over-the-top fanatical mother of the boy who climbs the beanstalk is a laugh-riot from start to finish, but proves her fantastic acting ability in her melodramatic death scene. With the exception of Chip Zien's cardboard portrayal of the Baker, the rest of the cast is equally fantastic, but two others stand out in particular: Joanna Gleason and Bernadette Peters. Ms. Gleason does a beautiful job as the Baker's Wife, flying into angry flurries, sorrowful confessions, sympathetic matriarchies, and comedic fits of joy left and right. And each emotion is entirely believable and utterly astounding. Top it all off with an awesome singing voice and an incredible stage presence and you have an A-list actress in an A-list role. And last, but most certainly not least, the ever-enchanting Bernadette Peters. As always, Ms. Peters is stunning in her portrayal of the Witch. Her beautiful voice and porcelain-doll appearance fit the role magnificently. She is one of the best actresses of all history, and she fits perfectly into the role of the obsessive mother who only wants to be loved. She is in equal doses silly, flighty, shrill, mean, loving, and haunted, and this role will, for me anyway, never belong to anyone except for Bernadette.

Besides the acting, this show is simply a wonderful story. It's a fable, a parable of sorts, of growing up and a reflection of society. At every turn, we learn lessons that will do us good to remember: "Nice is different than good" (as Little Red Riding Hood puts it), appearances can be deceiving, everyone wants to feel needed, sometimes you just have to take chances, our lives can change unexpectedly, being underhanded and sneaky won't do anything but get you in trouble, and, of course, "No one is alone". Among many, many others.

So, if you're looking for a great show with excellent music, brilliant acting, a fabulous story, and a nice lesson at the end, this is it! Go out and buy it today!

Into the Woods is a show that will make you appreciate and love Broadway. If you have ever seen this show done by anyone else and compared it to Broadway, You have a very long critic coming your way. This magical fairy tale will be one you will always remember and is as close to perfect as you can get in a show.