Into the Woods: Musical Fairy-Tale Menagerie This is a performance review of the May 23, 1989 Broadway production of “Into the Woods”, performed at the Martin Beck Theater located in New York. “Into the Woods” is a musical created and directed by James Lapine, with music and lyrics written by Stephen Sondheim. Performed in front of a live audience and professionally recorded for the Season 10 premiere episode of PBS’s American Playhouse, which first aired on March 15, 1991. This version has over one million views on YouTube, since published on October 1, 2014. This was Stephen Sondheim’s second musical with director James Lapine, the first being “Sunday in the Park with George” (Green, 1996). Starring: Bernadette Peters - witch, Joanna Gleason - Baker’s wife, Chip Zien - Baker, Kim Crosby - Cinderella, Ben Wright - Jack, Danielle Ferland - Little Red Ridinghood, Chuck Wagner - Rapunzel’s Prince, Merle Louise - Cinderella’s Mother, Tom Aldredge - Narrator, and Robert Westenberg – Wolf. The synopsis from the playbill reads: “A childless baker and his wife endeavor to lift their family curse by journeying into the woods, where they encounter Rapunzel (and her witchly "mother"), Cinderella, Jack (of Beanstalk fame), Little Red Riding Hood and other classic fairy tale characters, and they all must learn the responsibility …show more content…
Adult morals were the center of this musical such as responsibility to community, showing respect towards others and core values (Green, 1996). The best musical numbers were “No One is Alone” which featured Cinderella, the Baker, Little Red Ridinghood and Jack, and the finale “Children Will Listen” featuring the Witch and company. The musical number entitled “Hello, Little Girl” had the Wolf singing to Little Red Ridinghood with memorable and laughable lyrics such as: “There’s no possible way/To describe what you feel/When you are talking to your meal (Rich,