Into the Woods

This epic adventure musical incorporates plots and characters of several Brothers Grimm fairy tales and features music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Lapine. The Narrator introduces the cast of characters, each with a wish: the Baker and Baker's wife long for a child but cannot conceive, Jack desperately wishes his cow Milky White would once again provide milk so he wouldn't have to sell her, and Cinderella dreams of attending the king's ball and someday being free of her cruel stepmother and step-sisters. When all their tales, and the tales of other fairy tale characters, lead to the woods and become intertwined, dreams come true and wishes are granted. Their happiness has consequences, though, and the characters are forced to band together to save their world from destruction. - broadwaymusicalhome.com A revival opened at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, running from February 1, 2002 to March 24, 2002. This production was directed and choreographed with the same principal cast that later ran on Broadway. The 2002 Broadway revival, directed by James Lapine and choreographed by John Carrafa, began previews on April 13, 2002 and opened April 30, 2002 at the Broadhurst Theatre, closing on December 29 after a run of 18 previews and 279 regular performances. It starred Vanessa L. Williams as the Witch, John McMartin as the Narrator, Stephen DeRosa as the Baker, Kerry O'Malley as the Baker's Wife, Gregg Edelman as Cinderella's Prince/Wolf, Christopher Sieber as Rapunzel's Prince/Wolf, Molly Ephraim as Little Red Ridinghood, Adam Wylie as Jack and Laura Benanti as Cinderella. Judi Dench provided the pre-recorded voice of the Giant. Lapine revised the script slightly for this production, with a cameo appearance of the Three Little Pigs restored from the earlier San Diego production. Other changes, apart from numerous small dialogue changes, included the addition of the song "Our Little World," a duet for the Witch and Rapunzel written for the first London production, the addition of a second wolf in the song "Hello Little Girl" who competes for Little Red's attention with the first Wolf, the portrayal of Jack's cow by a live performer (Chad Kimball) in an intricate costume and new lyrics were written for "The Last Midnight," now sung by the Witch as a menacing lullaby to the Baker's baby. This production featured Scenic design by Douglas W. Schmidt, Costume design by Susan Hilferty, Lighting design by Brian MacDevitt, Sound design by Dan Moses Schreier and Projection design by Elaine J. McCarthy. The revival won the Tony Awards for the Best Revival of a Musical and Best Lighting Design. This Broadway revival wardrobe is on display at the Costume World in South Florida. - Wikipedia.