Stephen Sondheim wanted to something funny. After the intensity of Sunday In The Park With George, he decided to turn, again with James Lapine, to classic art. In this case, fairy tales. The resulting show, Into The Woods, is one of those truly magical creations, running for over 750 performances across nearly 2 full years on the boards. It lost the 1987 Best Musical Tony Award to Phantom, but won Best Score and Best Book and Best Actress, so. there. Here is the American Playhouse filming of the original Broadway production of Into The Woods [2h31m].
Here are Sondheim and Lapine talking to Edwin H. Newman on PBS about the show. [23m] A lot of thoughts about the development of the show. Probably the best of this ancillary material to watch if you want a layman’s overview from the creators of the show and not get too deep into the particulars.
If you want to get into the particulars, here is MTI’s Conversation Piece about Into The Woods [52m30s], with Sondheim and Lapine. Steve talks about the songs, and Jim discusses characters, staging, and production/directing notes. Just for fun, here is the Piano Conductor Score [.pdf link].
This original cast got back together in 1997 for a 10th Anniversary Reunion Concert [2h36m], presented here in weirdly choppy audience-o-vision. It’s not a bad bootleg, really. The whole affair is a hoot and full of celebration.
Another audience recording, this time of the 2002 Broadway Revival. It’s not quite the same show as the original, with some songs and characters added. It’s also not of the opened show, it’s a preview performance. But it gives an idea…
Or maybe this sort of “around the back of heads” filming of the 2012 Shakespeare In The Park production is appealing. The setting and the set are really interesting. And the cast is insanely great, with Amy Adams, Donna Murphy, Denis O’Hare, and many more.
It continues to be a hot property: Encores! at City Center is talking about doing it this year [11m], the Old Vic is doing it next year (co-directed by Terry Gilliam and Leah Hausman). [Tickets]
Of course, we have a bit of ancillary reading material. Here’s an examination of leitmotif in the score [From Score To Stage] which I found illuminating even after having memorized the whole thing 30-odd years ago. Reading Into The Woods as an AIDS parable is explored here on Talking Points Memo.
Oh! Oh! Oh! And this, this utter gem… I wonder if Sondheim and Lapine know about this… Here are four Financial Lessons From Into The Woods from Marotta Wealth Management: No One Is Alone, Children Will Listen, Do You Know What You Wish?, and Nice Is Different Than Good.
Oh yes, we must mention the Disney in the room. Michael Schulman writes in The New Yorker, the day before the movie’s release, Why “Into the Woods” Matters [Archive.org link]. And I’m not 100% with Snugboy, but he sort of nails much of my own reaction to the film in Disney’s Into The Woods – How NOT To Adapt a Movie [20m29s]
And to wrap this up, here’s one of those delightful things that could never have happened outside of Pandemic Time… Into The Woods In Quarantine [13m12s]. Shout out to the piano player!