Into the Woods is a 1986 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 encounters 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, including a 1988 U.S. national tour, a 1990 West End production, a 2002 Broadway revival, a 2010 outdoor Regent's Park Open Air Theatre production in London, which transferred to Shakespeare in the Park in New York City, a 2022 Broadway revival, and a 2026 West End revival.
A Disney film adaptation, directed by Rob Marshall, was released in 2014. The film grossed $213 million worldwide, and received three nominations at both the Academy Awards and the Golden Globe Awards.
Synopsis
Act I The Narrator introduces the main characters in the story. Cinderella wishes to attend a festival held by the king, but her Stepmother refuses. Jack wishes his cow, Milky White, would give milk, and his Mother wishes that Jack would sell Milky White. A Baker and his Wife wish to have a child, and Little Red Riding Hood wishes for bread to bring to her ill Grandmother. Little Red obtains bread from the Baker, who then is visited by a neighbor, an ugly old Witch. She reveals that the Baker and his Wife cannot have children because, when the Baker's father stole vegetables from her garden, she cursed his family tree to "be a barren one" and took the couple's other child, Rapunzel. If the Witch is brought four items – "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" – in three days time, she will lift the curse. All begin their journey into the woods: Jack to sell Milky White, Cinderella to visit her mother's grave after her family left for the festival without her, Little Red to visit her Grandmother, and the Baker – refusing his wife's help – to find the ingredients ("Into the Woods").
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 intends to eat her ("Hello, Little Girl"), which The Baker sees, and notices her cape. His Wife follows him; they meet Jack and convince him to trade Milky White for beans found in the Baker's jacket after lying and saying they're magic. Jack bids a tearful goodbye to Milky White ("I Guess This Is Goodbye"). The Baker regrets lying, 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"), and a Prince spies Rapunzel, falling in love. Little Red and her Grandmother are eaten by the Wolf, but the Baker, in pursuit of the cape, saves them and kills the wolf. To thank the Baker, Little Red gifts him the cape ("I Know Things Now"). Jack returns to his Mother with the beans, which she angrily throws on the ground. After attending the festival, Cinderella flees from a Prince who has fallen in love with her. She meets the Baker's Wife who helps her hide ("A Very Nice Prince"). The Baker's Wife tries to grab one of Cinderella's slippers, but loses Milky White. As the day ends, the characters recall their morals from the day ("First Midnight").
Jack describes his adventure climbing a beanstalk the beans sprouted and meeting a giant couple ("Giants in The Sky"). Having stolen money from the giants, he tries to buy Milky White back, though the Baker refuses. After Jack returns up the beanstalk to get more treasure, the Mysterious Man takes the money from the Baker. Cinderella and Rapunzel's Princes, who are brothers, compare their maidens ("Agony"). The Baker's Wife, hearing of a girl with golden hair, finds Rapunzel, fools her into letting down her hair, and plucks some strands. The Mysterious Man finds Milky White and returns her to the Baker, and the Baker's Wife again fails to take 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 to Rapunzel and demands she stay sheltered from the world. Rapunzel refuses, and the Witch cuts off her hair and banishes her to a remote desert ("Stay with Me"). The Mysterious Man gives the Baker money to buy another cow. Jack meets Little Red, now sporting a cape made from the wolf skin, and she goads him into stealing more from the giants. Torn between staying with her Prince or 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 buys a new cow, and the two find the Witch.
With a loud crash, Jack's Mother runs in crying over a dead giant in her backyard, but is brushed off by the group. The Witch discovers that the cow is not Milky White, but an ordinary cow covered with flour, but is able to resurrect Milky White. When no milk is produced, she is angered when discovering the hair is Rapunzel's. The Mysterious Man suggests using corn silk instead, which works. The Witch reveals the Mysterious Man is the Baker's father, and drinks the potion. The curse is broken, the Mysterious Man falls dead, and the Witch regains her youth and beauty.
Cinderella's Prince looks for Cinderella. Her Stepmother forces her stepsisters to mutilate their feet to fit in the shoe, then hesitantly brings Cinderella to put on the shoe. It fits perfectly, and the two are reunited ("Careful My Toe"). Rapunzel bears twins and finds her Prince in the desert. When Rapunzel refuses to return to her, the Witch finds her powers were lost when the curse was broken. At Cinderella's wedding to her Prince, the Baker's Wife thanks Cinderella for her help. As the cast celebrates living "happily ever after", nobody notices another beanstalk growing ("Ever After").
Act II The narrator returns, reintroducing the cast, who have new wishes. The Baker's Wife wishes their house was bigger, but the Baker refuses to move out of his father's home. Jack misses the kingdom in the sky, and Cinderella is bored with her new life. With a loud crash, the Baker's house and the Witch's garden are destroyed ("So Happy"). The Baker goes to the castle to warn Cinderella, but is escorted out by the Steward. Little Red's house is also destroyed, and the Baker and his Wife offer to escort her to her Grandmother's home. Jack, hearing of the destruction from the Baker, goes to the woods to slay the giant, and Cinderella disguises herself to investigate the destruction of her mother's grave ("Into the Woods" (reprise)).
Rapunzel, driven mad by her long confinement, also flees to the woods. Her Prince follows her and meets his brother, and the two confess their lust for new women, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty ("Agony" (reprise)). The group meet an angry Giantess, who demands Jack's whereabouts, saying he killed her husband (the giant who landed in Jack's yard). The characters acknowledge the narrator, and the Witch offers him up to the Giantess, but she drops and kills him. Jack's Mother arrives and defends her son, but the Steward kills her in a panic to protect the group. Rapunzel flees from the Witch, but is trampled by the Giantess. The Witch mourns Rapunzel ("Witch's Lament").
The Royal Family and Steward flee. The Witch vows to find Jack and offer him to the Giantess, so the Baker and his Wife split up to find him first, leaving Little Red with their son. Cinderella's Prince, searching for Cinderella, meets the Baker's Wife and seduces her ("Any Moment"). Meanwhile, the Baker finds Cinderella and convinces her to join him. The Baker's Wife is conflicted over her affair ("Moments In The Woods"), but before she can return to the Baker, she is trampled by the Giantess. The Witch finds Jack crying over the Baker's Wife's corpse and brings him to Cinderella, Little Red, and the Baker, informing them of her death. The group all blame each other for her death, before turning on the Witch ("Your Fault"). The Witch laments the group's impending doom and mocks them for not taking responsibility, then throws away the remaining beans and vanishes ("Last Midnight").
Stricken by grief, the Baker decides to abandon his son and leave. The Mysterious Man returns in spirit, pleading that the Baker not make the same mistakes he made; the Baker stays ("No More"). Cinderella discovers her Prince's infidelity and asks him to leave her alone. Little Red mourns her Grandmother after discovering she was killed by the Giantess, and is comforted by Cinderella. Meanwhile, the Baker informs Jack of his mother's death ("No One Is Alone").
After slaying the Giantess, Jack, Little Red, Cinderella, and the Baker begin their journey back to the village. The Princes return with their new princesses, as do the spirits of the Royal Family, who starved to death. The Baker doubts his abilities to be a parent on his own, and his Wife's spirit returns to comfort him. She asks him to tell their story, and the Baker does so (reciting the same line the narrator says at the beginning of Act I). The Witch returns and warns the audience to be careful of their wishes or stories told to children, and the group leaves the woods ("Children Will Listen").
Musical numbers
Act I Prologue: "Into the Woods" – Narrator, Cinderella, Jack, Baker, Baker's Wife, Cinderella's Stepmother, Florinda, Lucinda, Jack's Mother, Little Red Ridinghood, Witch, Cinderella's Father "Cinderella at the Grave" – Narrator, Cinderella, Cinderella's Mother "Hello, Little Girl" – Wolf, Little Red "I Guess This Is Goodbye" – Jack "Maybe They're Magic" – Baker's Wife, Baker "Our Little World" – Rapunzel, Witch** "Maybe They're Magic" (reprise) – Baker* "I Know Things Now" – Little Red "A Very Nice Prince" – Cinderella, Baker's Wife "First Midnight" – company "Giants in the Sky" – Jack "Agony" – Cinderella's Prince, Rapunzel's Prince "A Very Nice Prince" (reprise) – Cinderella, Baker's Wife* "It Takes Two" – Baker's Wife, Baker "Second Midnight" – Witch, Cinderella, Cinderella's Prince, Rapunzel's Prince, Cinderella's Stepmother, Florinda, Lucinda, Granny, Narrator* "Stay with Me" – Witch, Rapunzel "On the Steps of the Palace" – Cinderella "Careful My Toe" – Narrator, Florinda, Cinderella's Stepmother, Lucinda, Cinderella's Mother, Cinderella's Prince, Cinderella's father* "So Happy" (prelude) – Cinderella, Cinderella's Prince, Baker, Baker's Wife* "Ever After" – Narrator, Florinda, Lucinda, Witch, company
Act II Prologue: "So Happy" – Narrator, Cinderella, Jack, Baker, Baker's Wife, Baker's child, Cinderella's Prince, Jack's Mother, Cinderella's Stepmother, Florinda, Lucinda, Witch Prologue: "Into the Woods" (reprise) – Baker, Baker's Wife, Jack, Little Red, Cinderella, Rapunzel "Agony" (reprise) – Cinderella's Prince, Rapunzel's Prince "Lament" – Witch "Any Moment" – Cinderella's Prince, Baker's Wife "Moments in the Woods" – Baker's Wife