50 Fun Facts About Into the Woods

Who wrote the music and lyrics for Into the Woods?

James Lapine wrote the book; it was their second collaboration after Sunday in the Park with George.

Which four items must the Baker and his Wife bring the Witch to lift the curse?

They have three days, and each item belongs to another fairy tale's hero.

Why did the Witch curse the Baker's family?

She also took the couple's other child, Rapunzel, and raised her in a tower.

What is the name of Jack's cow?

She dies at the second midnight and is resurrected by the Witch, only to give no milk until corn silk is added to the potion.

How is the girl in the tower related to the Baker?

The Witch took her as payment for the stolen vegetables, which is where the Grimms' Rapunzel actually begins.

Who turns out to be the Mysterious Man who wanders the woods?

He falls dead the moment the curse is broken and returns as a spirit to sing 'No More'.

In which duet do the two Princes compare their romantic suffering?

In the Act II reprise they have moved on to Snow White and Sleeping Beauty.

How are the two Princes related?

Both are played opposite the same actor doubling roles in many productions, with Cinderella's Prince also playing the Wolf.

Which two roles are traditionally played by the same actor in Into the Woods?

Robert Westenberg doubled them on Broadway in 1987; the Narrator and Mysterious Man are also usually doubled.

After the Baker rescues Little Red from the belly of the beast, what new garment does she start wearing?

She sings 'I Know Things Now' about the experience and later goads Jack into robbing the giants again.

What does Cinderella deliberately leave on the palace steps as a clue for her Prince?

She sings 'On the Steps of the Palace' about the choice, then swaps shoes with the Baker's Wife.

What happens to the Witch when the curse is broken?

Her transformation is the show's Act I climax; the loss of magic becomes clear only when Rapunzel refuses to come home.

What is growing, unnoticed, as the cast celebrates 'happily ever after' at the end of Act I?

It brings the Giantess down in Act II, hunting for Jack, who killed her husband.

In Into the Woods, which character does the Witch hand to the Giantess, who drops and kills him?

With no one left to tell the story, the characters have to finish it themselves.

Who kills Jack's Mother in Act II?

He strikes her in a panic while she is defending her son to the Giantess.

How does the Baker's Wife die in the stage musical?

In the Old Globe try-out she ate a poisoned apple, Snow White-style; the trampling came later.

Who seduces the Baker's Wife in the woods in Act II?

'Any Moment' leads into 'Moments in the Woods', her reckoning with the affair.

Which song, sung by the Witch, closes the show with a warning about the stories we pass on?

'No One Is Alone' comes just before it, as the survivors comfort each other.

How does Cinderella receive her gown and golden slippers in the musical?

'Cinderella at the Grave' follows the Grimm version rather than Perrault's pumpkin and fairy godmother.

Where did Into the Woods have its first workshop production in December 1986?

It ran 50 performances under Lapine's direction and many of the cast went on to Broadway.

Who played the Witch in the original 1987 Broadway production?

She left after almost five months; replacements included Phylicia Rashad and Ellen Foley.

Which actress won the Tony for Best Actress in a Musical for playing the Baker's Wife in 1988?

The show also took Best Score and Best Book in a year otherwise dominated by The Phantom of the Opera.

Which musical swept the major 1988 Tony Awards, limiting Into the Woods to three wins?

Into the Woods still won Best Score for Sondheim and Best Book for Lapine.

How many performances did the original Broadway run play at the Martin Beck Theatre?

It opened November 5, 1987 and closed September 3, 1989.

Which talk-show host took over the storytelling role during the original Broadway run?

Tom Aldredge originated the double role of Narrator and Mysterious Man.

Which singer and actress played the Witch in the 2002 Broadway revival?

Lapine restored a Three Little Pigs cameo from the San Diego version and added the song 'Our Little World'.

Which song was added to the show for the 2002 revival?

It is a duet for the Witch and Rapunzel in the tower.

Which Oscar-nominated actress played the Baker's Wife in the 2012 Shakespeare in the Park production?

Donna Murphy was the Witch, and original Baker Chip Zien returned as the Mysterious Man.

Which pop singer-songwriter played the Baker's Wife in the 2022 Encores! and Broadway revival?

Neil Patrick Harris was the Baker at Encores!, replaced by Brian d'Arcy James on Broadway.

Who played the Witch when the 2022 revival transferred to Broadway's St. James Theatre?

Phillipa Soo was Cinderella and Joshua Henry Rapunzel's Prince; Montego Glover later shared the Witch.

Which future Ted Lasso star played the Witch at London's Regent's Park Open Air Theatre in 2010?

That production later transferred to New York's Delacorte Theater with an American cast.

Which Monty Python member co-directed a 2022 production at the Theatre Royal, Bath?

It had been booked for the Old Vic in 2020 before COVID cancelled it.

Who directed the 2014 Disney film of Into the Woods?

After Chicago he had wanted to adapt Follies or Sweeney Todd, but Sondheim steered him to this one.

Who plays the Witch in the 2014 film?

Emily Blunt is the Baker's Wife, James Corden the Baker and Anna Kendrick Cinderella.

Which actor plays the Wolf in the 2014 film?

Chris Pine is Cinderella's Prince and Billy Magnussen Rapunzel's; the film split the traditionally doubled roles.

How does the 2014 film change Rapunzel's fate?

Her pregnancy and the princes' Snow White and Sleeping Beauty affairs were also cut for time.

Which character tells the story in voice-over in the 2014 film, after the stage storyteller role was cut?

The Mysterious Man's role was also heavily reduced.

How much did the 2014 film gross worldwide?

It picked up three Oscar nominations and three Golden Globe nominations.

A 1990s attempt to film Into the Woods held a reading with which comedian as the Baker?

Goldie Hawn read the Baker's Wife and Cher the Witch in a script by Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel.

Which Sondheim-Lapine musical preceded Into the Woods as their first collaboration?

Passion followed in 1994 as their third.

Which British comedian plays the Baker in the 2014 Disney film?

He had taken part in a 2012 New York reading of the screenplay before Disney confirmed his casting in May 2013, alongside Streep and Depp.

In which song does Jack describe climbing the beanstalk and meeting a giant couple?

He comes back down with money stolen from the giants and tries to buy back Milky White, but the Baker refuses.

After being rescued from the Wolf, Little Red gives the Baker her cape in which song?

The Baker only saved her because he was chasing the cape for the Witch; she later replaces it with a cloak made from the Wolf's skin.

Who played the Baker in the original 1987 Broadway cast?

He returned to the show 25 years later, playing the Mysterious Man and Cinderella's father in the 2012 Shakespeare in the Park staging.

In the 1986 San Diego tryout, how did the Baker's Wife originally meet her end?

The Snow White-style death was dropped before Broadway, as were longer versions of several songs; a Three Little Pigs cameo cut in San Diego returned in 2002.

Which future Oscar nominee won a 1991 Olivier Award as the Baker's Wife in the first West End run?

The Phoenix Theatre production, with Julia McKenzie as the Witch, picked up seven Olivier nominations and also won Best Director for Richard Jones.

Which Dame supplied the pre-recorded voice of the Giantess for the 2002 Broadway revival?

She did it again for the 2010 Regent's Park Open Air Theatre staging, where the show was performed outdoors in a real wooded area.

Which How I Met Your Mother star played the Baker in the 2022 Encores! concert staging?

Heather Headley was the Witch in that New York City Center run, which led directly to the Broadway transfer later that year.

Which two Sondheim shows did Rob Marshall want to film before Sondheim steered him to this one?

Marshall approached Sondheim after Chicago's success in 2002, but the project stalled while he made Memoirs of a Geisha and Nine.

Meryl Streep earned an Academy Award nomination for the 2014 film in which category?

The film drew three Oscar nominations in all and three Golden Globe nominations, including Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy.