Into the Woods Trivia
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50 free Into the Woods trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
40 free Into the Woods trivia questions with answers. Into the Woods braids Cinderella, Jack, Little Red and Rapunzel into one forest and then spends its second act showing what 'happily ever after' costs. This Into the Woods trivia quiz covers the whole show: the four items the Witch demands, the songs from 'Agony' to 'Children Will Listen', the Old Globe try-out, the 1987 Broadway cast led by Bernadette Peters and Joanna Gleason, the Tony Awards, the 2002 and 2022 revivals, the London productions, and the 2014 Disney film with Meryl Streep and what it changed. The 50 questions range from easy for anyone who has seen a school production to hard for people who own the original cast album, so theatre kids and casual film fans can play together. Every answer is checked against the published script, cast records and production history.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Who wrote the music and lyrics for Into the Woods?
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim composed the score and lyrics, with James Lapine writing the book; the pair had already won the Pulitzer Prize for their previous musical.
Q 02Which four items must the Baker and his Wife bring the Witch to lift the curse?
A cow, a cape, hair and a slipper
The Witch demands a cow as white as milk, a cape as red as blood, hair as yellow as corn and a slipper as pure as gold before the third midnight.
Q 03Why did the Witch curse the Baker's family?
His father stole vegetables from her garden
His father stole vegetables from her garden, including the magic beans she prized above all, so she cursed his line with childlessness.
Q 04What is the name of Jack's cow?
Milky White
Milky White, Jack's beloved cow, dies in the woods and is revived by the Witch, who needs her to drink the four items that undo the spell.
Q 05How is the girl in the tower related to the Baker?
She is his sister
The Witch took her as payment for the stolen vegetables, which is where the Grimms' Rapunzel actually begins.
Q 06Who turns out to be the Mysterious Man who wanders the woods?
The Baker's father
The Mysterious Man is the Baker's father, who abandoned his family; he drops dead the instant the curse lifts and returns as a spirit for 'No More'.
Q 07In which duet do the two Princes compare their romantic suffering?
Agony
'Agony' has the two princes one-upping each other over their unreachable maidens; in the Act II reprise they have moved on to Snow White and Sleeping Beauty.
Q 08How are the two Princes related?
They are brothers
Both are played opposite the same actor doubling roles in many productions, with Cinderella's Prince also playing the Wolf.
Q 09Which two roles are traditionally played by the same actor in Into the Woods?
The Wolf and Cinderella's Prince
Robert Westenberg played both the Wolf and Cinderella's Prince in the 1987 Broadway original, and the doubling has been kept in most later productions.
Q 10After the Baker rescues Little Red from the belly of the beast, what new garment does she start wearing?
A cape of wolf skin
Little Red has the wolf skinned and wears a cape of wolf skin from then on, carrying a knife too and later goading Jack into a second raid on the giants.
Q 11What does Cinderella deliberately leave on the palace steps as a clue for her Prince?
A slipper
Stuck on the pitch-coated steps, she chooses to leave a slipper behind as a clue, then trades her other one for the Baker's Wife's shoes.
Q 12What happens to the Witch when the curse is broken?
She becomes young and beautiful again
Her transformation is the show's Act I climax; the loss of magic becomes clear only when Rapunzel refuses to come home.
Q 13What is growing, unnoticed, as the cast celebrates 'happily ever after' at the end of Act I?
Another beanstalk
Q 21Who played the Witch in the original 1987 Broadway production?
Bernadette Peters
Bernadette Peters originated the Witch and stayed about five months; Phylicia Rashad and Ellen Foley were among her replacements in the role.
Q 22Which actress won the Tony for Best Actress in a Musical for playing the Baker's Wife in 1988?
Joanna Gleason
Joanna Gleason took the 1988 Tony for Best Actress in a Musical as the Baker's Wife, one of the show's three wins that night alongside Best Score and Best Book.
Q 23Which musical swept the major 1988 Tony Awards, limiting Into the Woods to three wins?
The Phantom of the Opera
Another beanstalk sprouts from a discarded bean; down it comes the Giantess in Act II, hunting Jack for killing her husband.
Q 14In Into the Woods, which character does the Witch hand to the Giantess, who drops and kills him?
The Narrator
The Narrator is offered up as a sacrifice; the Giantess drops him to his death, leaving the characters to tell the rest of the story themselves.
Q 15Who kills Jack's Mother in Act II?
The Steward
The Steward clubs Jack's Mother with his staff to silence her as she shouts at the Giantess, and the blow kills her.
Q 16How does the Baker's Wife die in the stage musical?
She is trampled by the Giantess
The Baker's Wife is trampled by the Giantess as she flees through the woods; her death comes right after her reckoning in 'Moments in the Woods'.
Q 17Who seduces the Baker's Wife in the woods in Act II?
Cinderella's Prince
Cinderella's Prince, bored with his bride, woos the Baker's Wife in 'Any Moment'; 'Moments in the Woods' is her reckoning with the affair.
Q 18Which song, sung by the Witch, closes the show with a warning about the stories we pass on?
Children Will Listen
The Witch returns for 'Children Will Listen', cautioning that children hear and absorb what adults say and do; it leads into the final reprise of the title song.
Q 19How does Cinderella receive her gown and golden slippers in the musical?
From her mother's spirit
Her mother's spirit, speaking from the hazel tree at her grave, provides the gown and golden slippers, following the Grimms' tale rather than Perrault's fairy godmother.
Q 20Where did Into the Woods have its pre-Broadway try-out in December 1986?
The Old Globe Theatre, San Diego
The Old Globe Theatre in San Diego staged the try-out from 4 December 1986, a 50-performance run directed by James Lapine with several of the future Broadway cast.
The Phantom of the Opera took seven 1988 Tonys including Best Musical, while Into the Woods won Best Score, Best Book and Best Actress in a Musical.
Q 24How many performances did the original Broadway run play at the Martin Beck Theatre?
765
The run lasted 765 performances, from the 5 November 1987 opening to the closing on 3 September 1989.
Q 25Which talk-show host took over the storytelling role during the original Broadway run?
Dick Cavett
Dick Cavett stepped into the storytelling role for a stint during the run, succeeding Tom Aldredge, who originated the part on Broadway.
Q 26Which singer and actress played the Witch in the 2002 Broadway revival?
Vanessa Williams
Vanessa Williams headlined the 2002 Broadway revival as the Witch, which Lapine again directed and which brought back a Three Little Pigs cameo cut before Broadway in 1987.
Q 27Which song, written for the 1990 London production, was added to the 2002 Broadway revival?
Our Little World
'Our Little World', a duet for the Witch and Rapunzel in the tower, was written for the 1990 London production and folded into the 2002 Broadway revival.
Q 28Which Oscar-nominated actress played the Baker's Wife in the 2012 Shakespeare in the Park production?
Amy Adams
Amy Adams played the Baker's Wife opposite Denis O'Hare's Baker at the Delacorte in 2012, with Donna Murphy as the Witch.
Q 29Which pop singer-songwriter played the Baker's Wife in the 2022 Encores! and Broadway revival?
Sara Bareilles
Sara Bareilles played the Baker's Wife in the May 2022 Encores! staging and went with the production to Broadway that summer, earning a Tony nomination.
Q 30Who played the Witch when the 2022 revival transferred to Broadway's St. James Theatre?
Patina Miller
Patina Miller took over the Witch from Heather Headley for the Broadway transfer, which opened at the St. James in July 2022; Montego Glover later succeeded her.