Into the Woods

I bought this book for my daughter after she performed in her high school production of Into The Woods. She absolutely loved it because she was not able to keep her script. She was thrilled with it and is going to have her cast mates sign it.

I bought this book when it first came out many years ago and foolishly leant it to an acquaintance who never returned it - they said they could not "find" it, though I became aware later that they just wanted to keep the book for themselves. Grrr. So, I am happy to see this reissued. The storytelling both in words and pictures is smart, literate, and perfectly captures the rich themes of the stage production.

James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim collaborated to create what is one of the most remarkable works for musical theatre to have ever been written. It is so remarkable, in fact, that it isn't until after relentless study does one realize it's full brilliance. This is a quest play where a timeless Baker and his wife wish, more than anything, to have a child. But they learn that the witch from next door put a curse on their family leaving them sterile. The witch however, is willing to remove the curse in exchange for items she requires for a potion: A cow as white as milk, the cape as red as blood, the hair as yellow as corn, a slipper that's pure as gold. And with that we have a collection of famous fairy tales melded into one. The first act is a delight with each person wanting something; great desire causes each one of them to cheat a little, lie a bit or, in Jack's case, steal a lot and the result is that they all get their wish. But what happens after they get their happily-ever-afters? Trouble comes to them and they all must learn to work together or die and "Into the Woods" becomes a fable about the importance of what each generation passes on to it's children. This libretto should be part of a three part collection that should include the DVD of the original Broadway cast and the CD of the New York Cast. There's a great deal happening at the same time, all of the time. Lapine and Sondheim do not take us for fools and they require our attention. We are rewarded for giveing it to them.

Exactly as described

I am actually using this as a text for adult ESL students. I teach an advance transitional academic English class for adults. They are reading the various parts aloud and listening to the musical parts as intermixed and they are loving it. It's caused them to recall childhood stories from their own culture and some are similar to those used in ITW. The music provides a great bridge for comprehension since each song is in itself a condensed story. We completed Act I last week and the watched that segment before Easter holiday. They were enthralled and the bursts of laughter really made me understand how deeply this art form goes regardless of your country of origin. Thank you Stephen. Thank you James. Sharing it with my beloved students brings back that magical Friday night long ago when I sat in the Martin Beck theatre and was enraptured for the very first time. Cheers!

Had this book when I was a kid. When the movie came out recently I was shocked. I was like, why all the music. To my surprise, the book is actually based off a broadway play! Anyways the artwork is incomparable and I just had to own a book that I read over and over in my childhood.

I remember having this book when i was little and LOOVED the illustrations. It is a very long story though, so if you have very little kids they probably will not last through a full reading (as i fully remember happening with me). The story is based off of a 1980's Broadway musical that I recently found out they're turning into a movie. I wanted to get this book before the movie came out and was scared the prices would go up exponentially and they'd re-do it with images from the movie and so I ordered this ASAP. Very happy.

I love this script! It helps me understand the musical better.

I had seen the play done by the school my grandson goes to. It was very energetic but I knew I had missed a lot of the words so to actually understand it all, I bought the book. We all know the fairy stories but this is a new way of looking at them.

Wonderful Movie, however, I was a little disappointed that certain key characters were missing (Narrator & Mysterious Man).

Great deal

many thanks

As described