50 Fun Facts About Into the Woods

Who wrote the music and lyrics for Into the Woods?

Stephen Sondheim wrote both, to a book by James Lapine, and his score won the Tony Award on a night when the show itself lost Best Musical.

In Into the Woods, the Witch demands a cape as red as blood and hair as yellow as what?

Corn, and the wording saves them: the hair they bring is Rapunzel's, which the Witch has touched and so cannot use, and silk from an ear of corn does the job instead.

In Into the Woods, why did the Witch curse the Baker?

His father stole vegetables from her garden to satisfy his pregnant wife's craving for greens, and made matters worse by pocketing her magic beans as well.

In Into the Woods, what is the name of Jack's cow?

Milky White drops dead at the second midnight, so the Baker passes off another cow dusted with flour; the Witch sees through it and brings the real one back to life.

In Into the Woods, how is the girl in the tower related to the Baker?

She is his sister: the Witch carried her off as a baby and raised her in the tower as her own, and the Baker grew up never knowing she existed.

In Into the Woods, who does the Mysterious Man wandering the forest turn out to be?

The Baker's father drops dead the moment the spell is broken, then comes back as a spirit in 'No More' to stop his son from walking out on his own child.

Which duet in Into the Woods do the two Princes sing about the maidens they cannot reach?

'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.

In Into the Woods, how are the two Princes related?

They are brothers, and alike in more than blood: each wins his bride in Act I, and by Act II both are already pining for someone new.

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

The Wolf and Cinderella's Prince have usually shared an actor since Robert Westenberg played both on Broadway in 1987; the 2014 film broke the habit and cast two different stars.

After the Baker frees Little Red in Into the Woods, what new garment does she wear?

A cape of wolf skin replaces the red one, which she gave the Baker in thanks: it is one of the four things the Witch had sent him to find.

In Into the Woods, why does Cinderella leave a shoe behind on the palace steps?

To let the Prince decide: torn between running and staying, she chooses not to choose, leaves one shoe for him to find, and trades the other to the Baker's Wife.

In Into the Woods, what happens to the Witch when the curse is broken?

She becomes young and beautiful again, at a price she had not foreseen: her magic is gone, as she finds when she tries to force Rapunzel back to her.

What is growing unnoticed as Act I of Into the Woods ends in celebration?

Another beanstalk rises behind the celebrating cast, and in Act II it brings down the Giantess, come to find the boy who killed her husband.

In Into the Woods, which character is offered to the Giantess in Jack's place and killed?

The Narrator is pushed forward in Jack's place; the Giantess sees he is the wrong man and kills him, leaving the characters to finish the story with no one to tell it.

Who kills Jack's Mother in Act II of Into the Woods?

The Steward strikes her on the head to silence her while she is shouting at the Giantess, meaning only to protect the others, and the blow kills her.

How does the Baker's Wife die in the stage version of Into the Woods?

She is trampled by the Giantess moments after resolving to go home to her husband.

Who seduces the Baker's Wife in Act II of Into the Woods?

Cinderella's Prince forgets his new wife within a song, 'Any Moment'; when the birds tell Cinderella what he has done, she sends him away.

Which song, led by the Witch, is the finale of Into the Woods?

Children Will Listen brings the Witch back after she has vanished from the story, to warn that children take in whatever adults say and do, before one last 'Into the Woods'.

Instead of a fairy godmother, from whom does Cinderella get her gown in Into the Woods?

From her mother's spirit, speaking out of the tree at her grave, come the gown and golden slippers: the show follows the Grimms' version of the tale, not Perrault's.

Where did Into the Woods have its pre-Broadway try-out in December 1986?

The Old Globe Theatre, San Diego, got an unfinished show: songs were rewritten or dropped during the 50-performance run, and 'No One Is Alone' only went in partway through.

Who played the Witch in the original 1987 Broadway production of Into the Woods?

Bernadette Peters left the role after about five months, then came back for three performances in May 1989 so that the original cast could be filmed for television.

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

Joanna Gleason won as a leading actress at the Tonys, while the Drama Desk Awards honoured the very same performance in their featured category.

Which musical beat Into the Woods to Best Musical at the 1988 Tony Awards?

The Phantom of the Opera won seven Tonys that night, Best Musical among them, yet both writing awards, for score and for book, went to Into the Woods.

How do Cinderella's stepsisters try to make the slipper fit in Into the Woods?

They cut pieces off their feet, on their mother's orders, as in the Grimms' telling; the trick is found out, and only then is Cinderella allowed to try the shoe.

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

Dick Cavett held it for about two months in the summer of 1988, after which Tom Aldredge, who had created the part, came back to it.

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

Vanessa Williams played the Witch in a staging that won the Tony for Best Revival and put an actor in an elaborate costume to play Jack's cow.

Which song, written for the 1990 London production of Into the Woods, was added to the 2002 Broadway revival?

Our Little World, a tower duet for the Witch and Rapunzel, was not in the original Broadway score; added in London, it is now part of the version theatres license.

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

Amy Adams, who had not acted on stage for 13 years, took the part as a challenge she thought insurmountable, with only four weeks to rehearse.

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

Sara Bareilles went with the two-week Encores! staging to Broadway for what was billed as eight weeks; the run was extended again and again and lasted into January 2023.

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

Patina Miller, who had already sung the Witch at the Hollywood Bowl in 2019, replaced the Encores! Witch, Heather Headley, when the staging moved to Broadway.

Which future Ted Lasso star played the Witch in Into the Woods at London's Regent's Park in 2010?

Hannah Waddingham played the Witch on a set built among the park's own trees; the staging won an Olivier and was remounted in New York's Central Park two years later.

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

Terry Gilliam co-directed it with Leah Hausman; the staging had first been announced for London's Old Vic, which dropped it, and Bath took it in.

Who directed the 2014 Disney film of Into the Woods?

Rob Marshall first talked about filming it after Chicago, shelved it for a decade, and came back to it on hearing President Obama tell the families of 9/11 victims that no one is alone.

Who plays the Witch in the 2014 film of Into the Woods?

Meryl Streep had refused witch parts ever since she was offered three in the year she turned 40, and nothing else; she broke her own rule for this one.

Which actor plays the Wolf in the 2014 film of Into the Woods?

Johnny Depp plays the Wolf in a zoot suit and fedora that he helped design, taking the look from the wolves in Tex Avery's cartoons of the 1940s.

How does the 2014 film of Into the Woods change Rapunzel's fate?

She survives and flees with her prince in the film, whereas on stage the Giantess crushes her; her twins and the princes' second duet were dropped as well.

Which actress plays the Baker's Wife in the 2014 film of Into the Woods?

Emily Blunt was cast for her warmth, the director said, so that losing the character would hurt; she was pregnant during the shoot, and her costume kept having to be let out.

In which country was the 2014 film of Into the Woods shot?

England: Dover Castle stood in for the royal castle, and Tracey Ullman, who plays Jack's Mother, said the shoot used fields she had played in as a child.

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

Robin Williams read the Baker opposite Goldie Hawn, with Cher as the Witch, for a version Columbia was planning with Jim Henson's company; it was never made.

Which earlier musical first paired the writers of Into the Woods?

Sunday in the Park with George won them the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, yet lost the Tony for Best Musical to La Cage aux Folles; Into the Woods was their next show together.

Which British comedian plays the Baker in the 2014 Disney film of Into the Woods?

James Corden read the part at the workshop that won Disney over and expected to lose it to a bigger name, but the director had promised to take him along if the film was made.

In Into the Woods, what does Jack carry home from his first visit to the giants?

A sack of gold, from the trip he recounts in 'Giants in the Sky': he tries to buy back his cow with it, the Baker turns him down, and he climbs up again for more.

Which song does Little Red sing in Into the Woods after she is rescued from the Wolf?

'I Know Things Now' is Little Red's account of being swallowed and saved; at its end she hands the Baker the red cape he needs for the Witch.

How does the Witch punish Rapunzel for seeing a Prince in Into the Woods?

She cuts her hair and banishes her to a desert, and so loses her for good: Rapunzel has twins there, is found by her Prince, and will not come back.

Which Witch number replaced 'Boom Crunch!' before Into the Woods reached Broadway?

Last Midnight took its place after the 1986 try-out, but the cut song left a trace: the Witch still makes her exit on the words 'boom, crunch'.

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

Imelda Staunton won as the Baker's Wife, while the production itself lost Best New Musical to an older show by the same two writers that had only just reached London.

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

Judi Dench recorded the Giantess for Broadway in 2002 and again for London in 2010, and star voices followed her: Glenn Close in Central Park, Whoopi Goldberg at the Hollywood Bowl.

Which sitcom star played the Baker in the 2022 Encores! staging of Into the Woods?

Neil Patrick Harris played the two-week run at New York City Center but did not go with it to Broadway, where Brian d'Arcy James took over as the Baker.

Before filming Into the Woods, its director first hoped to adapt which two shows by the same composer?

Follies and Sweeney Todd were his first thoughts after Chicago; the composer told him 'I think Into the Woods is for you', and Sweeney Todd went to Tim Burton instead.

Besides two design nominations, which Oscar category recognised the 2014 film of Into the Woods?

Best Supporting Actress, for its Witch, who lost to Patricia Arquette of Boyhood; both design nominations lost to The Grand Budapest Hotel, so the film went home with nothing.