Thursday’s Tale: Into the Woods

Today’s tale is a little different than my recent posts. Last weekend, the three of us and my mom went to see Into the Woods at the Brooke Hills Playhouse. What a fun re-telling of some of the classic fairy tales. If you’re interested and local, it’s on again this weekend. Times and ticket prices are listed on the website.

The musical, with lyrics and music by Steven Sondheim and book by James Lapin, opens with four characters, each of whom have a wish: Cinderella, who wishes to attend the King’s festival; Jack, a simple young man who wishes that his cow would give milk; and the Baker and his Wife, who wish they could have a child. While Little Red Riding Hood buys bread from the Baker to take to her grandmother’s house, Jack’s weary mother nags him into selling the cow, and Cinderella’s stepmother and sisters tease her about wanting to attend the King’s festival.

The Baker’s neighbor, an ugly old Witch, reveals the source of the couple’s infertility is a curse she placed on the Baker’s line. In addition to the curse, the Witch took the Baker’s father’s newborn child, Rapunzel. The curse will be lifted if the Baker and his Wife can find the four ingredients that the Witch needs for a certain potion — “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”, all before the chime of Midnight in three days’ time. All begin their journeys into the woods — Jack to sell his cow at market, Cinderella’s family to the Festival, Cinderella to her mother’s grave to ask for guidance, Red Riding Hood to her Grandmother’s house, and the Baker to find the ingredients.

All the stories progress as to be expected during the first half of the play. It was neat to see them using the Cinderella and Rapunzel versions I looked at a while back, not the Disneyfied versions. Amber, I think, I appreciated it too, because I had told her how rather nasty the fairy tales really were. The second half of the musical veers from the original stories though. I guess that’s what happens when you let the narrator get killed by a giant.

Definitely a fun musical to watch. And I always enjoy going to the barn to see shows. It’s just so summery and the company always does a good job.

Will you be seeing any shows soon?

Thursday’s Tales is a weekly event here at Carol’s Notebook. I would love it if you joined me. Fairy tales, folktales, tall tales, even re-tellings, share with us. If you have a link, please include it in your comment.