Learn How Into the Woods Began, Who Got Married, the Line Sondheim Stole and How the Witch Transformed

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22 Jun 2015

Into the woods they went again: Stephen Sondheim, James Lapine and a cast of legends theatre folk could only dream up in a fairytale (or four, in Into the Woods' case). But, this time the enchanted forest was located in Brooklyn — for one day only — June 21 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

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Journalist and actor Mo Rocca moderated the Into the Woods reunion, claiming he was both "excited and scared" for what was ahead — a joke that brought Into the Woods enthusiasts (which filled the Brooklyn music hall) to laugher, applause and a standing ovation.

Lapine and Sondheim took the stage to join Rocca and sat in chairs set Stage Left to tell their own fairytale: how the 1987 Tony Award-winning musical Into the Woods became one of the most beloved theatrical pieces of their generation.

James Lapine, Bernadette Peters, Stephen Sondheim and Mo Rocca
Photo by Richard Termine

"We wanted to do another show together," they both explained. The duo had previously collaborated on Broadway's Sunday in the Park With George, which also starred some of their Woods cast — among them were Bernadette Peters, Danielle Ferland and Robert Westenberg, who were at Sunday's reunion.

Lapine was intrigued to write a fairytale, and Sondheim longed to tell a quest story. In their "quest" to creation, Lapine found that writing a fairytale from scratch was difficult and that the individual classics were all too brief for a full-length musical. But, to weave the stories of Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and Cinderella with a childless Baker and his wife — interconnected by a Witch who told life's hard truths — provided a challenge. The concept came from a previous TV idea that was scrapped, in which Sondheim and Lapine imagined their favorite television characters meeting each other in a hospital waiting room. (When Sondheim and Lapine were asked to complete a screenplay for it, they moved on instead of moving forward).

When Lapine presented the epic, interwoven fairytale saga to Sondheim, he said, "You'll never be able to musicalize this," which "naturally" prompted the songwriter to accept the challenge.

Sondheim credits Lapine with one of the greatest re-envisionings of a classic: Cinderella's conscious decision to leave behind her slipper, instead of it accidentally falling off in her haste. Sondheim explained that the concept was completely original and gave new depths to the princess-in-the-making.

The first to join in on the conversation were Chip Zien and Joanna Gleason, the show's Baker and Tony-winning Baker's Wife. Prior to Woods, Zien had been involved in the San Diego production of Sondheim and George Furth's Merrily We Roll Along, which was undergoing changes from its short-lived Broadway run, and wanted to continue its re-development.

Chip Zien and Joanna Gleason
Photo by Richard Termine

When he was approached with Into the Woods, Zien said, "That's nice, but I want to do Merrily!" However, after an initial reading in which Zien claimed he read Cinderella's Prince (no else one seems to remember which role he read for, except Ferland), he had his eye on the Baker.

Gleason auditioned for her role, and during her audition she sang a ballad (although they were looking for an uptempo) because it was the only thing she could offer. When she was asked if she had something more upbeat, she said, "No, but I can sing this one faster" — which she did.

She booked it — and thankfully so! If it were not for Gleason, the line, "This is ridiculous. What am I doing here? I'm in the wrong story!" may not exist. When Gleason was consulting Sondheim about her character's tryst in the woods with the Prince over the phone, she admitted that she was confused and felt like she was in the wrong story. Sondheim stopped her and said that he was going to write that line into the show — the "only" line he ever stole from an actor.

Zien and Gleason performed "It Takes Two" before Zien offered "No More," singing both parts to honor the late Tom Aldredge, who played the Narrator. Kim Crosby, who originated the role of Cinderella, was next to take the stage; she sang "On the Steps of the Palace."

Continued...

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