Having grown up with the Grimm Brother's and all sorts of fairy tales, this is the ultimatum that conquers all! Combining the vocal talents of Bernadette Peters, Joanna Gleason, Chip Zien and others with the dazzling power of Sondheim is an ingenious feat.Not only are the actors/actresses perfectly suited for the roll, the dynamics of each individual is designed almost in perfect unison with the singing part, costuming and development.The first half of the play is astounding! Reading Little Red Riding Hood, you would not be able to comprehend any resemblance or connection between Cinderella. The morals are not even the same, yet Stephen Sondheim some how allows Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel, Cinderella, The Baker and His Wife, Little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and other small (yet noticeable) fairy tales to intertwine and become so closely related that at the end, the Baker adopts Little Red Riding Hood and Jack and basically marries Cinderella. Anyways, back to the point, the first half of the play is the basic fairy tale with a curse and finding a cure and living "Happily Ever After." All seems peaceful and full of bliss, in fact, the "opera musical" could be only one half, but it would not be the same without the complexity of the second act.The second half of the production begins with complaining about how life is hard or not what they wished for, and so everyone once again seems to be unhappy...as the plot begins to become quite strange. The narrator is eaten, hence a plot vanishes. Chaos rains and everyone gangs up on each other because the Giantess has climbed down another bean stalk. It really throws the mind in for a whirl.This musical is one that every film lover should own. It is worth the buy and time to watch the 3 hours. Some people only watch the first half claiming the second is quite strange and odd, but I say the whole musical is a remarkable achievement of not only acting, but also dancing, singing, costuming, lighting, scenery and "awefying" delight!

This play was pretty good until act 2. Then things started getting weird. Many main characters die and certain affairs really cast some dark shadows on the thing. It would of been a great play for children if not for the second act. It really depressed me after I saw it. Ecsapalliy after the first act was so happy. It still didn't wrap up a few loose ends even after all that trouble to do so. Also I didn't like the way Jack kinda changed from the beginning of act two to the end. It still leaves a good message at the end though about children learning from you. One more thing they should of given more screen time to Rapunzel and her prince and made her seem like less of an airhead. I also think she should of kept her hair.

I've loved this since i was a kid. the concept is great and so are the songs. Placiong together stories and characters for various fairy tales and creating something completely new to me is just genius. Some of the characters are hilarious and others are really believable such as the wolf and Prince charming. The songs are also brilliantly written and performed. One of the main strengths of this show was that everybody could act well and sing better. My personal favourites are the two songs done by the two princes 'Agony'. And of course the song sung by the Wolf when hes planning his evil idea for Red Riding Hood, 'that kind of scrumptious delectable feast twice in one day...there's no possible way...to describe how you feel...when your talking to your meal!!!'. Anyway back to the original point this show is amazing and really worth watching, and also don't write it off as a silly kids show because most of the jokes and quirky remarks are written for adults.

"Into the Woods" never became the stuff of legend like "Hair" or "West Side Story", and it never became a commercial blockbuster like practically every Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. Perhaps this is because of its length--three hours, on average--perhaps because of the fairy-tales-go-to-hell subject matter. People don't usually like to see what happens after "happily ever after," but it's one of the most cogent and powerful lessons of "Into the Woods," the best of all Broadway musicals. It's comical, serious, joyous, poignant, mystical, accessible, you name it. It's got an intricate plot, complex and sympathetic characters, and the most rich and rapturous score ever to grace the professional stage. Thank you so much, Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine, for this wonderful gift.