INTO THE WOODS

Into the Woods
Brandman Productions /
American Playhouse, 1990, Color, 153 minutes, ****
Released March, 1991
Tony Award-winners Bernadette Peters (Best Actress - Sunday in the Park with George), Joanna Gleason (Best Actress - Into the Woods) and the rest of the original Broadway cast weave their magic spell in this masterful presentation of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's musical classic, Into the Woods, a seamless fusion of fairy tales that strike at the child's heart within us all.
A baker and his wife journey into the woods in search of a cow, a red cape, a pair of golden slippers and some magic beans - all necessary to lift the curse that has kept them childless. They meet up with a beguiling cast of characters that will leave you laughing out loud, fighting back tears and, ultimately, transformed by the whole experience. With oft-recorded songs such as "Children Will Listen" and "No One Is Alone," Into the Woods is a music lover's delight from start to finish - and will forever cement Stephen Sondheim's unparalleled position as the giant of the American musical theater. Stage production recorded for television and broadcast in 1991, this is Sondheim at his best. The story is funny, witty and lots of fun! Great music, great performances by the entire cast.
Executive Producer: Michael Brandman
Producer: Iris Merlis
Associate Producer: Wendy Cornell
Book and Direction by: James Lapine
Associate Director: Alan Skog
Music and Lyrics by: Stephen Sondheim
Orchestrations by: Jonathan Tunick
Musical Director and Conductor: Paul Gemignani
Original Lighting for the Stage Designed by: Richard Nelson
Television Lighting Designed by: Richard Nelson, Danny Franks
Settings Designed by: Tony Straiges
Costumes Designed by: Ann Hould-Ward
Costumes Based on Original Concepts by: Patricia Zipprodt, Ann Hould-Ward
Musical Staging by: Lar Lubovitch
Hair Design by: Phyllis Della Illien
Make-Up: Frances Kolar, Rosemary Zurlow, Michael Laudati
Audio: Mike Shoskes
Video: Mark Sanford
Editor: Girish Bhargava

Cast: Bernadette Peters [The Witch], Chip Zien [Baker], Joanna Gleason [Baker's Wife], Tom Aldredge [Narrator / Mysterious Man], Robert Westenberg [Wolf / Cinderella's Prince], Kim Crosby [Cinderella], Danielle Ferland [Little Red Riding Hood], Ben Wright [Jack], Barbara Bryne [Jack's Mother], Chuck Wagner [Rapunzel's Prince], Pamela Winslow [Rapunzel], Merle Louise [Grandmother / Cinderella's Mother / Giant], Philip Hoffman [Steward], Lauren Mitchell [Lucinda] Kay McClelland [Florinda], Joy Franz [Cinderella's Stepmother], Edmund Lyndeck [Cinderella's Father], Cindy Robinson [Snow White], Sleeping Beauty [Maureen Davis]

Musical Program: [0:01] Prologue (performed by The Company); [0:04] Into the Woods (sung by Little Red Riding Hood); [0:05] Fly, Birds, Back to the Sky! (sung by Cinderella); [0:11] Jack, Jack, Jack, Head in a Stack (sung by Jack's mother); [0:12] You Wish to Have the Curse Reversed? (performed by the Witch); [0:13] Ladies, Our Carriage Waits (sung by the Stepsisters and Father); [0:13] The Spell Is on My House! (sung by the Baker and his wife); [0:16] Cinderella at the Grave (sung by Cinderella and her mother); [0:19] Hello, Little Girl (sung by the Wolf); [0:24] I Guess This Is Goodbye (sung by Jack); [0:25] Maybe They're Magic (sung by Baker's wife); [0:31] I Know Things Now (sung by Little Red Riding Hood); [0:35] A Very Nice Prince (performed by Cinderella and Baker's wife); [0:37] First Midnight (performed by The Company); [0:38] Giants in the Sky (sung by Jack); [0:45] Agony (sung by Cinderella's Prince and Rapunzel's Prince); [0:53] It Takes Two (sung by the Baker ahd his wife); [0:57] Two Midnights Gone (performed by The Company); [0:58] Stay with Me (sung by the Witch); [1:04] On the Steps of the Palace (sung by Cinderella); [1:19] Ever After (performed by The Company); [1:21] Intermission; [1:23] So Happy (sung by The Company); [1:32] Into the Woods (reprised by the Baker and His Wife, Jack and Little Red Riding Hood); [1:34] Agony (sung by Cinderella's Prince and Rapunzel's Prince); [1:44] Lament (sung by the Witch); [1:49] Any Moment (sung by Cinderella's Prince); [1:53] Moments in the Woods (sung by the Baker's wife); [1:58] Your Fault (performed by Jack, the Baker, the Witch, Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella); [2:00] Last Midnight (sung by the Witch); [2:05] No More (sung by the Baker and his father); [2:15] No One Is Alone (sung by Cinderella and the Baker, Jack and Little Red Riding Hood); [2:21] Finale: includes reprisals of "No One Is Alone," "Children Will Listen," "Into the Woods" (performed by The Company)