Ep. 48: Into the Woods - Act II

Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and Theatre

"Once upon a time... later..."
This week, Drew and Cassie are joined by Cassie's brother, Matthew, to explore the deconstruction of fairy tales in Act II of Into the Woods. In Act I, the Baker and his Wife collected the cow as white as milk, the cape as red blood, the hair as yellow as corn, and the slipper as pure as gold. They successfully lifted the curse on their house and now they have a baby, as they've wished for so long. Now, they are living "happily ever after," as are Cinderella, Jack, Little Red Riding Hood, and our other characters... or are they? Act II explores the consequences of the characters' actions in Act I in a fresh, new way. We dig in deep, discussing the complexity of Stephen Sondheim's score, the "bean theme," the many parallels between Act I and Act II, the Baker/Cinderella ship, the Jack/Little Red ship, the word "nice," some of the changes made before the show opened on Broadway, more "realization songs," dwarfs vs. dwarves, and much more that we can't reveal without getting too spoilery! What is Cassie's mysterious childhood memory of Act II? Which role was Matthew going to play in Drew's dream childhood backyard production of Into the Woods? What fascinating insights will Matthew offer regarding the Granny/Giant double casting? You'll have to listen to find out!
Throughout the episode, we reference the following productions of Into the Woods. As always, we recommend watching before listening to the episode, but you definitely don’t need to watch all of these! The original Broadway production is the one to watch for sure!
- The 1987 original Broadway production, professionally filmed in 1989 (available on Broadway HD), starring Bernadette Peters as the Witch, Chip Zien as the Baker, Joanna Gleason as the Baker's Wife, Tom Aldredge as the Narrator/Mysterious Man, and Kim Crosby as Cinderella
- The 2002 Broadway Revival production, starring Vanessa Williams as the Witch, Stephen DeRosa as the Baker, Kerry O'Malley as the Baker's Wife, John McMartin as the Narrator/Mysterious Man, and Laura Benanti as Cinderella
- The 2010 West End Regent's Park production (available on Broadway HD), starring Hannah Waddingham as the Witch, Mark Hadfield as the Baker, Jenna Russell as the Baker's Wife, Billy Boyle as the Mysterious Man, and Helen Dallimore as Cinderella
- The 2012 Central Park production, an American recreation of the West End Regent's Park production, starring Donna Murphy as the Witch, Denis O'Hare as the Baker, Amy Adams as Cinderella, Chip Zien as the Mysterious Man, and Jessie Mueller as Cinderella
- The 2019 Hollywood Bowl production, starring Patina Miller as the Witch, Skyler Astin as the Baker, Sutton Foster as the Baker's Wife, Anthony Crivello as the Mysterious Man, and Sierra Boggess as Cinderella
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Music: Through The Woods by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com