Stage to PageCelebrate Into the Woods With a Look Back at 3 Decades of the Beloved ShowThe musical from Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine opened November 5, 1987, at the Martin Beck Theatre.
Once upon a time, 32 years ago on November 5, 1987, Stephen Sondheim's elaborate interweaving of fairy tales, Into the Woods, opened at the Martin Beck Theatre on Broadway. The famous score includes “No One Is Alone,” “Children Will Listen,” and the show's title song.
With a book and direction by James Lapine, the cast included Bernadette Peters, Joanna Gleason (who won a Tony Award for her role), Chip Zien, Kim Crosby, Danielle Ferland, Robert Westenberg, and more.
Since Into the Woods opened on Broadway in 1987 (with a Tony-winning run of 765 performances), the performances of the original cast have been preserved on film; the musical has received three New York revivals, including one on Broadway; and the show has been turned into an Academy Award-nominated feature film. Now a mainstay of regional theatres, summer stock companies, community theatres, and high schools, look back at 33 years of Into the Woods in the gallery below!
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A Look Back at 3 Decades of Into the Woods
A Look Back at 3 Decades of Into the Woods
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Stephen Sondheim, Bernadette Peters and James Lapine in rehearsal for the original Broadway production
Danielle Ferland in the original Broadway production
Bernadette Peters, Tom Aldredge, Robert Westenberg, Joanna Gleason and Chip Zien in the original Broadway production
Barbara Bryne
The original Broadway production
Robert Westenberg and Joanna Gleason
Nancy Dussault in the original Broadway production
Phylicia Rashad in the original Broadway production
Cynthia Sikes, Nancy Dussault and Chip Zien in the original Broadway production
Betsy Joslyn, Chip Zien and Mary Gordon Murray in the original Broadway production
Chip Zien, Betsy Joslyn and Mary Gordon Murray in the original Broadway production
Cynthia Sikes and Chip Zien in the original Broadway production
Joy Franz, Kim Crosby, Lauren Mitchell, Kay McClelland, and Philip Hoffman
Cynthia Sikes and Robert Westenberg in the original Broadway production
Brian d'Arcy James, Daniel Frank Kelley, Tracy Katz Paladini and Patricia Ben Peterson in a 2000 production at the Ordway in Minnesota
Laura Benanti in the 2002 Broadway revival
Kerry O'Malley, Stephen DeRosa and Vanessa Williams in the 2002 Broadway revival
The cast of the 2002 Broadway revival
Gregg Edelman and Christopher Sieber in the 2002 Broadway revival
Gregg Edelman and Christopher Sieber in the 2002 Broadway revival
Vanessa Williams in the 2002 Broadway revival
Melissa Dye and Vanessa Williams in the 2002 Broadway revival
John McMartin in the 2002 Broadway revival
Derrick Cobey and Erin Childs in a 2008 production at the Great Lakes Theater Festival
The cast of the Great Lakes Theater Festival production, 2008
Yvette Cason
Jeffry Denman and Vicki Lewis
Kim Huber
Jeffry Denman, Vicki Lewis and Yvette Cason
Gordon Goodman and Jason Forbach
Euan Morton and Zachary Hoar
Michele Ragusa and Lauren Braton
Dana Steingold and Claybourne Elder
Brynn O’Malley, Zachary Prince and Michele Ragusa
Katie Karel, Lauren Worsham and Katie Kalahurka
Euan Morton
Claybourne Elder and Brynn O’Malley
The cast of Into the Woods
Beth Leavel
Sara Jean Ford
Jen Cody and Kevin Earley
Brynn O’Malley
Hunter Foster, Brynn O’Malley and Beth Leavel
Stanley Bahorek
Hunter Foster and Brynn O’Malley
The cast of Into the Woods
Douglas Jabara, Rachel York and Shannon Lee Jones
Rachel York
Greg Stone
The cast of Into the Woods
Hannah Waddingham
Helen Dallimore and Jenna Russell
Jenna Russell and Mark Hadfield
Hannah Waddingham
Michael Xavier and Beverly Rudd
Jeffry Denman in the 2012 Baltimore Center Stage-Westport Country Playhouse co-production
Jenny Latimer and Danielle Ferland in the 2012 Baltimore Center Stage-Westport Country Playhouse co-production
Lauren Kennedy and Britney Coleman in the 2012 Baltimore Center Stage-Westport Country Playhouse co-production
Alma Cuervo, Eleni Deopoulos and Nikka Graff Lanzarone in the 2012 Baltimore Center Stage-Westport Country Playhouse co-production
Justin Scott Brown and Dana Steingold in the 2012 Baltimore Center Stage-Westport Country Playhouse co-production
Lauren Kennedy in the 2012 Baltimore Center Stage-Westport Country Playhouse co-production
Nik Walker, Jenny Latimer, Jeffry Denman, Danielle Ferland and Erik Liberman in the 2012 Baltimore Center Stage-Westport Country Playhouse co-production
Sarah Stiles and Ivan Hernandez in the Shakespeare in the Park production
Amy Adams and Denis O'Hare in the Shakespeare in the Park production
Ivan Hernandez and Jessie Mueller in the Shakespeare in the Park production
Denis O'Hare, Noah Radcliffe and Donna Murphy in the Shakespeare in the Park production
The cast of Into the Woods at Shakespeare in the Park
In anticipation of the upcoming release of the long-awaited Disney screen adaptation of the Tony Award-winning musical Into the Woods, Playbill.com reached out to the cast of the original Broadway production, who shared their memories from rehearsals to performance, including the creation of "No One Is Alone," candid backstage stories and standout moments with Stephen Sondheim.
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.
What was the Witch's big song before "The Last Midnight" was written? What happened to the Baker's Wife in the very first production? Learn how Into the Woods changed from its premiere performance on stage to the Disney motion picture.