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* BlindWithoutEm: The giant was nearsighted and lost her glasses, leading to deadly results.
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* {{Hypocrite}}: The Witch. She participates in the song "Your Fault", but then when the ultimate blame falls on her, she accuses them of only caring about the blame ("Last Midnight").
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* ElevenOClockNumber: "Your Fault/Last Midnight."
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* EnsembleCast: Though some characters do get more stage time than others, the plot does not revolve around a singular protagonist and many get approximately equal stage time.
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Changed line(s) 91,92 (click to see context) from:
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: The Baker and his wife, the Steward and, of course, the Narrator.
** The princes, as well, are only referred to by their title, and which character they're associated with.
** The princes, as well, are only referred to by their title, and which character they're associated with.
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* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: The Baker and his wife, Of the Steward and, of course, many characters in the Narrator.
** The princes, as well, areshow, only Cinderella, Rapunzel and Jack get actual names. The stepsisters are given the names "Florinda" and "Lucinda" in the script, but are never referred to by their title, and which character they're associated with.as such in the actual dialogue.
** The princes, as well, are
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* [[PlayingATree Playing A Cow]]: Since the 2002 revival, Milky White has been played by a live actor in many productions. The results range from TearJerker to SoBadItsHorrible to CrowningMomentOfFunny.
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* [[PlayingATree Playing A Cow]]: Since the 2002 revival, Milky White has been played by a live actor in many productions. The results range from TearJerker to SoBadItsHorrible TearJerker to CrowningMomentOfFunny.
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In the first act, a baker and his wife who desperately want a child are told by the witch who cursed their family with infertility that she'll lift the spell if they do something for her first. She sends them on a quest that takes them in and out of the other stories, collecting Cinderella's slipper, Jack's cow, the little red riding hood, and some of Rapunzel's hair. There's also a mysterious old man who appears from time to time, trying to help the quest along for reasons of his own. After a certain amount of deception, theft, and murder -- you remember how these stories go, right? -- everybody gets what they were wishing for at the beginning, and there's a big song-and-dance number about living happily ever after.
Then in the ''second'' act, [[FromBadToWorse everybody has to grow up and face the consequences of their actions.]]
Then in the ''second'' act, [[FromBadToWorse everybody has to grow up and face the consequences of their actions.]]
to:
In the first act, a baker and his wife who desperately want a child are told by the witch who cursed their family with infertility that she'll lift the spell if they do something for her first. She sends them on a quest that takes them in and out of the other stories, collecting Cinderella's slipper, Jack's cow, the little red Little Red Riding Hood's...riding hood, and some of Rapunzel's hair. There's also a mysterious old man who appears from time to time, trying to help the quest along for reasons of his own. After a certain amount of deception, theft, and murder -- you remember how these stories go, right? -- everybody gets what they were wishing for at the beginning, and there's a big song-and-dance number about living how they will all live happily ever after.
Thenin comes the ''second'' act, where [[FromBadToWorse everybody has to grow up and face the consequences of their actions.]]
Then
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Fixed a formatting error
Changed line(s) 108 (click to see context) from:
* GhostSong: Twice: "No More" and the brief reprise of "No One Is Alone" by [[spoiler: The Baker's Wife]] before "Children Will Listen".* GreyAndGrayMorality: Pointed out in act 2. The giantess that was causing so much destruction was rightly furious at Jack, and the chaos and carnage she caused was largely accidental. The characters spend a scene or two contemplating just who is the villain anymore. Probably best summed up in "You Are Not Alone":
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* GhostSong: Twice: "No More" and the brief reprise of "No One Is Alone" by [[spoiler: The Baker's Wife]] before "Children Will Listen".Listen".
* GreyAndGrayMorality: Pointed out in act 2. The giantess that was causing so much destruction was rightly furious at Jack, and the chaos and carnage she caused was largely accidental. The characters spend a scene or two contemplating just who is the villain anymore. Probably best summed up in "You Are Not Alone":
* GreyAndGrayMorality: Pointed out in act 2. The giantess that was causing so much destruction was rightly furious at Jack, and the chaos and carnage she caused was largely accidental. The characters spend a scene or two contemplating just who is the villain anymore. Probably best summed up in "You Are Not Alone":
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* TwiceToldTale: The show will be massively confusing to anyone who doesn't know the original fairy tales; fortunately, just about anyone who watches is will know them from their childhood.
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Shallow Love Interest is now Satellite Love Interest. Removing misuse, zero context example and complaining
Changed line(s) 197 (click to see context) from:
* TheSoprano: Averted (mostly) with both Cinderella and Rapunzel, at least by the second act -- they both have quite a bit of [[TheIngenue ingenue]] about them, but neither of them is a PuritySue or ShallowLoveInterest.
to:
* TheSoprano: Averted (mostly) with both Cinderella and Rapunzel, at least by the second act -- they both have quite a bit of [[TheIngenue ingenue]] about them, but neither of them is a PuritySue or ShallowLoveInterest.SatelliteLoveInterest.
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Changed line(s) 183 (click to see context) from:
* [[PlayingATree Playing A Cow]]: Since the 2002 revival, Milky White has been played by a live actor in many productions. The results range from TearJerker to SoBadItsAwful to CrowningMomentOfFunny.
to:
* [[PlayingATree Playing A Cow]]: Since the 2002 revival, Milky White has been played by a live actor in many productions. The results range from TearJerker to SoBadItsAwful SoBadItsHorrible to CrowningMomentOfFunny.
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Changed line(s) 108 (click to see context) from:
* GreyAndGrayMorality: Pointed out in act 2. The giantess that was causing so much destruction was rightly furious at Jack, and the chaos and carnage she caused was largely accidental. The characters spend a scene or two contemplating just who is the villain anymore. Probably best summed up in "You Are Not Alone":
to:
* GhostSong: Twice: "No More" and the brief reprise of "No One Is Alone" by [[spoiler: The Baker's Wife]] before "Children Will Listen".* GreyAndGrayMorality: Pointed out in act 2. The giantess that was causing so much destruction was rightly furious at Jack, and the chaos and carnage she caused was largely accidental. The characters spend a scene or two contemplating just who is the villain anymore. Probably best summed up in "You Are Not Alone":
* GrammarNazi: A sadly oft-missed joke, Rapunzel's Prince points out that the plural of "Dwarf" is, in fact, "Dwarfs," not "Dwarves."
Deleted line(s) 112 (click to see context) :
* GhostSong: Twice: "No More" and the brief reprise of "No One Is Alone" by [[spoiler: The Baker's Wife]] before "Children Will Listen".
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* [[PlayingATree Playing A Cow]]: Since the 2002 revival, Milky White has been played by a live actor in many productions. The results range from TearJerker to SoBadItsAwful to CrowningMomentOfFunny.
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Changed line(s) 148 (click to see context) from:
* LittleRedFightingHood: [[HeroicSociopath R]][[MeaningfulName e]][[CharacterDevelopment d]]
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* LittleRedFightingHood: [[HeroicSociopath R]][[MeaningfulName e]][[CharacterDevelopment d]]LittleRedFightingHood
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* CutSong: "Giants in the Sky", "On the Steps of the Palace", and "Last Midnight" were all replacements for less appropriate songs written earlier. There was also a song called "The Plan" that was cut.
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* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: In "Moments in the Woods", the Baker's Wife sings "I'm in the wrong story". According to WordOfGod, Sondhiem added this line after he realized that the story of the baker and his wife feels much more contemporary than the others. The actor that played the Baker's Wife felt like her character was in the wrong story, and so did Sondhiem. He felt like this needed acknowledgement.
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*** Additionally, when Cinderella's prince and the Stewardess meet the Baker's Wife and she lies about Cinderella's whereabouts, Cinderella's Prince can be seen glancing back at the Baker's Wife in many productions.
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** [[spoiler: Well, the latter is up for interpretation. It could also be interpreted that she didn't purposely kill herself, and that she was so caught up in the moment that she didn't remember that her mother would punish her.]]
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* HypocriticalHumor: At the end of Act 2, Little Red says to Cinderella, "[[LampshadeHanging You can talk to birds?]]". This is effective and funny… [[FridgeLogic until you realize that Little Red had an entire conversation with a wolf in Act 1.]]
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* LampshadeHanging: Little Red to Cinderella in the end of act two: "You can talk to birds?"
** Every time someone meets Rapunzel, they feel the need to point out how much of a strange name they have.
** Every time someone meets Rapunzel, they feel the need to point out how much of a strange name they have.
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Hair Of Gold has been renamed to Hair Of Gold Heart Of Gold as per this thread
due to being miused for any character with blonde hair regardless if they fit the personality traits required (innocent, pure of heart, good, beautiful, young) . Zero Context Examples, shoehorns, and examples with insufficient context will be removed
due to being miused for any character with blonde hair regardless if they fit the personality traits required (innocent, pure of heart, good, beautiful, young) . Zero Context Examples, shoehorns, and examples with insufficient context will be removedDeleted line(s) 110 (click to see context) :
* HairOfGold: Although technically, it's as yellow as corn.
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Then in the ''second'' act, [[ItGotWorse everybody has to grow up and face the consequences of their actions.]]
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Then in the ''second'' act, [[ItGotWorse [[FromBadToWorse everybody has to grow up and face the consequences of their actions.]]
Changed line(s) 87 (click to see context) from:
* DumbBlonde: Cinderella's stepsisters. Rapunzel also show elements of this in act one. By act two she's [[ItGotWorse fallen apart somewhat.]]
to:
* DumbBlonde: Cinderella's stepsisters. Rapunzel also show elements of this in act one. By act two she's [[ItGotWorse fallen apart somewhat.]]
* FromBadToWorse: The second act, particularly with the death of [[spoiler: the Narrator]], immediately after which [[spoiler: Rapunzel and Jack's Mother also die, and the Baker and his wife exchange angry last words to each other]].
Deleted line(s) 122 (click to see context) :
* ItGotWorse: The second act, particularly with the death of [[spoiler: the Narrator]], immediately after which [[spoiler: Rapunzel and Jack's Mother also die, and the Baker and his wife exchange angry last words to each other]].
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In early 2012, it was announced that [[{{Creator/Disney}} Walt Disney Pictures]] had acquired the film rights, placing Rob Marshall (''Film/{{Chicago}}'' and ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbean 4'') into the director's chair.
to:
In early 2012, it was announced that [[{{Creator/Disney}} Walt Disney Pictures]] had acquired the film rights, placing Rob Marshall (''Film/{{Chicago}}'' and ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbean ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean 4'') into the director's chair.
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In early 2012, it was announced that WaltDisneyPictures had acquired the film rights, placing Rob Marshall (''Film/{{Chicago}}'' and ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbean 4'') into the director's chair.
to:
In early 2012, it was announced that WaltDisneyPictures [[{{Creator/Disney}} Walt Disney Pictures]] had acquired the film rights, placing Rob Marshall (''Film/{{Chicago}}'' and ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbean 4'') into the director's chair.
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** The princes, as well, are only referred to by their title, and which character they're associated with.
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* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot
** [[spoiler:When the characters try to [[BreakingTheFourthWall offer the Narrator]] to the Giantess as a sacrifice, the Narrator reminds them that the story would be lost if he was obliterated. Regardless of this, however, the Witch gives the Narrator to the Giantess anyway, and as soon as the Giantess sees that the Narrator isn't Jack, the Narrator is dropped from the Giantess' hand and killed. Possibly concerned of the subsequent events of the story without the Narrator, the Baker's Wife points out: "We might have thought of something else."]]
** Though a more or less justifiable example would be after the Witch lays a major [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech Reason You Suck Song]] on Cinderella, Jack, Little Red Riding Hood, and the Baker pointing out what their actions from Act I have gotten them into:
-->'''Jack:''' Maybe I shouldn't have stolen from the Giant.\\
'''Little Red Riding Hood:''' Maybe I shouldn't have strayed from the path.\\
'''Cinderella:''' Maybe I shouldn't have attended the ball.\\
'''Baker:''' [[HypocriticalHumor Yes, maybe you shouldn't have.]]
** [[spoiler:When the characters try to [[BreakingTheFourthWall offer the Narrator]] to the Giantess as a sacrifice, the Narrator reminds them that the story would be lost if he was obliterated. Regardless of this, however, the Witch gives the Narrator to the Giantess anyway, and as soon as the Giantess sees that the Narrator isn't Jack, the Narrator is dropped from the Giantess' hand and killed. Possibly concerned of the subsequent events of the story without the Narrator, the Baker's Wife points out: "We might have thought of something else."]]
** Though a more or less justifiable example would be after the Witch lays a major [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech Reason You Suck Song]] on Cinderella, Jack, Little Red Riding Hood, and the Baker pointing out what their actions from Act I have gotten them into:
-->'''Jack:''' Maybe I shouldn't have stolen from the Giant.\\
'''Little Red Riding Hood:''' Maybe I shouldn't have strayed from the path.\\
'''Cinderella:''' Maybe I shouldn't have attended the ball.\\
'''Baker:''' [[HypocriticalHumor Yes, maybe you shouldn't have.]]
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Fixed this. :U
Changed line(s) 78 (click to see context) from:
* Dramatic Irony: When the Baker meets Cinderella in Act 2, he assumes that the Prince is off seducing a woman instead of trying to stop the Giant. [[spoiler:Turns out he is and that woman is the Baker's wife!]]
to:
* Dramatic Irony: DramaticIrony: When the Baker meets Cinderella in Act 2, he assumes that the Prince is off seducing a woman instead of trying to stop the Giant. [[spoiler:Turns out he is and that woman is the Baker's wife!]]
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misuse of renamed trope (Could Have Avoided This Plot)
Deleted line(s) 201,207 (click to see context) :
* WeCouldHaveAvoidedAllThis
** [[spoiler:When the characters try to [[BreakingTheFourthWall offer the Narrator]] to the Giantess as a sacrifice, the Narrator reminds them that the story would be lost if he was obliterated. Regardless of this, however, the Witch gives the Narrator to the Giantess anyway, and as soon as the Giantess sees that the Narrator isn't Jack, the Narrator is dropped from the Giantess' hand and killed. Possibly concerned of the subsequent events of the story without the Narrator, the Baker's Wife points out: "We might have thought of something else."]]
** Though a more or less justifiable example would be after the Witch lays a major [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech Reason You Suck Song]] on Cinderella, Jack, Little Red Riding Hood, and the Baker pointing out what their actions from Act I have gotten them into:
-->'''Jack:''' Maybe I shouldn't have stolen from the Giant.\\
'''Little Red Riding Hood:''' Maybe I shouldn't have strayed from the path.\\
'''Cinderella:''' Maybe I shouldn't have attended the ball.\\
'''Baker:''' [[HypocriticalHumor Yes, maybe you shouldn't have.]]
** [[spoiler:When the characters try to [[BreakingTheFourthWall offer the Narrator]] to the Giantess as a sacrifice, the Narrator reminds them that the story would be lost if he was obliterated. Regardless of this, however, the Witch gives the Narrator to the Giantess anyway, and as soon as the Giantess sees that the Narrator isn't Jack, the Narrator is dropped from the Giantess' hand and killed. Possibly concerned of the subsequent events of the story without the Narrator, the Baker's Wife points out: "We might have thought of something else."]]
** Though a more or less justifiable example would be after the Witch lays a major [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech Reason You Suck Song]] on Cinderella, Jack, Little Red Riding Hood, and the Baker pointing out what their actions from Act I have gotten them into:
-->'''Jack:''' Maybe I shouldn't have stolen from the Giant.\\
'''Little Red Riding Hood:''' Maybe I shouldn't have strayed from the path.\\
'''Cinderella:''' Maybe I shouldn't have attended the ball.\\
'''Baker:''' [[HypocriticalHumor Yes, maybe you shouldn't have.]]
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* [[spoiler:DidNotDieThatWay]]: the baker believes that his parents died in a "baking accident". This is [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] by the narrator who shrugs in confusion, implying "Hey, I just say what I'm told to." As it turns out, [[spoiler:his mother died on the day Rapunzel was born, and his father ran off, too cowardly to face his son]]. Baking was not involved at all.
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* CuteClumsyGirl: Cinderella while wearing the gold slippers--they're terrible to walk in.
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Moving to Namespace.
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[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/into_the_woods_graphic.jpg]]
->''"[[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor I wish...]]"''
'''''Into the Woods''''' is a Musical by James Lapine and Creator/StephenSondheim that weaves together the {{fairy tale}}s of ''Literature/{{Cinderella}}'', ''Literature/JackAndTheBeanstalk'', ''Literature/LittleRedRidingHood'', and ''Literature/{{Rapunzel}}''.
In the first act, a baker and his wife who desperately want a child are told by the witch who cursed their family with infertility that she'll lift the spell if they do something for her first. She sends them on a quest that takes them in and out of the other stories, collecting Cinderella's slipper, Jack's cow, the little red riding hood, and some of Rapunzel's hair. There's also a mysterious old man who appears from time to time, trying to help the quest along for reasons of his own. After a certain amount of deception, theft, and murder -- you remember how these stories go, right? -- everybody gets what they were wishing for at the beginning, and there's a big song-and-dance number about living happily ever after.
Then in the ''second'' act, [[ItGotWorse everybody has to grow up and face the consequences of their actions.]]
The show is one of Sondheim's most famous, alongside ''Theatre/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet'' and ''{{Company}}''. In the year dominated by ''ThePhantomOfTheOpera'', it was able to snag three Tony Awards, for Best Score, Best Book, and Best Leading Actress (Joanna Gleason as the Baker's Wife). The original Broadway production has since been followed by a notably contentious revival in 2002, as well as numerous productions across the country at everywhere from the regional to the high school drama level.
Many people are most familiar with the excellent version filmed by PBS under its ''American Playhouse'' banner in 1991 and subsequently released on home video; this was based on the original Broadway production and had most of the same cast.
In early 2012, it was announced that WaltDisneyPictures had acquired the film rights, placing Rob Marshall (''Film/{{Chicago}}'' and ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbean 4'') into the director's chair.
Now has a [[Characters/IntoTheWoods character sheet]].
----
!!''Into the Woods'' provides examples of the following tropes:
* ActingForTwo
** According to OriginalCastPrecedent, the Narrator and the Mysterious Man are played by the same actor. Same goes for Cinderella's Prince and the Wolf, as well as Cinderella's Mother and the Giantess ''and'' Granny. Usually played in an AndYouWereThere fashion, at least for the first two actors.
** In the Broadway revival, Cinderella's Mother was played by a recording of Cinderella's own actress.
* AfraidOfBlood: Cinderella's Prince.
-->"Yes but even one prick, it's my thing about blood!"
* AlcoholicParent: Cinderella's Father: "The closer to the family, the closer to the wine."
* AllForNothing: The second act does this to the first act. Especially for [[spoiler:the Baker.]]
* AndYouWereThere: Depending on the production, some characters with similar traits are played by the same actor. See ActingForTwo above.
* AntiVillain
** The Witch
** Also the Giantess. Let's face it: her charges against Jack have a lot of justice to them.
* AnyoneCanDie: Played to the extreme when they kill off the least likely character of all... [[spoiler:the Narrator.]]
* ArcWords: No specific phrase, but count the number of times they say "children", "giant(s)", "witch(es)", "wish(es)", "wolves", "spell(s)", "right", and "wrong" just in a generic context.
** "I wish" is always sung the exact same way, with the same two notes.
** Also the words "nice" and "good" -- particularly in lines sung by Cinderella and Little Red.
* AuthorExistenceFailure: A meta version: [[spoiler:the characters freak out after the narrator is killed as he was "the only one who knew how the story went."]]
* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler: Milky White]]
* BadBadActing: The Baker's Wife when she tries to get Jack to trade/buy the magic beans for the cow. "Oh... Oh! Oh no, we ''mustn't'' give up our beans!"
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: "Wishes come true, not free."
* BittersweetEnding
* BlameGame
* {{Bowdlerise}}: A [[http://www.mtishows.com/show_detail.asp?showid=000189 "Junior"]] version of this show is available from the company that licenses the full-length version for community theaters and schools. The entire second act is cut out. Justified in that the target demographic for the junior version is elementary school students. Not to mention that the play would end up running for hours if they kept Act Two in. The show is still performed in its entirety in middle and high school productions.
* BreakingTheFourthWall: [[spoiler:They pull the narrator into the play and then kill him.]]
* TheCasanova: Both Princes.
* CatchphraseInterruptus: The Mysterious Man's enigmatic introduction, the final time he offers it; overlaps with RuleOfThree.
* ChangedMyMindKid: [[spoiler:The Baker, at the end of Act II after he snaps out of his HeroicBSOD.]]
* CharacterDevelopment: In the end, the only good thing out of the whole mess was that the (still living) main characters grew as individuals and are ultimately better people than they were before.
* ChorusOnlySong: "Children Will Listen" actually has a short introductory verse that was not used in any of the main productions. However, it was recorded for the revue "Sondheim on Sondheim" and singers occasionally use it when recording the song on its own.
* CrapsackWorld: The world becomes this during the second act, especially after [[spoiler:the Narrator dies]], after he says, prophetically, "You don't want to live in a world of chaos."
* CurseEscapeClause
* DarkestHour: Act II.
* DarkIsNotEvil
* DarkReprise
** Inverted with the first parts of "Stay With Me" and "Lament", which later become the happier "Children Will Listen".
** And most ironically, the song "Ever After," where everyone joyously sings about how everything has worked out perfectly, is reprised into "Your Fault" which is the principal five characters trying to place the blame for how everything got ''so messed up.''
** And in a very, very meta example, the melody of "Any Moment" (sung by Cinderella's prince as he seduces the baker's wife) is the counterpoint in "Moments in the Woods" where she regrets the discretion.
* DarkerAndEdgier: The entire second half of the play.
* DeadpanSnarker: Little Red Riding Hood has elements of this.
* DeadPersonConversation
** Cinderella with her mother's spirit when visiting her grave.
** [[spoiler:The Baker and his father]] in the final act. He's [[spoiler:[[NotQuiteDead not completely dead]] -- if only in the sense that you carry your parents with you forever. He hangs a lampshade on this, of course]].
** [[spoiler:The Baker and his wife near the very end.]]
* DeathBySex: Well, whether sex was involved is up for interpretation, but [[spoiler:The Baker's Wife]] does die very shortly after her 'encounter' with [[spoiler: Cinderella's Prince.]]
* DeathEqualsRedemption: [[spoiler:The Mysterious Man and the Baker's Wife.]]
* DeathGlare: The filmed version (and several stage versions) have the Witch deliver a glorious (and often hilarious) one to the Baker when he says, "Giants never strike the same place twice."
* {{Deconstruction}}: Of fairy tales.
* DeconstructionCrossover
* DespairEventHorizon
** [[spoiler: Rapunzel and The Baker's Wife's deaths for The Witch and The Baker.]]
** [[spoiler: Rapunzel is so traumatized she's gone crazy by the beginning of Act Two and eventually throws herself in the Giant's path.]]
* DisappearedDad: Jack's. Mentioned as being "not back" for one line in the first act and never brought up again.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything
** The Wolf gets ''particularly'' excited about getting to devour Little Red Riding Hood, and she too reminisces about how he "excited" her and showed her "such new things" she had never seen before.
** "I guess it does take two to make a baby!"
* DoubleStandard: See Karma Houdini below, but in a nutshell: [[spoiler:The Baker's Wife is unfaithful and dies moments later, while the Princes -- who were also being unfaithful -- forget their wives and find other women to rescue, marry, and presumably cheat on again.]] Justified (?) in that the [[spoiler:Baker's Wife's]] behavior is not portrayed as making her a horrible person, and the Princes' behavior is not portrayed as being reasonable or excusable.
* Dramatic Irony: When the Baker meets Cinderella in Act 2, he assumes that the Prince is off seducing a woman instead of trying to stop the Giant. [[spoiler:Turns out he is and that woman is the Baker's wife!]]
* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:Rapunzel and The Witch.]]
* DumbBlonde: Cinderella's stepsisters. Rapunzel also show elements of this in act one. By act two she's [[ItGotWorse fallen apart somewhat.]]
* EarnYourHappyEnding
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: The Baker and his wife, the Steward and, of course, the Narrator.
* ExactWords / LoopholeAbuse: The Baker needs to find "Hair as yellow as corn." Nothing says that the hair [[spoiler:cannot come from an ''actual'' ear of corn.]]
* ExtremeOmnivore: After collecting all four of the items, the Witch order the Baker and his wife to [[spoiler:feed them to the cow, then milk her.]]
* EyeScream
** Rapunzel's Prince gets his eyes gouged out by thorns as per the original story.
** As do Cinderella's stepsisters (though by birds rather than thorns).
** [[spoiler:And the Giantess.]]
* FireForgedFriends: The Baker, Cinderella, Jack and Little Red.
* FiveStagesOfGrief: [[spoiler:The Baker goes through these during Act II after his wife is killed.]]
* {{Foreshadowing}}
** The last lines of the 1st Act are "Happily ever after!", right after the narrator adds "To be continued."
** There's also the Baker's Wife eagerly asking Cinderella's questions about the Prince and admiring the Princes.
* FracturedFairyTale
* GeniusBruiser: "[[NoIndoorVoice NOT ALL GIANTS ARE DUMB!]]" The witch also highlights the fact that this is what makes a giant so dangerous.
* GreyAndGrayMorality: Pointed out in act 2. The giantess that was causing so much destruction was rightly furious at Jack, and the chaos and carnage she caused was largely accidental. The characters spend a scene or two contemplating just who is the villain anymore. Probably best summed up in "You Are Not Alone":
-->''"Witches can be right. Giants can be good. You decide what's right. You decide what's good. Someone is on your side/ someone else is not/ While we're seeing our side/ maybe we forgot: They are not alone. No one is alone."''
* GriefSong: "The Witch's Lament" and "No More".
* {{Grimmification}}: Of Grimm stories themselves!
* GhostSong: Twice: "No More" and the brief reprise of "No One Is Alone" by [[spoiler: The Baker's Wife]] before "Children Will Listen".
* HairOfGold: Although technically, it's as yellow as corn.
* HamToHamCombat: '''Agony!''' Far more ''painful'' than yooooours!
* HappilyEverAfter: Subverted, or rather deconstructed.
* HappilyMarried: The Baker and his Wife.
* HeroicBSOD: The Baker, BIG TIME [[spoiler:after his wife dies]].
* IdiotHero: Jack. One of the idiot-est.
* ILetGwenStacyDie: Several:
** [[spoiler:Baker's Wife to Baker;]]
** [[spoiler:Rapunzel to Witch (though ironically ''not'' Rapunzel's Prince);]]
** [[spoiler:Jack's Mother to Jack]]
** [[spoiler:And to a lesser extent, Granny to Little Red.]]
* InteractiveNarrator: Hoo boy. He's even [[spoiler:mortal. ''Very'' mortal]].
* InYourNatureToDestroyYourselves: The Witch's perception of human nature.
* ItGotWorse: The second act, particularly with the death of [[spoiler: the Narrator]], immediately after which [[spoiler: Rapunzel and Jack's Mother also die, and the Baker and his wife exchange angry last words to each other]].
* IWantSong: Really, the first act is one big IWantSong. Or "I Wish" Song.
* IWasQuiteALooker: The Witch. [[spoiler:And she becomes a looker again.]]
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: The Witch is more than just a classic villain, especially considering her moment of anguish after [[spoiler:Rapunzel dies]], and the fact that she, of all people, is the one who sings the beautiful "[[TearJerker Children]] [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming Will]] [[CrowningMusicOfAwesome Listen]]" at the end.
* KarmaHoudini
** While the stepsisters are blinded by pigeons, their mother and stepfather -- arguably even more responsible for Cinderella's suffering -- never gets such treatment, [[spoiler:although it is implied that the whole family starves to death at the end: "when going to hide know how to get there, how to get back, and eat first."]]
** Worse still, [[spoiler:Cinderella's Prince seduces the Baker's wife. She realizes that it was a mistake and learns a lesson from it, and promptly dies. He continues on without changing and winds up with Sleeping Beauty.]]
** Even worse, [[spoiler:the other prince watches Rapunzel die, runs off in fear, and only shows up again in the finale with Snow White. At least Cinderella's Prince is shown to be conflicted, and is even told by Cinderella that she no longer wants to be his.]]
** One could argue [[spoiler: that the two princes are obsessed with the new, never being happy with what they have, always being disappointed in what they can't have, and thus will never actually have a happy life.]]
** [[spoiler:To Rapunzel's prince's credit, his wife was insane and he had two kids to think about.]]
** [[spoiler:[[DirtyCoward The Steward]] literally gets away with murder.]]
** [[spoiler:Jack is actually arguably the biggest one. Even though everyone is guilty in some way for the events of Act 2, Jack is arguably the most responsible. On his first trip up the stalk, after being taken care of by the Giantess, steals her gold when her husband appears and escapes. He later goes back simply to steal more to get his cow back. Then, after being taunted by a girl he had probably never met in his life, he goes back and steals AGAIN just to prove her wrong. In Act 2, he never pays for his actions. The only punishment he has is the indirect death of his mother, and he when he learns about this, he wants to kill the man who tried to stop her from pissing the Giantess off more, instead of feeling guilt for causing it all in the first place.]]
* KnightTemplarParent: See MyBelovedSmother below.
* LargeHam
** Both Princes (see HamToHamCombat above), but Cinderella's Prince is definitely more of this trope, since not only does he get another scene [[spoiler:where he flirts with the Baker's Wife and eventually seduces her]], but the actor who plays him [[OriginalCastPrecedent usually]] plays the Wolf as well.
** Don't forget Bernadette Peters as the Witch.
* LastRequest: [[spoiler:Jack's Mother]], right before dying, demands that the Baker protect [[spoiler:Jack from the giantess. And the Baker obliges to the best of his ability.]]
* {{Leitmotif}}: A short musical theme, heard when Jack gives the beans to the Baker, finds its way into several of the songs, and is the entire basis for the Witch's "Stay With Me".
* LemonyNarrator
* LightIsNotGood
* LittleRedFightingHood: [[HeroicSociopath R]][[MeaningfulName e]][[CharacterDevelopment d]]
* LivingProp: Literally? In the original production of ''Into the Woods'', Milky White was usually just a wooden figurine of a cow, just like the horses. But in the revivals and more modern productions usually Milky White is played by a character in an elaborate cow costume, though they still mostly just stand in place and are then dragged on and off stage.
* LosingTheTeamSpirit: A good chunk of Act II after [[spoiler:The Baker's Wife is killed and The Baker has his HeroicBSOD, abandoning the other surviving characters for a while]].
* TheLostWoods
* LukeIAmYourFather: [[spoiler:The Mysterious Man to The Baker.]] He doesn't actually say it, though, preferring to remain unknown; it's the Witch who [[IncrediblyLamePun spills the beans.]]
* MakeAWish: "I wish..." opens the show. Magic, however, comes in only indirectly -- Cinderella going to her mother's grave to request silver and gold (a dress appears); the Baker and his Wife agree to [[FetchQuest fulfill the demands of the Witch,]] who would then allow them to conceive a child. However, all of their wishes come back to haunt them in Act II, which opens with the same words. Ends with them, too. (But it's usually drowned out by the applause.)
* MamaBear: For as dumb as she is, Jack's Mother.
* MassiveMultiplayerCrossover: Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and an original work all exist in the same world, in the same kingdom, in the same woods.
* MassiveMultiplayerEnsembleNumber: The opening numbers of both acts, "Ever After", "First Midnight", and to a lesser extent "Second Midnight".
* MisfitMobilizationMoment: When The Baker, Jack, Little Red and Cinderella team up to kill the other giant.
* MissingMom: Cinderella's mother, who helps her out as a ghost/spirit in the tree. [[spoiler:But in Act 2, the tree is destroyed.]]
* MyBelovedSmother
** Rapunzel summed it up best.
-->'''Witch:''' What's the matter?\\
'''Rapunzel:''' [[SarcasmMode Oh, nothing!]] You just locked me in a tower without company for fourteen years, then you blinded my Prince and banished me to a desert where I had little to eat, and again no company, and then bore twins! Because of the way you treated me, ''(cries)'' I'll never, never be happy!\\
'''Witch:''' ''({{beat}}; defensive, yet sincere)'' I was just trying to be a good mother.
** Jack's Mother is pretty controlling too... though given what an IdiotHero he is, Jack might genuinely need it.
* MythologyGag: The first act keeps all the most important points in the original fairytales, but they're [[PlayedForLaughs played]] ''[[PlayedForLaughs hilariously]]'', including the parts you never thought could actually be funny. Notable examples include Cinderella's stepsisters cutting off their toes, Little Red and Granny coming out of the Wolf's stomach, and Rapunzel crying into the prince's eyes.
** The show also plays with the fact that Cinderella's slippers are incredibly valuable. Wouldn't they be a little hard to walk in? [[CuteClumsyGirl Yes.]] According to Cinderella, they're not very good for dancing either.
** Also, how does the Witch climb up Rapunzel's hair without any trouble and without hurting the girl? [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vy7b66adOYo She doesn't.]]
* NeverGotToSayGoodbye: [[spoiler:The Baker and his wife. MAJOR Tearjerker.]]
* NeverMyFault: The whole premise for the song, "Your Fault", until the Witch [[WhatTheHellHero calls everyone out on it]]
* [[GoodIsNotNice Nice Is Not Good]]
* NinjaProp: The narrator [[spoiler:becomes one]].
* NoFourthWall: Especially in the PBS filming where The Witch talks to a little boy in the audience for a moment.
* NoNameGiven: Only Jack, Cinderella, Cinderella's stepsisters, and Rapunzel have actual names.
* ObstructiveBureaucrat: The Steward in the Act Two opening.
* OffTheRails: Extremely so, and very suddenly, in the second act when the characters [[spoiler:give the narrator to the Giant's wife who kills him by dropping when she sees he isn't Jack]].
* OnlySaneMan: The Witch has elements of this in Act Two, when she shows herself to be the only person who understands the gravity of the situation, and the unpleasant things that may need to be done to solve it.
* OriginalCastPrecedent: Responsible most prominently for the ActingForTwo listed above.
* ParentingTheHusband: The Baker's Wife, a little bit. The Baker even admits that he depends on her for everything [[spoiler:after she dies]].
* PatterSong
** "Your Fault", and the Witch's raps in the act openers.
** "Maybe They're Magic" and "Moments in the Woods"!
* PetTheDog: The Witch towards Rapunzel, except when she's angry at her. In the first act, she instantly changes emotion and starts fawning every time she hears Rapunzel singing.
* PlotCoupon
* PrinceCharming: Deconstructed -- see PrinceCharmless.
* PrinceCharmless: "I was raised to be charming, not sincere."
* PrincessClassic: Deconstructed/subverted with Cinderella and Rapunzel.
* PromotionToParent: In Act II, Cinderella and the Baker have to move on from young adults who still rely on the ideals of their (absent) parents, to being mentors to Little Red and Jack, respectively. Played for laughs when Jack asks who will take care of him now that his mother is dead, and Little Red chimes in with "I'll be your mother now". Made even better by the fact that, in many productions, Red is ''clearly'' younger than Jack, by at least a couple years.
* RageAgainstTheAuthor
* RhymesOnADime
** A lot of The Witch's dialogue during the Act I and II openings.
** Averted with the Mysterious Man, who has clearly rehearsed his rhyming introduction.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Averted in that both Princes are frickin' useless. Played with in that Cinderella tries to help, but has to dress as a commoner to do so.
* RuleOfThree
* ShoutOut: To ''Literature/SleepingBeauty'' and ''Literature/SnowWhite''.
* SnicketWarningLabel
* TheSoprano: Averted (mostly) with both Cinderella and Rapunzel, at least by the second act -- they both have quite a bit of [[TheIngenue ingenue]] about them, but neither of them is a PuritySue or ShallowLoveInterest.
* SpitTake: At least in the original production, watch the Baker's reaction to Little Red's "Never can tell what lies ahead, for all that I know she's already dead."
* SpoofAesop: Several characters learn the wrong lessons from their troubles, like the Witch saying "I had everything but beauty. I had power!", or Cinderella's song "On the Steps of the Palace", about learning to duck important decisions.
* StayInTheKitchen: This is the Baker's attitude in the beginning of the first act, but he gets over it.
* StepfordSmiler: Cinderella's stepmother and stepsisters at the start of Act 2. They're blinded and lame and they're still insisting that they're happy as long as Cinderella is happy.
* SurvivorGuilt: The surviving characters at the end of the show. [[spoiler:Especially The Baker.]]
* TeethClenchedTeamwork
* TenorBoy: Jack
* TookALevelInBadass: The Baker, Jack, Cinderella and Little Red.
* TotallyRadical: The Witch's {{Patter Song}}s have elements of this, musically, being Sondheim and the orchestrator's idea of what rap music sounded like.
* TrueCompanions: By the end of the show, [[spoiler:the Baker, Cinderella, Jack, and Red Riding Hood]], as the surviving heroes seemed destined to become these.
* TwoActStructure
* TheUnintelligible: Rapunzel only has a few scenes where she actually talks. The rest of the show, she expresses her feelings by "humming a lighthearted air" and screaming. Somewhat {{lampshaded}} by her prince. After the reprise of "Agony," Rapunzel, out of nowhere, lets out an enormous scream. The prince doesn't look the slightest bit shocked and says "Rapunzel," in deadpan.
* UnnamedParent: Half the cast -- The Baker and his Wife, Jack's Mother, Cinderella's Mother and Father, [[spoiler:The Mysterious Man]].
* VillainLoveSong
* VillainousBreakdown: The witch after [[spoiler:Rapunzel's death]], quickly leading to "Last Midnight" and her subsequent [[spoiler:abandonment of the rest of the cast.]]
* WantingIsBetterThanHaving: The two princes run on this trope. They obsess in the song "Agony" over the women they can't have, but once those are won they're immediately off pursuing a ''new'' set of seemingly unattainable women (with occasional dalliances on the side). It's all capped off by this exchange, as Cinderella and her Prince break up:
-->'''Cinderella's Prince:''' I shall always love the maiden who ran away.\\
'''Cinderella:''' And I, the faraway prince.
* WeCouldHaveAvoidedAllThis
** [[spoiler:When the characters try to [[BreakingTheFourthWall offer the Narrator]] to the Giantess as a sacrifice, the Narrator reminds them that the story would be lost if he was obliterated. Regardless of this, however, the Witch gives the Narrator to the Giantess anyway, and as soon as the Giantess sees that the Narrator isn't Jack, the Narrator is dropped from the Giantess' hand and killed. Possibly concerned of the subsequent events of the story without the Narrator, the Baker's Wife points out: "We might have thought of something else."]]
** Though a more or less justifiable example would be after the Witch lays a major [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech Reason You Suck Song]] on Cinderella, Jack, Little Red Riding Hood, and the Baker pointing out what their actions from Act I have gotten them into:
-->'''Jack:''' Maybe I shouldn't have stolen from the Giant.\\
'''Little Red Riding Hood:''' Maybe I shouldn't have strayed from the path.\\
'''Cinderella:''' Maybe I shouldn't have attended the ball.\\
'''Baker:''' [[HypocriticalHumor Yes, maybe you shouldn't have.]]
* [[WhamLine Wham Moment]]
** Act Two is going great, everyone's "So happy" -- until the Giantess enters.
** There is a very minor [[WhamLine Wham Line]] near the beginning; when Red Riding Hood enters, she says that she found her house collapsed, and the music stops briefly [[spoiler: when she says that she couldn't find her mother.]]
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse
** What Happened to the Cow? It probably [[ForceFeeding died of]] [[IAteWhat indigestion.]] Or got crushed when the giantess crushed Jack's house.
** [[spoiler:Rapunzel's twin babies.]] In some productions, [[spoiler: they die with their mother under the Giantess' foot. In case you didn't get that Act II was going to be rough...]]
** The witch tells the baker offhand that he has a sister that the witch had taken from his parents. The narrator confirms that Rapunzel is indeed his sister. This is never brought up or mentioned, and none of the characters bother with this connection.
** Also an example in-story during act two: the heroes have to do some quick thinking to remember, "''What happened to the last magic bean?''" The answer: The Baker's Wife tried to pawn it to Cinderella, who just threw it aside, and the Wife never found it. That allowed that bean to [[spoiler:take root and grow into a ''second'' beanstalk.]] Which begs the question of [[spoiler:all those beans the Witch throws around in "Last Midnight". Are we sure all of them were picked up? What if another stalk sprouts?]]
* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman
** "Ask a wolf's mother."
** [[spoiler:Little Red Riding Hood, worries about this, when they plan to kill the giant. "A giant's still a person, isn't it?"]]
* WhatTheHellHero
** The Witch's interruption of "Your Fault" with "Last Midnight" strongly involves calling out the other main characters for their contributions to the general misery.
** "Your Fault", meanwhile, is everyone calling everyone out for awhile, before deciding to throw all the blame on the Witch, who is definitely not blameless.
** "No More" opens with the Baker calling [[spoiler:his father]] out on his actions. And the rest of the song is [[spoiler:the Baker's father]] calling the Baker out on his decision to run away from his problems.
* WhenTheClockStrikesTwelve
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes:
-->"Dwarfs are very upsetting..."
* WorldOfCardboardSpeech: The Witch's VillainousBreakdown CrowningMusicOfAwesome, "The Last Midnight".
* WrongGenreSavvy: After the giantess attacks the characters return to the woods, confident in the grit and determination they acquired to achieve their happy endings in the first act. It's not going to be enough. It's not going to be anywhere near enough.
* YouAreNotAlone: "No One" is, after all.
----
->''"[[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor I wish...]]"''
'''''Into the Woods''''' is a Musical by James Lapine and Creator/StephenSondheim that weaves together the {{fairy tale}}s of ''Literature/{{Cinderella}}'', ''Literature/JackAndTheBeanstalk'', ''Literature/LittleRedRidingHood'', and ''Literature/{{Rapunzel}}''.
In the first act, a baker and his wife who desperately want a child are told by the witch who cursed their family with infertility that she'll lift the spell if they do something for her first. She sends them on a quest that takes them in and out of the other stories, collecting Cinderella's slipper, Jack's cow, the little red riding hood, and some of Rapunzel's hair. There's also a mysterious old man who appears from time to time, trying to help the quest along for reasons of his own. After a certain amount of deception, theft, and murder -- you remember how these stories go, right? -- everybody gets what they were wishing for at the beginning, and there's a big song-and-dance number about living happily ever after.
Then in the ''second'' act, [[ItGotWorse everybody has to grow up and face the consequences of their actions.]]
The show is one of Sondheim's most famous, alongside ''Theatre/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet'' and ''{{Company}}''. In the year dominated by ''ThePhantomOfTheOpera'', it was able to snag three Tony Awards, for Best Score, Best Book, and Best Leading Actress (Joanna Gleason as the Baker's Wife). The original Broadway production has since been followed by a notably contentious revival in 2002, as well as numerous productions across the country at everywhere from the regional to the high school drama level.
Many people are most familiar with the excellent version filmed by PBS under its ''American Playhouse'' banner in 1991 and subsequently released on home video; this was based on the original Broadway production and had most of the same cast.
In early 2012, it was announced that WaltDisneyPictures had acquired the film rights, placing Rob Marshall (''Film/{{Chicago}}'' and ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbean 4'') into the director's chair.
Now has a [[Characters/IntoTheWoods character sheet]].
----
!!''Into the Woods'' provides examples of the following tropes:
* ActingForTwo
** According to OriginalCastPrecedent, the Narrator and the Mysterious Man are played by the same actor. Same goes for Cinderella's Prince and the Wolf, as well as Cinderella's Mother and the Giantess ''and'' Granny. Usually played in an AndYouWereThere fashion, at least for the first two actors.
** In the Broadway revival, Cinderella's Mother was played by a recording of Cinderella's own actress.
* AfraidOfBlood: Cinderella's Prince.
-->"Yes but even one prick, it's my thing about blood!"
* AlcoholicParent: Cinderella's Father: "The closer to the family, the closer to the wine."
* AllForNothing: The second act does this to the first act. Especially for [[spoiler:the Baker.]]
* AndYouWereThere: Depending on the production, some characters with similar traits are played by the same actor. See ActingForTwo above.
* AntiVillain
** The Witch
** Also the Giantess. Let's face it: her charges against Jack have a lot of justice to them.
* AnyoneCanDie: Played to the extreme when they kill off the least likely character of all... [[spoiler:the Narrator.]]
* ArcWords: No specific phrase, but count the number of times they say "children", "giant(s)", "witch(es)", "wish(es)", "wolves", "spell(s)", "right", and "wrong" just in a generic context.
** "I wish" is always sung the exact same way, with the same two notes.
** Also the words "nice" and "good" -- particularly in lines sung by Cinderella and Little Red.
* AuthorExistenceFailure: A meta version: [[spoiler:the characters freak out after the narrator is killed as he was "the only one who knew how the story went."]]
* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler: Milky White]]
* BadBadActing: The Baker's Wife when she tries to get Jack to trade/buy the magic beans for the cow. "Oh... Oh! Oh no, we ''mustn't'' give up our beans!"
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: "Wishes come true, not free."
* BittersweetEnding
* BlameGame
* {{Bowdlerise}}: A [[http://www.mtishows.com/show_detail.asp?showid=000189 "Junior"]] version of this show is available from the company that licenses the full-length version for community theaters and schools. The entire second act is cut out. Justified in that the target demographic for the junior version is elementary school students. Not to mention that the play would end up running for hours if they kept Act Two in. The show is still performed in its entirety in middle and high school productions.
* BreakingTheFourthWall: [[spoiler:They pull the narrator into the play and then kill him.]]
* TheCasanova: Both Princes.
* CatchphraseInterruptus: The Mysterious Man's enigmatic introduction, the final time he offers it; overlaps with RuleOfThree.
* ChangedMyMindKid: [[spoiler:The Baker, at the end of Act II after he snaps out of his HeroicBSOD.]]
* CharacterDevelopment: In the end, the only good thing out of the whole mess was that the (still living) main characters grew as individuals and are ultimately better people than they were before.
* ChorusOnlySong: "Children Will Listen" actually has a short introductory verse that was not used in any of the main productions. However, it was recorded for the revue "Sondheim on Sondheim" and singers occasionally use it when recording the song on its own.
* CrapsackWorld: The world becomes this during the second act, especially after [[spoiler:the Narrator dies]], after he says, prophetically, "You don't want to live in a world of chaos."
* CurseEscapeClause
* DarkestHour: Act II.
* DarkIsNotEvil
* DarkReprise
** Inverted with the first parts of "Stay With Me" and "Lament", which later become the happier "Children Will Listen".
** And most ironically, the song "Ever After," where everyone joyously sings about how everything has worked out perfectly, is reprised into "Your Fault" which is the principal five characters trying to place the blame for how everything got ''so messed up.''
** And in a very, very meta example, the melody of "Any Moment" (sung by Cinderella's prince as he seduces the baker's wife) is the counterpoint in "Moments in the Woods" where she regrets the discretion.
* DarkerAndEdgier: The entire second half of the play.
* DeadpanSnarker: Little Red Riding Hood has elements of this.
* DeadPersonConversation
** Cinderella with her mother's spirit when visiting her grave.
** [[spoiler:The Baker and his father]] in the final act. He's [[spoiler:[[NotQuiteDead not completely dead]] -- if only in the sense that you carry your parents with you forever. He hangs a lampshade on this, of course]].
** [[spoiler:The Baker and his wife near the very end.]]
* DeathBySex: Well, whether sex was involved is up for interpretation, but [[spoiler:The Baker's Wife]] does die very shortly after her 'encounter' with [[spoiler: Cinderella's Prince.]]
* DeathEqualsRedemption: [[spoiler:The Mysterious Man and the Baker's Wife.]]
* DeathGlare: The filmed version (and several stage versions) have the Witch deliver a glorious (and often hilarious) one to the Baker when he says, "Giants never strike the same place twice."
* {{Deconstruction}}: Of fairy tales.
* DeconstructionCrossover
* DespairEventHorizon
** [[spoiler: Rapunzel and The Baker's Wife's deaths for The Witch and The Baker.]]
** [[spoiler: Rapunzel is so traumatized she's gone crazy by the beginning of Act Two and eventually throws herself in the Giant's path.]]
* DisappearedDad: Jack's. Mentioned as being "not back" for one line in the first act and never brought up again.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything
** The Wolf gets ''particularly'' excited about getting to devour Little Red Riding Hood, and she too reminisces about how he "excited" her and showed her "such new things" she had never seen before.
** "I guess it does take two to make a baby!"
* DoubleStandard: See Karma Houdini below, but in a nutshell: [[spoiler:The Baker's Wife is unfaithful and dies moments later, while the Princes -- who were also being unfaithful -- forget their wives and find other women to rescue, marry, and presumably cheat on again.]] Justified (?) in that the [[spoiler:Baker's Wife's]] behavior is not portrayed as making her a horrible person, and the Princes' behavior is not portrayed as being reasonable or excusable.
* Dramatic Irony: When the Baker meets Cinderella in Act 2, he assumes that the Prince is off seducing a woman instead of trying to stop the Giant. [[spoiler:Turns out he is and that woman is the Baker's wife!]]
* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:Rapunzel and The Witch.]]
* DumbBlonde: Cinderella's stepsisters. Rapunzel also show elements of this in act one. By act two she's [[ItGotWorse fallen apart somewhat.]]
* EarnYourHappyEnding
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: The Baker and his wife, the Steward and, of course, the Narrator.
* ExactWords / LoopholeAbuse: The Baker needs to find "Hair as yellow as corn." Nothing says that the hair [[spoiler:cannot come from an ''actual'' ear of corn.]]
* ExtremeOmnivore: After collecting all four of the items, the Witch order the Baker and his wife to [[spoiler:feed them to the cow, then milk her.]]
* EyeScream
** Rapunzel's Prince gets his eyes gouged out by thorns as per the original story.
** As do Cinderella's stepsisters (though by birds rather than thorns).
** [[spoiler:And the Giantess.]]
* FireForgedFriends: The Baker, Cinderella, Jack and Little Red.
* FiveStagesOfGrief: [[spoiler:The Baker goes through these during Act II after his wife is killed.]]
* {{Foreshadowing}}
** The last lines of the 1st Act are "Happily ever after!", right after the narrator adds "To be continued."
** There's also the Baker's Wife eagerly asking Cinderella's questions about the Prince and admiring the Princes.
* FracturedFairyTale
* GeniusBruiser: "[[NoIndoorVoice NOT ALL GIANTS ARE DUMB!]]" The witch also highlights the fact that this is what makes a giant so dangerous.
* GreyAndGrayMorality: Pointed out in act 2. The giantess that was causing so much destruction was rightly furious at Jack, and the chaos and carnage she caused was largely accidental. The characters spend a scene or two contemplating just who is the villain anymore. Probably best summed up in "You Are Not Alone":
-->''"Witches can be right. Giants can be good. You decide what's right. You decide what's good. Someone is on your side/ someone else is not/ While we're seeing our side/ maybe we forgot: They are not alone. No one is alone."''
* GriefSong: "The Witch's Lament" and "No More".
* {{Grimmification}}: Of Grimm stories themselves!
* GhostSong: Twice: "No More" and the brief reprise of "No One Is Alone" by [[spoiler: The Baker's Wife]] before "Children Will Listen".
* HairOfGold: Although technically, it's as yellow as corn.
* HamToHamCombat: '''Agony!''' Far more ''painful'' than yooooours!
* HappilyEverAfter: Subverted, or rather deconstructed.
* HappilyMarried: The Baker and his Wife.
* HeroicBSOD: The Baker, BIG TIME [[spoiler:after his wife dies]].
* IdiotHero: Jack. One of the idiot-est.
* ILetGwenStacyDie: Several:
** [[spoiler:Baker's Wife to Baker;]]
** [[spoiler:Rapunzel to Witch (though ironically ''not'' Rapunzel's Prince);]]
** [[spoiler:Jack's Mother to Jack]]
** [[spoiler:And to a lesser extent, Granny to Little Red.]]
* InteractiveNarrator: Hoo boy. He's even [[spoiler:mortal. ''Very'' mortal]].
* InYourNatureToDestroyYourselves: The Witch's perception of human nature.
* ItGotWorse: The second act, particularly with the death of [[spoiler: the Narrator]], immediately after which [[spoiler: Rapunzel and Jack's Mother also die, and the Baker and his wife exchange angry last words to each other]].
* IWantSong: Really, the first act is one big IWantSong. Or "I Wish" Song.
* IWasQuiteALooker: The Witch. [[spoiler:And she becomes a looker again.]]
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: The Witch is more than just a classic villain, especially considering her moment of anguish after [[spoiler:Rapunzel dies]], and the fact that she, of all people, is the one who sings the beautiful "[[TearJerker Children]] [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming Will]] [[CrowningMusicOfAwesome Listen]]" at the end.
* KarmaHoudini
** While the stepsisters are blinded by pigeons, their mother and stepfather -- arguably even more responsible for Cinderella's suffering -- never gets such treatment, [[spoiler:although it is implied that the whole family starves to death at the end: "when going to hide know how to get there, how to get back, and eat first."]]
** Worse still, [[spoiler:Cinderella's Prince seduces the Baker's wife. She realizes that it was a mistake and learns a lesson from it, and promptly dies. He continues on without changing and winds up with Sleeping Beauty.]]
** Even worse, [[spoiler:the other prince watches Rapunzel die, runs off in fear, and only shows up again in the finale with Snow White. At least Cinderella's Prince is shown to be conflicted, and is even told by Cinderella that she no longer wants to be his.]]
** One could argue [[spoiler: that the two princes are obsessed with the new, never being happy with what they have, always being disappointed in what they can't have, and thus will never actually have a happy life.]]
** [[spoiler:To Rapunzel's prince's credit, his wife was insane and he had two kids to think about.]]
** [[spoiler:[[DirtyCoward The Steward]] literally gets away with murder.]]
** [[spoiler:Jack is actually arguably the biggest one. Even though everyone is guilty in some way for the events of Act 2, Jack is arguably the most responsible. On his first trip up the stalk, after being taken care of by the Giantess, steals her gold when her husband appears and escapes. He later goes back simply to steal more to get his cow back. Then, after being taunted by a girl he had probably never met in his life, he goes back and steals AGAIN just to prove her wrong. In Act 2, he never pays for his actions. The only punishment he has is the indirect death of his mother, and he when he learns about this, he wants to kill the man who tried to stop her from pissing the Giantess off more, instead of feeling guilt for causing it all in the first place.]]
* KnightTemplarParent: See MyBelovedSmother below.
* LargeHam
** Both Princes (see HamToHamCombat above), but Cinderella's Prince is definitely more of this trope, since not only does he get another scene [[spoiler:where he flirts with the Baker's Wife and eventually seduces her]], but the actor who plays him [[OriginalCastPrecedent usually]] plays the Wolf as well.
** Don't forget Bernadette Peters as the Witch.
* LastRequest: [[spoiler:Jack's Mother]], right before dying, demands that the Baker protect [[spoiler:Jack from the giantess. And the Baker obliges to the best of his ability.]]
* {{Leitmotif}}: A short musical theme, heard when Jack gives the beans to the Baker, finds its way into several of the songs, and is the entire basis for the Witch's "Stay With Me".
* LemonyNarrator
* LightIsNotGood
* LittleRedFightingHood: [[HeroicSociopath R]][[MeaningfulName e]][[CharacterDevelopment d]]
* LivingProp: Literally? In the original production of ''Into the Woods'', Milky White was usually just a wooden figurine of a cow, just like the horses. But in the revivals and more modern productions usually Milky White is played by a character in an elaborate cow costume, though they still mostly just stand in place and are then dragged on and off stage.
* LosingTheTeamSpirit: A good chunk of Act II after [[spoiler:The Baker's Wife is killed and The Baker has his HeroicBSOD, abandoning the other surviving characters for a while]].
* TheLostWoods
* LukeIAmYourFather: [[spoiler:The Mysterious Man to The Baker.]] He doesn't actually say it, though, preferring to remain unknown; it's the Witch who [[IncrediblyLamePun spills the beans.]]
* MakeAWish: "I wish..." opens the show. Magic, however, comes in only indirectly -- Cinderella going to her mother's grave to request silver and gold (a dress appears); the Baker and his Wife agree to [[FetchQuest fulfill the demands of the Witch,]] who would then allow them to conceive a child. However, all of their wishes come back to haunt them in Act II, which opens with the same words. Ends with them, too. (But it's usually drowned out by the applause.)
* MamaBear: For as dumb as she is, Jack's Mother.
* MassiveMultiplayerCrossover: Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and an original work all exist in the same world, in the same kingdom, in the same woods.
* MassiveMultiplayerEnsembleNumber: The opening numbers of both acts, "Ever After", "First Midnight", and to a lesser extent "Second Midnight".
* MisfitMobilizationMoment: When The Baker, Jack, Little Red and Cinderella team up to kill the other giant.
* MissingMom: Cinderella's mother, who helps her out as a ghost/spirit in the tree. [[spoiler:But in Act 2, the tree is destroyed.]]
* MyBelovedSmother
** Rapunzel summed it up best.
-->'''Witch:''' What's the matter?\\
'''Rapunzel:''' [[SarcasmMode Oh, nothing!]] You just locked me in a tower without company for fourteen years, then you blinded my Prince and banished me to a desert where I had little to eat, and again no company, and then bore twins! Because of the way you treated me, ''(cries)'' I'll never, never be happy!\\
'''Witch:''' ''({{beat}}; defensive, yet sincere)'' I was just trying to be a good mother.
** Jack's Mother is pretty controlling too... though given what an IdiotHero he is, Jack might genuinely need it.
* MythologyGag: The first act keeps all the most important points in the original fairytales, but they're [[PlayedForLaughs played]] ''[[PlayedForLaughs hilariously]]'', including the parts you never thought could actually be funny. Notable examples include Cinderella's stepsisters cutting off their toes, Little Red and Granny coming out of the Wolf's stomach, and Rapunzel crying into the prince's eyes.
** The show also plays with the fact that Cinderella's slippers are incredibly valuable. Wouldn't they be a little hard to walk in? [[CuteClumsyGirl Yes.]] According to Cinderella, they're not very good for dancing either.
** Also, how does the Witch climb up Rapunzel's hair without any trouble and without hurting the girl? [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vy7b66adOYo She doesn't.]]
* NeverGotToSayGoodbye: [[spoiler:The Baker and his wife. MAJOR Tearjerker.]]
* NeverMyFault: The whole premise for the song, "Your Fault", until the Witch [[WhatTheHellHero calls everyone out on it]]
* [[GoodIsNotNice Nice Is Not Good]]
* NinjaProp: The narrator [[spoiler:becomes one]].
* NoFourthWall: Especially in the PBS filming where The Witch talks to a little boy in the audience for a moment.
* NoNameGiven: Only Jack, Cinderella, Cinderella's stepsisters, and Rapunzel have actual names.
* ObstructiveBureaucrat: The Steward in the Act Two opening.
* OffTheRails: Extremely so, and very suddenly, in the second act when the characters [[spoiler:give the narrator to the Giant's wife who kills him by dropping when she sees he isn't Jack]].
* OnlySaneMan: The Witch has elements of this in Act Two, when she shows herself to be the only person who understands the gravity of the situation, and the unpleasant things that may need to be done to solve it.
* OriginalCastPrecedent: Responsible most prominently for the ActingForTwo listed above.
* ParentingTheHusband: The Baker's Wife, a little bit. The Baker even admits that he depends on her for everything [[spoiler:after she dies]].
* PatterSong
** "Your Fault", and the Witch's raps in the act openers.
** "Maybe They're Magic" and "Moments in the Woods"!
* PetTheDog: The Witch towards Rapunzel, except when she's angry at her. In the first act, she instantly changes emotion and starts fawning every time she hears Rapunzel singing.
* PlotCoupon
* PrinceCharming: Deconstructed -- see PrinceCharmless.
* PrinceCharmless: "I was raised to be charming, not sincere."
* PrincessClassic: Deconstructed/subverted with Cinderella and Rapunzel.
* PromotionToParent: In Act II, Cinderella and the Baker have to move on from young adults who still rely on the ideals of their (absent) parents, to being mentors to Little Red and Jack, respectively. Played for laughs when Jack asks who will take care of him now that his mother is dead, and Little Red chimes in with "I'll be your mother now". Made even better by the fact that, in many productions, Red is ''clearly'' younger than Jack, by at least a couple years.
* RageAgainstTheAuthor
* RhymesOnADime
** A lot of The Witch's dialogue during the Act I and II openings.
** Averted with the Mysterious Man, who has clearly rehearsed his rhyming introduction.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Averted in that both Princes are frickin' useless. Played with in that Cinderella tries to help, but has to dress as a commoner to do so.
* RuleOfThree
* ShoutOut: To ''Literature/SleepingBeauty'' and ''Literature/SnowWhite''.
* SnicketWarningLabel
* TheSoprano: Averted (mostly) with both Cinderella and Rapunzel, at least by the second act -- they both have quite a bit of [[TheIngenue ingenue]] about them, but neither of them is a PuritySue or ShallowLoveInterest.
* SpitTake: At least in the original production, watch the Baker's reaction to Little Red's "Never can tell what lies ahead, for all that I know she's already dead."
* SpoofAesop: Several characters learn the wrong lessons from their troubles, like the Witch saying "I had everything but beauty. I had power!", or Cinderella's song "On the Steps of the Palace", about learning to duck important decisions.
* StayInTheKitchen: This is the Baker's attitude in the beginning of the first act, but he gets over it.
* StepfordSmiler: Cinderella's stepmother and stepsisters at the start of Act 2. They're blinded and lame and they're still insisting that they're happy as long as Cinderella is happy.
* SurvivorGuilt: The surviving characters at the end of the show. [[spoiler:Especially The Baker.]]
* TeethClenchedTeamwork
* TenorBoy: Jack
* TookALevelInBadass: The Baker, Jack, Cinderella and Little Red.
* TotallyRadical: The Witch's {{Patter Song}}s have elements of this, musically, being Sondheim and the orchestrator's idea of what rap music sounded like.
* TrueCompanions: By the end of the show, [[spoiler:the Baker, Cinderella, Jack, and Red Riding Hood]], as the surviving heroes seemed destined to become these.
* TwoActStructure
* TheUnintelligible: Rapunzel only has a few scenes where she actually talks. The rest of the show, she expresses her feelings by "humming a lighthearted air" and screaming. Somewhat {{lampshaded}} by her prince. After the reprise of "Agony," Rapunzel, out of nowhere, lets out an enormous scream. The prince doesn't look the slightest bit shocked and says "Rapunzel," in deadpan.
* UnnamedParent: Half the cast -- The Baker and his Wife, Jack's Mother, Cinderella's Mother and Father, [[spoiler:The Mysterious Man]].
* VillainLoveSong
* VillainousBreakdown: The witch after [[spoiler:Rapunzel's death]], quickly leading to "Last Midnight" and her subsequent [[spoiler:abandonment of the rest of the cast.]]
* WantingIsBetterThanHaving: The two princes run on this trope. They obsess in the song "Agony" over the women they can't have, but once those are won they're immediately off pursuing a ''new'' set of seemingly unattainable women (with occasional dalliances on the side). It's all capped off by this exchange, as Cinderella and her Prince break up:
-->'''Cinderella's Prince:''' I shall always love the maiden who ran away.\\
'''Cinderella:''' And I, the faraway prince.
* WeCouldHaveAvoidedAllThis
** [[spoiler:When the characters try to [[BreakingTheFourthWall offer the Narrator]] to the Giantess as a sacrifice, the Narrator reminds them that the story would be lost if he was obliterated. Regardless of this, however, the Witch gives the Narrator to the Giantess anyway, and as soon as the Giantess sees that the Narrator isn't Jack, the Narrator is dropped from the Giantess' hand and killed. Possibly concerned of the subsequent events of the story without the Narrator, the Baker's Wife points out: "We might have thought of something else."]]
** Though a more or less justifiable example would be after the Witch lays a major [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech Reason You Suck Song]] on Cinderella, Jack, Little Red Riding Hood, and the Baker pointing out what their actions from Act I have gotten them into:
-->'''Jack:''' Maybe I shouldn't have stolen from the Giant.\\
'''Little Red Riding Hood:''' Maybe I shouldn't have strayed from the path.\\
'''Cinderella:''' Maybe I shouldn't have attended the ball.\\
'''Baker:''' [[HypocriticalHumor Yes, maybe you shouldn't have.]]
* [[WhamLine Wham Moment]]
** Act Two is going great, everyone's "So happy" -- until the Giantess enters.
** There is a very minor [[WhamLine Wham Line]] near the beginning; when Red Riding Hood enters, she says that she found her house collapsed, and the music stops briefly [[spoiler: when she says that she couldn't find her mother.]]
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse
** What Happened to the Cow? It probably [[ForceFeeding died of]] [[IAteWhat indigestion.]] Or got crushed when the giantess crushed Jack's house.
** [[spoiler:Rapunzel's twin babies.]] In some productions, [[spoiler: they die with their mother under the Giantess' foot. In case you didn't get that Act II was going to be rough...]]
** The witch tells the baker offhand that he has a sister that the witch had taken from his parents. The narrator confirms that Rapunzel is indeed his sister. This is never brought up or mentioned, and none of the characters bother with this connection.
** Also an example in-story during act two: the heroes have to do some quick thinking to remember, "''What happened to the last magic bean?''" The answer: The Baker's Wife tried to pawn it to Cinderella, who just threw it aside, and the Wife never found it. That allowed that bean to [[spoiler:take root and grow into a ''second'' beanstalk.]] Which begs the question of [[spoiler:all those beans the Witch throws around in "Last Midnight". Are we sure all of them were picked up? What if another stalk sprouts?]]
* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman
** "Ask a wolf's mother."
** [[spoiler:Little Red Riding Hood, worries about this, when they plan to kill the giant. "A giant's still a person, isn't it?"]]
* WhatTheHellHero
** The Witch's interruption of "Your Fault" with "Last Midnight" strongly involves calling out the other main characters for their contributions to the general misery.
** "Your Fault", meanwhile, is everyone calling everyone out for awhile, before deciding to throw all the blame on the Witch, who is definitely not blameless.
** "No More" opens with the Baker calling [[spoiler:his father]] out on his actions. And the rest of the song is [[spoiler:the Baker's father]] calling the Baker out on his decision to run away from his problems.
* WhenTheClockStrikesTwelve
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes:
-->"Dwarfs are very upsetting..."
* WorldOfCardboardSpeech: The Witch's VillainousBreakdown CrowningMusicOfAwesome, "The Last Midnight".
* WrongGenreSavvy: After the giantess attacks the characters return to the woods, confident in the grit and determination they acquired to achieve their happy endings in the first act. It's not going to be enough. It's not going to be anywhere near enough.
* YouAreNotAlone: "No One" is, after all.
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