History Theatre / IntoTheWoods

* {{Meganekko}}: Cinderella in the original cast, but not universally. And only for the first song.

* YouFool: In both the theatrical and film versions, the Witch calls the Baker a fool when he treis to hand her the cape as red as blood, saying she can't touch it.

* AwLookTheyReallyLoveEachOther: Jack's mother is stern, and sometimes portrayed as somewhat abusive. But she panics and looks for him when he is gone and has an awesome MamaBear moment when the giantess appears. Jack for his part is heartbroken that Jack's Mother forces him to sell Milky-White, but is heartbroken by the news of her death and wants to avenge her death.

[[{{Creator/Disney}} Walt Disney Pictures]] released a [[Film/IntoTheWoods film adaptation]] on Christmas Day, 2014, with Lapine writing the screenplay, and Rob Marshall (''Film/{{Chicago}}'' and ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanOnStrangerTides'') directing an AllStarCast including Creator/AnnaKendrick as Cinderella, Creator/ChrisPine as Prince Charming, Creator/MerylStreep as the Witch, Creator/JohnnyDepp as the Big Bad Wolf and many more. This being [[{{Disneyfication}} a Disney production]], Sondheim himself [[http://insidemovies.ew.com/2014/06/23/stephen-sondheim-statement-into-the-woods/ confirmed]] that this adaptation is LighterAndSofter than the original, though [[http://www.playbill.com/news/article/sondheim-issues-response-following-report-of-disney-into-the-woods-film-cha-322818 reports on this front]] [[http://insidemovies.ew.com/2014/06/23/stephen-sondheim-statement-into-the-woods/ have been]] [[http://insidemovies.ew.com/2014/08/14/into-the-woods-rob-marshall/ conflicting]] (linked article contains spoilers for both versions).

* NominalHero: Used as part of its {{deconstruction}} of FairyTales. Everything that goes wrong in the DarkerAndEdgier second act is a direct or indirect result of the heroes [[ItsAllAboutMe putting their own]] HappilyEverAfter above the greater good. By the end, the cast admits that they have no idea who's the hero and who's the villain, and the most sympathetic character is the WickedWitch who was the first act's BigBad.

[[{{Creator/Disney}} Walt Disney Pictures]] released a [[Film/IntoTheWoods film adaptation]] on Christmas Day, 2014, with Rob Marshall (''Film/{{Chicago}}'' and ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanOnStrangerTides'') directing an AllStarCast including Creator/AnnaKendrick as Cinderella, Creator/ChrisPine as Prince Charming, Creator/MerylStreep as the Witch, Creator/JohnnyDepp as the Big Bad Wolf and many more. This being [[{{Disneyfication}} a Disney production]], Sondheim himself [[http://insidemovies.ew.com/2014/06/23/stephen-sondheim-statement-into-the-woods/ confirmed]] that this adaptation is LighterAndSofter than the original, though [[http://www.playbill.com/news/article/sondheim-issues-response-following-report-of-disney-into-the-woods-film-cha-322818 reports on this front]] [[http://insidemovies.ew.com/2014/06/23/stephen-sondheim-statement-into-the-woods/ have been]] [[http://insidemovies.ew.com/2014/08/14/into-the-woods-rob-marshall/ conflicting]] (linked article contains spoilers for both versions).

[[{{Creator/Disney}} Walt Disney Pictures]] released a [[Film/IntoTheWoods film adaptation]] on Christmas Day, 2014, with Rob Marshall (''Film/{{Chicago}}'' and ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanOnStrangerTides'') directing an AllStarCast including Creator/AnnaKendrick as Cinderella, Creator/ChrisPine as Prince Charming, Creator/MerylStreep as the Witch, Creator/JohnnyDepp as the Big Bad Wolf and many more. This being [[{{Disneyfication}} a Disney production]], Sondheim himself [[http://insidemovies.ew.com/2014/06/23/stephen-sondheim-statement-into-the-woods/ has confirmed]] that this adaptation is LighterAndSofter than the original, though [[http://www.playbill.com/news/article/sondheim-issues-response-following-report-of-disney-into-the-woods-film-cha-322818 reports on this front]] [[http://insidemovies.ew.com/2014/06/23/stephen-sondheim-statement-into-the-woods/ have been]] [[http://insidemovies.ew.com/2014/08/14/into-the-woods-rob-marshall/ conflicting]] (linked article contains spoilers for both versions).

** Averted with ''Into The Woods Junior'', a {{Bowdlerise}}d version of the play for children's school and community theater productions that literally omits the entire second act.

* RealityEnsues:
** Little Red makes the mistake of listening to a strange wolf, and the Baker makes her cry by stealing her cape, though he returns it out of guilt. Then she's EatenAlive and rescued from a wolf's stomach. In her next scene, she's extremely jittery from the trauma, pulling a knife on Jack when he compliments her wolfskin coat.
** Cinderella goes to the festival just to have a good time. While the prince is interested in her, she's scared by the world of royalty. She spends a whole song talking about how her life at home isn't cushy but it's familiar and she has a role in it, and she might not belong in a palace where everyone is naturally beautiful and graceful. Deciding that the prince should at least get a chance to prove he wants a clumsy servant girl in that world, she leaves her shoe behind and runs off, exchanging the other heel for the loafers belonging to the Baker's wife. To a lesser extent, she's not immediately ladylike when trying on heels, defying InstantExpert. For most of Act 1, she's wearing sensible flats for cleaning and walking. When wearing golden slippers with a high heel, she's stumbling. It's partly why when the Baker's wife offers her flat loafers for running, she makes the trade.
** This kicks in ''hard'' in Act II. A FourthDateMarriage does not a successful relationship make, particularly when you've married a PrinceCharmless. Having a child doesn't automatically improve your life when you still have ParentalAbandonment issues to deal with. Spending fourteen years locked in a tower with almost no one to talk to, and then wandering pregnant in the wilderness, does ''nothing'' for your mental health...and if you kill a Giantess's husband, she's not just going to forgive and forget...

* AuthorExistenceFailure: InUniverse. [[spoiler:The characters freak out after the narrator is killed as he was "the only one who knew how the story went."]]

* DiesWideOpen / DiedStandingUp: Jack's Mother, in the original Broadway production.

* AnAesop: Several, some subtler than others.
** Actions have consequences. You can't just go recklessly about doing whatever you want.
** Be aware that the way you act and the things you say will impact the next generation--children may not always obey, but they ''do'' listen.
** You should BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor.
--->"Wishes come true, not free."
** Nice is different than good, and the good people aren't always the ones you think.
** Life is hard, but rather than run away, you have to grow up and deal with it.
** Just because you don't like someone doesn't mean they don't know what they're talking about, and sometimes you need to swallow your pride and listen.
-->"Witches can be right. Giants can be good."
** If you insist on doing every little thing on your own with no help, you're not going to get anywhere.

* GoodIsNotNice: A major theme of the story. The Witch may do some dastardly or despicable things, but for the most part, they're often for the better. The Wolf, on the other hand, represents the exact opposite of this trope, given that he's certainly nice to Little Red, but has intentions that are FAR from good.

%%* CinderellaCircumstances: Cinderella, [[TropeNamer obviously.]]

'''Baker:''' Yes, maybe you shouldn't have.

* HopeSpringsEternal: By the end of the play, the Baker has come to see these.

* FamousLastWords:
** "I'M NOT THE LAD!!!" [[spoiler: [[BreakingTheFourthWall The Narrator]]]]
** "Jack..." [[spoiler:Jack's mother]]
** "And now it's time to leave the woods." [[spoiler:The Baker's Wife]]
** "Because of the way you treated me, I'll never, never be happy!" [[spoiler: Rapunzel. At least, these are the last words we actually hear her say in a scene prior to her death, aside from screaming.]]

** [[spoiler:Rapunzel's twin babies.]] In some productions, [[spoiler:they die with their mother under the foot of the Giant's wife. In case you didn't get that Act II was going to be rough...]]

* ExplainExplainOhCrap: At the beginning of Act Two, the witch, the Baker and the Baker's wife discuss what could have destroyed their homes. The witch refutes bears (sweet and don't have forty-foot feet), dragons (scorchers and no sign of flames), manticores (imaginary), griffins (extinct), and then the Baker says [[spoiler:"Giants."]] Just as she's about to refute it, the witch stops talking. There's a beat, and she whispers, "Possible. Very possible." As the narrator puts it, "More than possible."

* ActionGirl: Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella. While Act 1 isn't very action-oriented, they both (along with male counterparts Jack and The Baker) TookALevelInBadass in Act 2, with Cinderella venturing [[AccidentalPun into the woods]] on her own and dumping her "Prince Charming" (who actually turned out to be a douche), and Little Red Riding Hood replacing her red hood with a fur coat, receiving a knife for self-defense, and becoming a [[DeadpanSnarker Deadpan Snarking]], AxeCrazy GirlWithPsychoWeapon threatening to gut any potential attackers. Both ladies are among [[spoiler:the only four survivors of the show (five if you count the Baker's infant son)]] and actively participate in defeating the BigBad.

* AntiVillain: The Witch, who hints at being a BrokenBird.
** The Giantess. Let's face it, she's got a lot to complain about, and she has plenty of reason to be upset with Jack. Most of the deaths she causes are accidents and if she were human, Jack would have been thrown into a dungeon for the things he did to her and her husband.

* TheBigBadWolf: Played straight with the Wolf, although with disturbing overtones about what his actual intentions toward Red are. Traditionally, the wolf suit is as [[GagPenis Anatomically Correct]] as the production feels they can get away with. And since the Wolf is standing like a human (for obvious reasons), it's a lot more obvious than it would be on an actual wolf.

* BookEnds: "I wish..."

* BreakTheCutie: While it certainly was not the Witch's intention, her treatment of Rapunzel ended up turning into this.

** Bernadette Peters also talks to one of the audience members when Rapunzel sings for her.
* BrutalHonesty: The Witch.
-->'''Little Red Riding Hood:''' ''(after the royal family leaves to go hide)'' I hope the giant steps on them all.
-->'''Baker's Wife:''' Don't say that.
-->'''The Witch:''' You were thinking the same thing.

* CinderellaCircumstances: Cinderella, [[TropeNamer obviously.]]

* CrapsackWorld: The world becomes this during the second act. As the Narrator puts it, "You don't want to live in a world of chaos."

* DarkerAndEdgier: The entire second half of the play.

* FireForgedFriends: The Baker, Cinderella, Jack and Little Red.

Then comes the ''second'' act, where [[GenreDeconstruction everybody has to grow up]] [[RealityEnsues and face the consequences of their actions]].

* DraggedOffToHell: Both outdoor productions of the show put an interesting spin on the Witch's fate at the end of "Last Midnight". [[spoiler: Rather than disappearing into the smoke, she is ''[[NightmareFuel dragged into the ground by her dead mother]]'']].