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SING A SONG OF SONDHEIM

Into the Woods is a cautionary fairy tale for the 80s

[[image - color photograpgh of five cast members of Into the Woods, Bernadette Peters in foreground]]
[[photo credit: MARTHA SWOPE]]
[[caption: Into the Woods, the new Stephen Sondheim/James Lapine musical at the Martin Beck. (l. to r.) Bernadette Peters, Chip Zien, Kim Crosby, Ben Wright, Danielle Ferland[[/csption]]

One of the enduring attractions of fairy tales is the comforting message they convey to children. They depict a world clearly compartmentalized into good and bad, right and wrong, black and white: virtue is rewarded, evil is punished, wishes come true, and the prince arrives on cue to rescue the fair maiden. Even though these stories often deal with acts of violence, abandonment, and death, their young protagonists always emerge victorious, presumably en route to living happily ever after.

Real life, however, is far more complex and far less predictable--a lesson we learn as we grow up. And it is that passage from fantasy to reality, from childhood to adulthood, from dependence to independence and interdependence, which supplies the impetus for Into the Woods, the new musical by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine. The Pulitzer Prize-winning authors of Sunday in the Park With George have assembled such well-known storybook characters as Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack (of Beanstalk fame), and Rapunzel and have retold their sagas as a cautionary tale for the eighties.

"The first act is the fairy tale," says Lapine. "The second act is the myth. People keep writing about the second act as if it's a continuation of what happens after the happily ever after. But it's really about growing up and real life and understanding the differences between reality and fantasy. There's a part of all of us that expect somebody else to take care of important issues. And it's crucial to say that

by Sheryl Flatow

14

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