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List Price: $24.98Amazon.com's Price: $19.99 You Save: $4.99 (20%)Prices subject to change.
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: Unrated
Binding: DVD
EAN: 0014381596724
Format: Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Label: Image Entertainment
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
Number Of Items: 1
Picture Format: Academy Ratio
Publisher: Image Entertainment
Region Code: 1
Release Date: August 27, 1997
Running Time: 153 minutes
Sales Rank: 1176
Studio: Image Entertainment
Theatrical Release Date: March 20, 1991
Editorial Review:
Amazon.com essential video:
Fractured fairy tales of a darker hue provide the remarkable context for Into the Woods, which deconstructs the Brothers Grimm by way of Rod Serling. While the faces and names are familiar, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, and company inhabit a sylvan neighborhood in which witches and bakers are next-door neighbors, handsome princes from once-parallel fables are competitive (and equally vain) brothers, and all the stories intersect through unexpected new plot twists.
Stephen Sondheim's Tony-winning score favors intricate ensemble numbers that present the characters' divergent, then overlapping fears and desires. And it's the latter category that provides a primary thread to James Lapine's ingenious puzzle of a book, which coheres around the inevitability--and treachery--of our innermost wishes. That theme is given farcical energy in the first act, which offers enough comic invention, tart dialogue, and witty music for a satisfying evening of theater as is.
Instead, Sondheim and Lapine offer a bold, darker second act that takes a look at what happens after 'happily ever after,' elevating the work beyond inspired parody toward allegorical gravity. By the final scenes, with the one-two punch of the score's two most enduring songs, 'No One Is Alone' and 'Children Will Listen,' what began as a clever diversion has touched deeper nerves and primed some tear ducts. This video production by the original Broadway cast gets its marquee shimmer from Bernadette Peters's wonderful witch, but the standout (and Tony winner as Best Actress) is Joanna Gleason, who gives the Baker's Wife a mixture of warmth, pragmatism, and sudden, poignantly romantic radiance.
The DVD version is comparatively no-frills, given its American Playhouse origins, but multiformat digital audio renders the musical performances in immaculate detail. --Sam Sutherland
Amazon.com:
Fractured fairy tales of a darker hue provide the remarkable context for Into the Woods, which deconstructs the Brothers Grimm by way of Rod Serling. While the faces and names are familiar, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, and company inhabit a sylvan neighborhood in which witches and bakers are next-door neighbors, handsome princes from once-parallel fables are competitive (and equally vain) brothers, and all the stories intersect through unexpected new plot twists.
Stephen Sondheim's Tony-winning score favors intricate ensemble numbers that present the characters' divergent, then overlapping fears and desires. And it's the latter category that provides a primary thread to James Lapine's ingenious puzzle of a book, which coheres around the inevitability--and treachery--of our innermost wishes. That theme is given farcical energy in the first act, which offers enough comic invention, tart dialogue, and witty music for a satisfying evening of theater as is.
Instead, Sondheim and Lapine offer a bold, darker second act that takes a look at what happens after 'happily ever after,' elevating the work beyond inspired parody toward allegorical gravity. By the final scenes, with the one-two punch of the score's two most enduring songs, 'No One Is Alone' and 'Children Will Listen,' what began as a clever diversion has touched deeper nerves and primed some tear ducts. This video production by the original Broadway cast gets its marquee shimmer from Bernadette Peters's wonderful witch, but the standout (and Tony winner as Best Actress) is Joanna Gleason, who gives the Baker's Wife a mixture of warmth, pragmatism, and sudden, poignantly romantic radiance.
The DVD version is comparatively no-frills, given its American Playhouse origins, but multiformat digital audio renders the musical performances in immaculate detail. --Sam Sutherland
Description:
A baker and his wife journey into the woods in search of a cow, a red cape, a pair of golden slippers and some magic beans to lift a curse that has kept them childless. Tony Award winners Bernadette Peters, Joanna Gleason and the rest of the original Broadway cast weave their magic spell over you in Stephen Sondheim's masterpiece, directed by James Lapine, a seamless fusion of fairy tale characters and what happens after 'happily ever after. 'With oft-recorded songs such as 'Children Will Listen' and 'No One is Alone,' 'Into the Woods' is a music lover's delight from start to finish--and will forever cement Stephen Sondheim's unparalleled position as the giant of the American musical theater.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Into the woods
Liked it. Familiar with story/music/etc, but enjoyed re-viewing it. Unable to see a local live performance, but this was almost as good.
Rating: - Great Broadway Show!!
I bought this DVD after my daughter was in her middle school drama production of the show. "Into the Woods" is a great life lesson story which is based on many familiar fairy tale characters. It interweaves the classic fairy tales but continues on after the typical "happily ever after" to show what happens when you wish for too much. My daughter and I enjoyed watching this Broadway show very much!!
Rating: - Fabulous
This is my absolute favorite musical. The acting is superb. Extremely funny, even moving. Can't go wrong with this one!
Rating: - Grimm's Fairytales Revisted
Take your favorite Grimm's Fairytales--throw them in a blender and hit MIX! Steven Sondheim does a teriffic job mixing Rapunzel, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, etc. into a magical funfest. But the best part is Part Two--What happens after "Happily Ever After" Enjoy the original B'Way Production with Bernedette Peters as the Witch (and such a WITCH she is!!!!)
Rating: - Utter Perfection ...
I am the sort of person who is not quick to praise. Most Broadway recordings, even if I adore the show, will have, in my mind, something lacking ... a poorly-done scene here or there, an actor lacking in talent or passion, etc., etc.
However, this original Broadway cast videorecording of Into the Woods is nothing short of perfection. Stephen Sondheim is a genius of a lyricist and composer, and this is some of his finest work. The cast more than does him justice.
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