“Into the Woods” is a highly energetic and entertaining book musical by Stephen Sonheim that cleverly intertwines many classic fairy tales into one story. Although the music is very important to the story and instrumental to the entertainment value of the play (no pun intended), it is not as crucial to “Into the Woods” as the lyrics and book are. Although some types of musicals may rely solely on music to tell their story, Sondheim’s work does not. The music in this play helps to reinforce the drama and moods as they unfold, but could not stand alone without the script and storyline. I believe that because this musical incorporates many well known fairy tales brilliantly woven together, the lyrics and story take on an even more…show more content… Sonheim was able to take a collection of fables that most adults are very familiar with from their childhoods, and present them in a way that shows that there are an endless amount of ways the stories could be interpreted when looking at them from slightly different angles. The music contributes greatly to the overall entertainment and ability of the play to capture our attention by not just establishing the mood and feelings of the production, but also by revealing parts of the script/story. One way of describing the musical overall is that Sondheim created a new masterpiece for adults to enjoy when intertwining classic fables and adding more realistic elements to a collection of previously unrelated tales. I think one of the reasons people are willing to watch the same stories over and over again is because each time we see it we are different as people, and therefore see the stories and interpret them from different viewpoints. All of the classic fairy tales incorporated into “Into the Woods” are no different. And by adding in a quick remark here and there, and emphasizing different words in the script over others, it gives many more different comedic, and sometimes dark possibilities, to the story (and tales) that the viewer might not have ever seen. I think Sondheim was trying to illustrate just how ridiculous some elements of these stories were that we believed as children, and he was trying to show how they would have really unfolded if they were more highly bounded by
