Once upon a time, not so very longago, the Skylight embarked on a journey into a wonderland of fairy talesand fantasy. We travelled over therainbow, encountered dragons,Caribbean gods and goddesses andpeople from different worlds. The season ends with the quintessentialmusical fantasy, INTO THE WOODS. For INTO THE WOODS, Stephen Sond-heim and James Lapine rewove someof the most beloved fairy tales to create a new classic. “Be careful whatyou wish for” is a theme in this musicalinspired by the Brothers Grimm. The story follows a Baker and his wifewho wish to have a child. They are vis-ited by a Witch, who reveals that sheplaced a curse on their family. Whenthey set off into an enchanted wilder-ness to reverse the curse, they meetan array of familiar fairy tale charac-ters: Cinderella, Jack and his cow, Little Red Riding Hood, the witch’sadopted daughter Rapunzel and twoPrinces chasing after their loves. Bythe end of Act I, everyone’s wish hasbeen granted and will seemingly live happily ever after. But in Act 2, we seehow their actions have consequencesfor the community at large, and we realize that no one is alone. For more than half a century StephenSondheim has set an unsurpassedstandard of brilliance and artistic integrity in the musical theater. Hismusic, steeped in the history of theAmerican stage, is also deeply informed by the classical tradition andthe advances of modern concertmusic. His words, unequalled in theirwit and virtuosity, have supplied profound insight into the joys and sorrows of life and love.Stephen Joshua Sondheim was bornin New York City in 1930. His father,Herbert Sondheim, was a successfuldress manufacturer; his mother, JanetFox, a fashion designer. He beganpiano lessons at an early age, andshowed an aptitude for music, puzzlesand mathematics.

When Sondheim was ten, his father (adistant figure) abandoned him and hismother. Although Herbert sought custody of Stephen, because he lefthis wife for another woman, withwhom he had two sons, he was unsuccessful. Sondheim detested his mother, whowas said to be psychologically abusiveand projected her anger from herfailed marriage on her son: "When myfather left her, she substituted me forhim. And she used me the way sheused him, to come on to and to berate.” She once wrote him a lettersaying that the "only regret [she] everhad was giving him birth". When hismother died in the spring of 1992,Sondheim did not attend her funeral.After the divorce, Stephen, an onlychild, and his mother moved to a farmin Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Thearea had attracted a number of well-known personalities from the NewYork theater world; a close neighborwas the playwright, lyricist and producer Oscar Hammerstein II,whose son Jimmy was Stephen's age.They became friends, and Sondheimcame to see the older Hammerstein asa role model. At the time, Hammer-stein was inaugurating his historic collaboration with composer RichardRodgers.

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Audience GuideSee the guide in color online atwww.skylightmusictheatre.org

2014-2015Our 56th SeasonIssue 6, May/June 2015IN THIS ISSUE

AUDIENCE GUIDEResearch/Writing by Justine Leonard

for ENLIGHTEN,Skylight Music Theatre’s

Education ProgramEdited by Ray Jivoff

414-299-4965rayj@skylightmusictheatre.orgwww.skylightmusictheatre.org

Stephen Sondheim: Master of the Musical

Stephen Sondheim

Music and Lyrics byStephen Sondheim

Book by James Lapine

This show is generously sponsored in part by

When Sondheim was in his teens,Rodgers and Hammerstein were enjoying unprecedented success withthe shows OKLAHOMA!, CAROUSELand SOUTH PACIFIC. Sondheim resolved that, like Hammerstein, hetoo would write for the theater. Sondheim studied piano seriouslythrough his prep school years, whileHammerstein tutored him in writing forthe theater. With Hammerstein's guid-ance, he wrote scripts and scores forfour shows, a project that occupiedSondheim through his student years atWilliams College. Upon graduation, he was awarded atwo-year scholarship to study compo-sition. He studied with the avant-gardecomposer Milton Babbit, writing apiano concerto and a violin sonatawhile trying to break into the theater.Sondheim's first efforts at securing aBroadway assignment fell through, buthe found work writing for television,and met two playwrights who wouldplay a significant role in his career:Arthur Laurents and Burt Shevelove. Although Sondheim aspired to writeboth words and music, his first Broad-way assignments called on him towrite either one or the other. At age 25he was hired to write lyrics for LeonardBernstein's music in the landmark

musical WEST SIDE STORY. In 1957,his second Broadway musical wasalso as lyricist, this time with composer Jule Styne for another land-mark show, GYPSY. Both shows hadscripts by Arthur Laurents and were directed by Jerome Robbins. The first time the credit, "Music andLyrics by Stephen Sondheim" appeared was in 1962 for A FUNNYTHING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TOTHE FORUM. It was an unqualifiedsuccess, and introduced the first ofSondheim's tunes to become a stan-dard, Comedy Tonight. The script forFORUM was co-written by Sondheim'sfriend, Burt Shevelove. Sondheim collaborated with ArthurLaurents again on ANYONE CANWHISTLE (1964). The show closed almost immediately, but has devel-oped a cult following; its title song is afavorite of Sondheim's admirers. Sondheim returned to the role of lyricist-for-hire one more time to collaborate with Hammerstein's oldpartner Richard Rodgers on DO IHEAR A WALTZ? in 1965. From thenon, he would insist on writing bothmusic and lyrics, although nearly fiveyears would elapse before a Sond-heim musical opened on Broadway.

Royalties from WEST SIDE STORY,GYPSY and FORUM, all of which weremade into motion pictures, freed himto develop projects of his choosing. Inthe meantime, he published a remark-able series of word puzzles in NewYork Magazine. Many critics have related his love of puzzles and wordgames to the dazzling word play of hislyrics, with their intricate rhymes, punsand wide-ranging allusions.Sondheim made a historic break-through as both composer and lyricistwith COMPANY (1971), a caustic look atlove and marriage in contemporaryNew York City. The show, an earlyxample of the “concept musical,” established Sondheim as the most inventive and daring composer work-ing in the musical theater. COMPANY was Sondheim's first collaboration with director HaroldPrince, followed by FOLLIES in 1972.The show paid masterful tribute to thesong styles of Broadway's past, usingthem to ironic effect to comment onthe challenges of middle age and thecorrosive effects of self-delusion. Sondheim's detractors claimed that hiswork was too bitter and sophisticatedfor popular success. His next produc-tion, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC (1973), putthese doubts to rest. Its elegant, waltz-based score and humor charmed audiences, while its signature song,Send in the Clowns, became an unexpected pop standard. Sondheim received Tony Awards forthe music and lyrics of all three ofthese shows. In 1974, he wrote anadaptation of the classical Greek comedy THE FROGS, with a script byhis old friend Burt Shevelove to beperformed in the Yale University swimming pool. He also co-wrote the screenplay for anintricate murder mystery, THE LAST OFSHEILA (1973). From 1973 to 1981,Sondheim served as President of theDramatists Guild, the professional association of playwrights, theatricalcomposers and lyricists.

INTO THE WOODS

SWEENEY TODD marked the climax ofSondheim's long collaboration withHarold Prince. MERRILY WE ROLLALONG (1981), adapted from a bitter-sweet Kaufman and Hart drama of the1930s, was the last of their shows together. Sondheim embarked on apartnership with playwright and direc-tor James Lapine. The pair has collab-orated on three musicals with booksby Lapine and score by Sondheim. They first collaborated in 1984 onSUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE, a work inspired by Georges Seurat'spointillist painting, Sunday AfternoonOn the Isle of the Grande Jatte. Theplay intertwines the story of Seuratand his mistress with that of a contem-porary painter and his lover. It was acommercial success and one of thefew Broadway musicals to be awardeda Pulitzer Prize. This was followed in 1987 by INTOTHE WOODS, which sought the mean-ing inside some of the most familiarchildhood fairy tales. It has been produced successfully all over theUnited States. A film version was released in December 2014.Their final production together was1994’s PASSION, that takes a dark, intimate story of unrequited love andset it to music of heartrendingpoignancy. It holds the questionabledistinction of having the shortestBroadway run of any winner of theTony Award for Best Musical.Between Broadway assignments,Sondheim has written scores for thefilms STAVISKY (1974) and REDS (1981),and contributed songs to the films THE

SEVEN PERCENT SOLUTION (1976) andDICK TRACY (1990). Sooner or Later,written for DICK TRACY, won him anOscar for Best Song. In 1990, Sond-heim spent a term as the first VisitingProfessor of Contemporary Theatre atOxford University. In his own country,he was honored with the NationalMedal of Arts. One of Sondheim's most disturbingproductions was ASSASSINS (1990), anexamination of the motives and delu-sions of the men who murdered American presidents. Sondheim has gathered his experi-ence writing for the stage in twobooks, FINISHING THE HAT: COLLECTED LYRICS (1954-1981) WITHATTENDANT COMMENTS, PRINCIPLES, HERESIES, GRUDGES,WHINES AND ANECDOTES publishedin 2010 and LOOK, I MADE A HAT: COLLECTED LYRICS (1981-2011) WITH ATTENDANT COMMENTS, AMPLIFICA-TIONS, DOGMAS, HARANGUES, WAFFLINGS, DIVERSIONS AND ANECDOTES, published in 2011. Thebooks provide invaluable insight intothe art and craft of songwriting, aspracticed by an artist of monumentalaccomplishment. Sondheim has received many honorsincluding the Kennedy Center Honors,Lifetime Achievement (1993). Otherawards include the Presidential Medalof Freedom (2014), Grammy Awards for Best Score from an Original CastAlbum for COMPANY (1970), A LITTLENIGHT MUSIC (1973), SWEENEY TODD(1979), SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITHGEORGE (1984), INTO THE WOODS(1988), PASSION (1994) and WEST SIDESTORY (2010). Send in the Clowns wona Grammy in 1975 as Song of the Year.He has won 7 Tony Awards for BestMusical and a Special Tony Award forLifetime Achievement in the Theatre in2008. He is also a member of theAmerican Theatre Hall of Fame.Sondheim founded Young Playwrightsin 1981 to introduce young people towriting for the theatre, and is the orga-nization's executive vice-president. The Stephen Sondheim Society wasestablished in 1993 to provide information about his work, including

Sondheim-the Magazine provided toits membership. The society maintainsa database, organizes productions,meetings and other events and assistswith publicity. Its annual Student Per-former of the Year Competition awardsa £1,000 prize to one of twelve musical-theatre students from UKdrama schools and universities. The Henry Miller Theatre on West43rd Street in New York City, was renamed the Stephen Sondheim Theatre on September 15, 2010 forthe composer's 80th birthday. Sond-heim said in response to the honor,"I'm deeply embarrassed. Thrilled, butembarrassed. I've always hated mylast name. It just doesn't sing."According to The Daily Telegraph,Sondheim is "almost certainly" theonly living composer with a quarterlyjournal published in his name; TheSondheim Review, founded in 1994,chronicles and promotes his work.Regarding his personal life, Sondheimhas been described as introverted andsolitary. In an interview with FrankRich he said, "The outsider feeling,somebody who people want to bothkiss and kill, occurred quite early in mylife". The composer is in a relationshipwith Jeff Romley, and lived withdramatist Peter Jones for eight years(until 1999).

INTO THE WOODS

James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim

Beginning with "Once upon a time,"the Narrator introduces four characterswho each have a wish: Cinderella, thedaughter of a rich man reduced tobeing a servant, wishes to attend theKing's festival; Jack wishes that hiscow would give milk to avoid beingsold; and a Baker and his Wife wishthey could have a child.The Witch tells the Baker and his Wifethat she placed an infertility curse ontheir house after catching the Baker'sfather in her garden stealing her"magic" beans. The Witch also tooktheir newborn child and named herRapunzel. The curse could be lifted if,before the third midnight, they bringher four ingredients for a potion: "thecow as white as milk, the cape as redas blood, the hair as yellow as cornand the slipper as pure as gold". They all go into the woods- Jack to sellhis cow, Cinderella's family goes to theFestival, Little Red goes to her grand-mother's house and the Baker, refus-ing his wife's help, goes to find thepotion ingredients (Prologue).Cinderella goes to her mother's gravein the woods seeking guidance, andreceives a ball gown and slippers fromher mother's spirit (At the Grave). Little Red meets the Wolf (Hello, LittleGirl). The Baker’s Wife has followedhim and together they convince Jackthat the beans the Baker found in hisfather's jacket are magic. Jack saysgoodbye to his cow (I Guess This IsGoodbye). The Baker has regrets, buthis Wife reasons that their wish tohave a child justifies their trickery(Maybe They're Magic).Little Red arrives at her grandmother'shouse, and is eaten by the Wolf. TheBaker slays the Wolf, saving Little Redand her grandmother. Little Red reflects on her experience (I KnowThings Now), then rewards the Bakerwith the red cape. Meanwhile, Jack's mother tosses thebeans aside and Cinderella flees theFestival, pursued by a Prince. TheWife helps her hide and doesn’t under-stand Cinderella’s ambivalence aboutthe ball (A Very Nice Prince).

As a giant beanstalk grows next toJack's house, the Baker's Wife seesCinderella's gold slippers. She chasesCinderella and the cow escapes as thefirst midnight chimes (First Midnight).Jack returns from climbing the bean-stalk and stealing the Giant’s gold (Giants in the Sky). He gives theBaker five gold pieces to buy back hiscow. The Baker hesitates, and Jackclimbs the beanstalk to find more. TheMysterious Man taunts the Baker andsteals the money. The Baker's Wife confesses she haslost the cow, and she and the Bakersplit up to look for it. The Princescompare the misery of their newfoundloves (Agony). The Baker's Wife over-hears Rapunzel's Prince saying hehas found a girl with “hair as yellow ascorn." She fools Rapunzel into lettingdown her hair and pulls out a piece ofit. Meanwhile, The Mysterious Man returns Milky White to the Baker.The Baker and his wife reunite, withthree of the four items. The Baker admits that they need to work together(It Takes Two). Jack arrives with a henthat lays golden eggs and tries to buythe cow back, but it suddenly dies asmidnight chimes (Second Midnight). The Witch discovers that the Princehas been visiting Rapunzel and begsRapunzel to stay with her (Stay withMe). When Rapunzel refuses, theWitch banishes her to a desert. The Mysterious Man gives the Bakerthe money to buy another cow. Jackbrags to Little Red about his experi-ences in the kingdom of the Giant.She goads him into returning to theGiant's home to steal a magic harp.Cinderella, returning from the festival,describes how the Prince spread pitchon the stairs to prevent her from es-caping. She leaves one of her slippersas a clue to her identity (On the Stepsof the Palace). The Baker's Wife offersher the sixth magic bean for her shoe.Cinderella throws the bean aside,trades shoes with the Baker's Wifeand flees, while unnoticed, a beanstalkstarts to grow. The Baker arrives withanother, not-quite-white cow.

A great crash is heard and Jack'smother reports that there is a deadGiant in her backyard, killed whenJack chopped down the bean-stalk. The Witch discovers the false cow,brings Milky White back to life and instructs the Baker to feed the items tothe cow. When it fails to work, theBaker's Wife admits that the hair isRapunzel's. The Witch explains thatshe cannot have touched any of theingredients. The Mysterious Man tellsthe Baker to feed the hair-like corn silkto the cow. The Witch reveals that theMysterious Man is the Baker's father. The Witch drinks the potion and theMysterious Man dies. The Witch istransformed into a beautiful woman,reversing the curse placed on her byher mother to punish her for letting herbeans be stolen by the Baker's father.Meanwhile, Rapunzel has borne twinsin the desert where her Prince findsher. The Witch realizes that her powers have been lost. At Cinderella and the Prince’s weddingthe stepsisters are blinded by birds aspunishment for their wickedness.Everyone else feels they will live happily Ever After.

INTO THE WOODSAct I Synopsis

Scenic designs by Peter Dean Beck

The Narrator introduces the actionagain: "Once upon a time...later." Allthe characters seem happy but are stillwishing: The Baker and his Wife havea baby boy, but wish for more roomand bicker over the Baker's unwilling-ness to hold his child; Jack and hismother are rich, but Jack misses hiskingdom in the sky; Cinderella is boredliving with her Prince Charming in thePalace (So Happy).Suddenly, there is a loud crash. TheWitch reports that enormous footprintsfrom a Giant have destroyed her garden. The Baker and his Wife decide to tell the Royal Family. Thenews is dismissed by the Steward. When he returns home, Little Red arrives on her way to Granny's: herhouse has been destroyed and hermother is missing. The Baker and hisWife decide to escort her. Meanwhile,Jack wants to slay the Giant. Cinderella learns from her bird friendsthat her mother's grave was disturbedand decides to investigate, dressed inher old clothes. Once again, everyoneheads into the woods. (Into the WoodsReprise).Rapunzel has also fled to the woods,her treatment at the hands of theWitch having driven her into madness.Her Prince has followed her, but whenhe encounters his brother they eachconfess they have grown bored withtheir marriages and now pursue twowomen asleep in the woods - SnowWhite and Sleeping Beauty (AgonyReprise).The Baker, his Wife and Little Redmeet Cinderella's family and the Stew-ard in the woods. They reveal that thecastle was set upon by the Giant. TheWitch arrives, bringing news that thevillage and the Baker's house havebeen destroyed. Suddenly, thunderousfootsteps are heard. It is the Giant’swidow, who has come from the secondbeanstalk. She wants to punish Jackfor killing her husband. To satisfy theGiantess, the group realizes they mustgive her someone. After some debate,the Witch throws the Narrator into theGiantess' arms and he is killed. Jack'smother enters and defends her son,angering the Giantess. The Steward

clubs Jack's mother to quiet her, inadvertently killing her. As the Giantess leaves to search for Jack,Rapunzel runs into her path and iskilled, to the horror of the Witch(Witch's Lament).The Royal Family flee to a hiddenkingdom despite the Baker's pleas forthem to stay and fight the Giantess.The Witch declares she will find Jackand sacrifice him to the Giantess, andthe Baker and his Wife decide theymust find him first. The Baker's Wife meets Cinderella'sPrince, and he seduces her (Any Moment). Meanwhile, the Baker discovers Cinderella at her mother'sruined grave and convinces her to jointheir group for safety. The Princeleaves the Baker's Wife with a fewplatitudes, she realizes her error anddecides to return to her life with theBaker (Moments in the Woods). However, she stumbles into the pathof the Giantess, and is killed.The Baker, Little Red, and Cinderellaawait the return of the Baker's Wifewhen the Witch drags in Jack. TheBaker, grief-stricken when told of hiswife's death, unwittingly agrees to giveJack to the Giantess. The charactersblame each other for their predica-ment, finally blaming the Witch forgrowing the beans in the first place(Your Fault). Disgusted, the Witchcurses them and throws away the restof her magic beans, reactivating hermother's curse and making her vanish(Last Midnight).The grieving Baker flees, but is visitedby his father's spirit who convinceshim to face his responsibilities (NoMore). The Baker returns and helpsplan killing the Giantess, using Cinderella's birds to peck out the Giantess eyes at an area smearedwith pitch, where Jack and the Bakerfinally deliver a fatal blow. Cinderellastays behind with the Baker's son andwhen her Prince passes by, he doesn’trecognize her. She confronts him,knowing of his infidelity. He explainshis feelings of unfulfillment and theydecide to go their separate ways.Little Red returns with the news thather grandmother has been killed.

Meanwhile, the Baker tells Jack thathis mother is dead. Jack vows to killthe Steward in revenge until the Bakerconvinces him that more killing will notbenefit anyone. Cinderella comfortsLittle Red, while the Baker struggles toexplain to Jack what is morally correct.(No One Is Alone).The four remaining characters slay theGiantess. The survivors resolve toband together and rebuild. The spirit ofthe Baker's Wife appears to comforther mourning husband, advising himto tell their child their story. The Bakerbegins to tell the story as told by theNarrator at the beginning of the play.The Witch appears with the finalmoral: "Careful the things you say,Children Will Listen." All join in, con-firming that we all must venture “intothe woods” (Finale). Cinderella closesthe show with a final "I wish..."

INTO THE WOODSAct 2 Synopsis

The oral tradition of folk lore and fantasy came long before the writtenpage. Tales were told or enacted dramatically and handed down fromgeneration to generation. Althoughverbal transmission kept the storiesalive and growing, their origin and development is often obscure. Whenthe written word came along, it became possible to begin a chronol-ogy and make many classic storiespart of our literary history. Fairy talesappear throughout written culture as inTHE GOLDEN ASS, which includes themythological tale of Cupid and Psyche(Roman, 100–200 AD). The PANCHATANTRA is an ancientSanskrit collection of stories, probablyfirst composed around 300 BC. In thebroader definition of the genre, the firstfamous Western fairy tales are thoseof Aesop (6th century BC) in ancientGreece. In China, Taoist philosopherssuch as Liezi and Zhuangzi recountedfairy tales in their philosophical works.These writings show that the fairy talehas ancient roots. Jack Zipes writes in WHEN DREAMSCAME TRUE, "There are fairy tale elements in Chaucer's THE CANTER-BURY TALES, Edmund Spenser's THEFAERIE QUEENE, and in many ofShakespeare plays". ONE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS, acollection of West and South Asianstories and folk tales was compiled inArabic during the Islamic Golden Age.It is often known in English as THE

ARABIAN NIGHTS, from the first English language edition (1706). Someof the magical stories include ALADDIN'S WONDERFUL LAMP, ALIBABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES andTHE SEVEN VOYAGES OF SINBADTHE SAILOR. While not part of Arabicversions, these stories were addedinto the collection by Antoine Gallandand other European translators.Fairy tales became popular among theupper class in France around 1690–1710. Among the tales told in that timewere the works of La Fontaine andCharles Perrault. Perrault's collectionscontain the oldest known forms of various fairy tales, SLEEPING BEAUTY,CINDERELLA, MOTHER GOOSE, PUSSIN BOOTS and RED RIDING HOOD. In creating INTO THE WOODS, Sond-heim and Lapine were influenced bythe works of the Brothers Grimm.Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm Grimm(1786–1859) were German academics, linguists, cultural researchers, lexicog-raphers and authors who worked together to collect and publish folkloreduring the 19th century. They were among the best-known storytellers of folk tales, and popular-ized stories such as CINDERELLA, THEFROG PRINCE, THE GOOSE-GIRL,HANSEL AND GRETEL, RUMPELSTILT-SKIN, SLEEPING BEAUTY and SNOWWHITE. Their first collection of folktales, CHILDREN'S AND HOUSEHOLDTALES, was published in 1812.The rise of romanticism during the19th century revived interest in tradi-tional folk stories, which to the broth-ers represented a pure form ofnational literature and culture. Be-tween 1812 and 1857, their first collec-tion was revised and republishedmany times, growing from 86 stories tomore than 200. The tales are availablein more than 100 languages. Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875)was one of the most important contrib-utors to the fairy tale genre. Oftencompared to the works of the BrothersGrimm, but Andersen’s stories wereoriginal with a contemporary settingrather than compilations of previouslyunwritten stories.

Andersen was a Danish author ofplays, travelogues, novels and poems,but best remembered for his fairytales. His stories, called eventyr inDanish, or "fairy-tales" in English, express themes that transcend ageand nationality. He brought this genreto a new level by writing a vast number of fairy tales that were bothbold and original. His stories, translated into more than125 languages, are readily accessibleto children and present lessons ofvirtue and resilience in the face of adversity for mature readers as well.Some of his fairy tales include: THELITTLE MERMAID, THE EMPEROR'SNEW CLOTHES, THE PRINCESS ANDTHE PEA, THE RED SHOES, THESNOW QUEEN, THUMBELINA and THEUGLY DUCKLING.

INTO THE WOODSFairy Tale History

The Brothers Grimm

Hans Christian Andersen

The impetus for INTO THE WOODScame when Sondheim and Lapine de-cided to write a musical creating anentirely new fairy tale with a differenttwist. They wove the first act from ex-isting fairy tales while the second actfollowed the examples of SHOW BOATand THE FANTASTICKS in exploringwhat happens after "happily everafter”. Familiar fairy tale characterswere chosen for the main storyline --Cinderella, Jack and the beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood, Prince Charm-ing and a Witch. The creators addedtwo original characters to the mix: achildless Baker and his Wife.Drawing on the original Grimm ver-sions of the fairy tales, aspects wereincluded which had been dropped inversions by Perrault and Disney. Forexample, the original tales were moreviolent, and the characters had greaterchallenges to overcome. The woods are a dominant symbol.They are not the traditional pastoralforest, but are threatening, scary andperilous. While they are the placewhere wishes can be fulfilled, there isa cost and a consequence to everywish and action, even if not immedi-ately obvious to the wisher. It remains for the characters to discover the effect of their actions onothers, a lesson necessary for surviv-ing in the woods. Moreover, the woodsare representative of the transition between childhood and maturity. Likeadolescence, they are scary and filledwith angst, emerging sexuality, self-discovery and even death. Also incorporated into the script andthe lyrics were elements of Bruno Bettelheim's THE USES OF ENCHANT-MENT (1976), a psychological analysisof fairy tales and their meanings. Sources include NO ONE IS ALONE byDon Whittaker and Missy Wigley

Beginning with the fathers of the field,Sigmund Freud (1856 – 1939) and CarlJung (1875 –1961), psychoanalysts haveturned to fairy tales to understand thehuman mind. Most often, analysts approach fairy tales in one of twoways: by studying the psychology ofthe creators of the stories or by exam-ining the true meaning of the charac-ters and how they cut to the essenceof the human psyche.For Freud, fairy tales are rife with wishfulfillment fantasies and complicatedsexual undercurrents. He suspectsthat dreams and fairy tales stem fromthe same place, and the relaxation ofinhibition that occurs in the dreamstate is also true of many storytellers.So fairy tales may prove, like dreams,to be windows into the unconscious.Many fairy tales include dream-statesas important plot points. Fairy tales are also inextricably linkedto the work of Carl Jung. The “collec-tive unconscious” that lies at the coreof his work, and which he believed isshared by all human beings, is revealed through archetypes, formsand symbols found in ample evidencein fairy tales. Some Jungians argue that one reasonfairy tales appeal to children is thatthey are in a stage of their develop-ment only slightly removed fromdeeper layers of the collective uncon-scious. Jungian therapists study fairytales to help analyze the dreams oftheir patients. Jung’s disciples havegone on to interpret fairy tales as livesin miniature, suggesting, for example,

that each character within a tale mayrepresent an aspect of personality.Bruno Bettelheim (1903 –1990) was anAustrian-born American child psychol-ogist who gained an international reputation for his work on Freud, psychoanalysis, and emotionally disturbed children. He analyzed classic fairy tales and exposed the"true" lessons they teach children. Bettelheim delves into the Freudiandefinition of the id, ego and superegoand asserts that "the child's uncon-scious processes can become clarifiedfor him only through images whichspeak directly to his unconscious. Theimages evoked by fairy tales do this." According to Bettelheim, HANSEL ANDGRETEL, for example, helps a childget over separation anxiety when heor she comes of age and needs to discover autonomy. It also teaches notto be overcome by greed (eat breadand not sweets). SNOW WHITE isabout a teenage girl who breaks awayfrom her evil stepmother and is rescued by males, teaching the naturalorder of transferring attachment.Other authorities have disputed aspects of his interpretation. Harvardprofessor Maria Tatar challenges Bettelheim’s overly Freudian analysisof fairy tales in her book OFF WITHTHEIR HEADS!: FAIRY TALES AND THECULTURE OF CHILDHOOD. She callshis analysis "radically unjust, mislead-ing and inaccurate…there remainssomething empowering and psycho-logically insightful in these stories thatdemonstrate the triumph of the smalland weak over the tall and powerful.”After his suicide, Bettelheim and manyof his ideas were discredited, but hisbook, THE USES OF ENCHANTMENT,remains one of the most quoted re-sources on the theory of fairy tales.

Sources include Portfolio NYU. http://jour-nalism.nyu.edu/publishing/archives/portfo-lio/books/book411.html; By Carrie Hughes.From http://www.mccarter.org/

INTO THE WOODSCreating a “New Fairy Tale”

Sigmund Freud

James Elliot Lapine (above) was bornon January 10, 1949, in Mansfield,Ohio. When Lapine was in his earlyteens, his family moved to Stamford,Connecticut. He attended publicschools then attended Franklin andMarshall College as a history major.Photography and graphic design cap-tured Lapine's imagination, and hesoon moved to Valencia, California, topursue an MFA in design at the Cali-fornia Institute of the Arts.After completing his education, Lapinemoved to New York City, where heheld several jobs, including waiter,NBC tour guide, graphic artist and ar-chitectural preservationist. He also didfreelance design work on the maga-zine for the Yale School of Drama. Lapine's work impressed the school'sdean, Robert Brustein, who asked himnot only to design all of the school'sprinted material but also to join thefaculty as a design teacher. In a curious melding of expertise and envi-ronment, Lapine directed a GertrudeStein play called PHOTOGRAPH in1977, and it was there that the seedwas planted for his future. The produc-tion was innovative for its use of projections and moved to an Off-Broadway house in New York City, andearned Lapine an Obie, his first ofmany theater awards. Lapine's work with composers WilliamFinn and Stephen Sondheim led to hismost notable successes. In 1981, heand Finn collaborated on MARCH OFTHE FALSETTOS, a musical about a

man who leaves his wife and son to bewith another man in the early years ofthe AIDS crisis. It evolved over theyears into the Tony Award-winningFALSETTOLAND.Lapine's introduction in 1982 to composer Stephen Sondheim led himto revisit the haunting image ofGeorges Seurat's A Sunday Afternoonon the Island of La Grande Jatte thathe had used in PHOTOGRAPH. The resulting SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITHGEORGE became a groundbreakingmusical that won two Tony Awards anda Pulitzer Prize. New York Timestheater critic Ben Brantley said of theshow: "You really did believe that itwas a melding of the artistic minds ofSeurat, Mr. Sondheim, [and] Mr. Lap-ine that summoned this vision intobeing."Lapine wrote the book, with Finn composing the music for A NEWBRAIN, which premiered Off-Broadwayin 1998. Lapine directed the TonyAward winning THE 25TH ANNUALPUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE(2005) with music and lyrics by Mr.Finn. The team most recently wrote amusical based on the film LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE (2011). Lapine has written a number of playsincluding TABLE SETTINGS producedin 1979 at Playwrights Horizons; TWELVE DREAMS, produced in 1978 atthe Public Theater; THE MOMENTWHEN, produced in 2000 at Play-wrights Horizons and FRAN'S BED, produced in 2003 at the Long WharfTheatre. Lapine has also directed numerous productions including DIRTYBLONDE, THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANKand a recent revival of ANNIE. Lapine has also written and/or directedother films, including EARTHLY POSSESSIONS starring Susan Saran-don, and the recent HBO documentaryproduced with former theater criticFrank Rich, SIX BY SONDHEIM, whichfeatures the details of the composer'slife as told through six songs.Lapine is married to American screen-writer Sarah Kernochian. Their daugh-ter is food writer Phoebe Lapine.

INTO THE WOODSJames Lapine: A Broadway Innovator