Into The Woods.

SONDHEIM, Stephen; James Lapine; Adapted and Illustrated by Hudson Talbott.

$3,200.00

Item Number: 124779

New York: Crown Publishers, 1989.

First edition of this classic work, the basis for the Broadway musical and subsequent film. Quarto, original cloth, pictorial endpapers, illustrated. Presentation copy, inscribed by Stephen Sondheim on the half-title page, “To Harold Merry, with best wishes from Stephen Sondheim 1/12/89.” Sondheim has also added a drawing of a musical notation with the lyrics, “Mother cannot guide you…” Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket illustration by Hudson Talbott. An exceptional example.

Into the Woods is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine and illustrated by Hudson Talbott. The musical intertwines the plots of several Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault fairy tales, exploring the consequences of the characters' wishes and quests. The main characters are taken from "Little Red Riding Hood", "Jack and the Beanstalk", "Rapunzel", and "Cinderella", as well as several others. The musical is tied together by an original story involving a childless baker and his wife and their quest to begin a family, their interaction with a witch who has placed a curse on them, and their interaction with other storybook characters during their journey. The musical debuted in San Diego at the Old Globe Theatre in 1986 and premiered on Broadway on November 5, 1987, where it won several Tony Awards, including Best Score, Best Book, and Best Actress in a Musical (Joanna Gleason). The film adaptation directed by Rob Marshall and starring Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, James Corden, Anna Kendrick, Chris Pine, Tracey Ullman, Christine Baranski and Johnny Depp was released and received three Academy Award nominations and three Golden Globe Award nominations.