Stephen Sondheim Talks Into The Woods Changes

Disney has reportedly removed some elements

We’ll have to wait until next January for Rob Marshall’s cinematic take on Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s fairytale-twisting musical Into The Woods. But, judging from comments Sondheim made to high school drama teachers recently, fans of the show might want to gird their loins for some changes to the plot.

This is nothing particularly new in the world of the Woods – given the popularity of the show, particularly among American high school theatre classes, some of the rougher edges of sexuality and violence are sanded down. "Well, you'll be happy to know that Disney had the same objections," Sondheim told the assembled tutors, before going on to detail some of the alterations. Those fearing spoilers will want to skip the next paragraph.

"You will find in the movie that Rapunzel does not get killed, and the prince does not sleep with the Baker's Wife," he said. Which explains why one of the story’s songs – 'Any Moment' – has had to go. "The song is cut," he explained, but clarified, "I'm sorry, I should say, it's probably cut. Disney executives said, ‘we don't want Rapunzel to die', so we replotted it. I won't tell you what happens, but we wrote a new song to cover it."

Sondheim went on to explain why he expressed his concerns about the changes but didn’t ultimately veto them: "There has to be a point at which you don't compromise anymore, but that may mean that you won't get anyone to sell your painting or perform your musical. You have to deal with reality."

The spin on fairy tales such as Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, Cinderella, Jack And The Beanstalk and more is a starry affair for the Mouse House with Johnny Depp, Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, James Corden, Anna Kendrick, Chris Pine, Lucy Punch and Tracy Ullman just a sampling of the names popping up in this one. And the studio is naturally hoping this can be a success with both Sondheim fans and the general audience, so you can understand any reticence to a certain degree. Still, we’ll see what the final result is – because the film is still being worked on – when Into The Woods arrives here on January 9.

from Empire News