Sondheim attended Williams College, where he received his bachelor's degree in 1950, before pursuing his interest in music with graduate study in composition and theory. It was he who first introduced the young boy to musical theater, and he became a mentor to Sondheim. Oscar Hammerstein II (who famously co-wrote songs with Richard Rodgers) became a father figure to young Sondheim. A family who lived nearby, the Hammersteins, became close friends.

His parents divorced when he was ten, and he and his mother lived in rural Pennsylvania during Sondheim's teenage years. On March 22, 1930, Sondheim was born to Herbert and Janet Sondheim, a well-to-do couple who were both in the fashion business. It seems fitting that Stephen Sondheim, the respected composer and lyricist, was born in New York City, where he lives today. Theatre Communications Group continues to publish a paperback of the play its fourteenth printing was published in 2006, complete with photos from an earlier production. It is included in many drama anthologies and collections of Sondheim's work, and has even been illustrated for a children's book. In aĬareer marked by famous and beloved plays, Sondheim has added Into the Woods to the list of those plays for which he is best known. In 1988, the play won three Antoinette Perry (Tony) Awards. The costumes, sets, and overdrawn characters give the play a heightened sense of theater. Since its first run, Into the Woods has been revived numerous times, with such cast members as Bernadette Peters and Vanessa Williams.

The pace is quick, and the characters remain fairly static as the audience watches how their personalities play out rather than how they develop. The play, a musical, visits themes of longing, pursuit, selfishness, and fantasy. Readers and audience members find themselves at once familiar with the characters and also surprised at the new plot twists and interactions that Sondheim and Lapine have written. Sondheim and Lapine introduce humor, mystery, emotion, and action to their imaginative drama. In fact, Lapine himself directed it.Ĭombining the traditional fairy tales of Rapunzel, Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella, Little Red Ridinghood, and a childless baker couple plagued by a witch, Into the Woods offers an intriguing retelling of these tales as if they are really all part of one big storyline. Less than a year later, the play appeared on Broadway, where it ran for well over a year. It was the product of a workshop at Playwrights Horizon in New York City, and was first produced in San Diego in 1986. Into the Woods, published in 1986, is a collaborative work by Stephen Sondheim (music and lyrics) and James Lapine (story).

Way to the woods creator