Into the Woods

Rating:
Summary: Don't be fooled! Doesn't include the score!
Review: This is a wonderful musical, I love it, etc. etc. BUT contrary to "David"'s review, it DOES NOT INCLUDE THE SCORE! I ordered this item specifically because I needed the music (and rush-shipped it). Needless to say, I was VERY disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Don't be fooled! Doesn't include the score!
Review: This is a wonderful musical, I love it, etc. etc. BUT contrary to "David"'s review, it DOES NOT INCLUDE THE SCORE! I ordered this item specifically because I needed the music (and rush-shipped it). Needless to say, I was VERY disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Plays Capture 6th Grade Interest
Review: This is a wonderful play to introduce students to music, theater, Sondheim, and fairy tales. In my class we read many of the original Grimm Fairy Tales (Dover Ed.) and the Perrault Fairy Tales (Dover) discussing the tales, but also color symbolism, different forms of magic, totems, threshold creatures, etc. Pretty heady stuff for sixth graders, but they LOVE it! Finally we read this wonderful interconnection of Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel, Baker and His Wife, Little Red Riding Hood, and more while they are on a quest tale to get things to undo spells. Everyone takes parts and it is AWESOME!! The book is certainly not just for kids, there are very dark themes underlying all of the "fun". These can be discussed and its great to see kids find more to a story than its literal meaning. The VHS tape is then shown, which can be ordered here. This is a taping of the Broadway stage production and is mesmerising. Students think it's awesome. (I do suggest previewing, though. The wolf certainly is "untamed nature" and his coat stops just above what probably should be hidden in a mixed group of sixth graders. :) We just fast forward those three minutes.) This is a great unit. If you would like more info, please contact me via e-mail. This is wonderful stuff, though certainly not Disney!!

Rating:
Summary: This is a wonderful book
Review: This play is a very fast and enjoyable read, especially if you are into musicals. I suggest that you read it with the soundtrack, because the music is very powerful.Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine are an amazing team and will leave you wanting more.

Rating:
Summary: All of our favorite characters join in this magical tale!
Review: What a wonderful way to invite fairytale characters everywhere to come together in a story of their lives! How else could Little Red Riding Hood encounter Jack and his beanstalk, or Cinderella and her prince? Who but James Lapine could bring together a long lost sister and father to a childless baker and his wife? Sondheim's music seamlessly flows in and out of this tale intemitten with tragedy and comedy. This is a wonderful story, and I look foward to performing on stage at my school. After reading and watching and listening to this interweaving story, I am more than willing to play anyone in the cast. (Though I'd most like to Cinderella!) A tale with many ups and downs, a few twists, and a happy ever after ending that leaves us wondering what else is in store for this cast of characters, it's a story for everyone if the slight sexual innuendoes and the anatomically correct wolf can be overlooked. A tale of spells and magic, and everything will turn out right in the end if they can just make it home before dark.