Prologue: Into the Woods Lyrics

NARRATOR
Once upon a time,
In a far off kingdom,
There lay a small village at the edge of the woods.

CINDERELLA
I wish...

NARRARATOR
And in this village

CIDERELLA
More than anything...

NARRARATOR
Lived a young maiden,

CINDERELLA
More than life,
More than jewels

NARRARATOR
A care-free young lad

JACK
I wish...
More than life.

NARRATOR
And a childless baker

THE BAKER & BAKER'S WIFE
I wish?.

NARRATOR
With his wife

THE BAKER
More than anything

BAKER'S WIFE
More than the moon.

THE BAKER & BAKER'S WIFE
I wish..

CINDERELLA
The King is giving a festival

THE BAKER & BAKER'S WIFE
More than life

JACK
I wish

CINDERELLA
I wish to go to the festival

THE BAKER & BAKER'S WIFE
More than riches

CINDERELLA
And the ball.

JACK
I wish my cow would
give us some milk.

BAKER'S WIFE
More than anything...

BAKER
I wish we had a child.

BAKER'S WIFE
I want a child...

JACK
Squeeze, pal...

CINDERELLA
I wish to go to the Festival.

JACK
I wish you'd give us some
milk or even cheese...

CINDERELLA
I wish...

BAKER'S WIFE
I wish we might have a child.
I wish...
I wish...

STEPMOTHER
You wish to go to the Festival?

NARRATOR
The poor girl's parents had died,

STEPMOTHER
You Cinderella, the festival?
You wish to go to the festival?

FLORINDA
What, you, Cinderella, the Festival?
The Festival?!

LUCINDA
What, you wish to go to the Festival?

ALL THREE
The Festival?
The King's Festival?

NARRATOR
And now she lived with her stepmother

STEPMOTHER
The Festival...

NARRARATOR
Who had two daughters of her own.

FLORINDA
Look at your nails!

LUCINDA
Look at your dress!

STEPMOTHER
People would laugh at you-

CINDERELLA, STEPMOTHER, & STEPSISTERS
Nevertheless,
I/she still want/s to go to the Festival
And dance before the Prince.
THE STEPMOTHER
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha

NARRATOR
All three were beautiful of face, but vile and black of heart.

The young lad had no father, and his mother-

JACK'S MOTHER
I wish...

NARRATOR
Well, she was at her wits end

JACK'S MOTHER
I wish my son were not a fool.
I wish my house was not a mess.
I wish the cow was full of milk.
I wish the walls were full of gold-
I wish a lot of things...

What, I heavens name, are you doing with a cow inside the house?

JACK
I thought if he were nice and warm,
He might produce some milk.

JACK'S MOTHER
It's a she!
How many times must I tell you?
That only shes can give milk!

NARRATOR
And then there was a hungry little girl,
Who always wore a red cape.

LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD
I wish...

It's not for me,
It's for my Granny in the woods.
A loaf of bread, please-
To bring my poor old hungry
Granny in the woods...

Just a loaf of bread, please...

NARRATOR
Cinderella's Stepmother had a surprise for her.

STEPMOTHER
Cinderella, if you can pick up these lentils and finish your chores in time,
Then you may go to the ball with us.
Come along ladies.

LUCINDA & FLORINDA
Yes mother

LUCINDA
Good Luck

CINDERELLA
Come little birds,
Down from the eaves,
And the leaves,
Over fields,
Out of castles and ponds..

JACK
Now squeeze pal

CINDERELLA
Ah, ah, ah
Ah, ah, ah???.

Quick, little birds,
Flick through the ashes.
Pick and peck, but swiftly,
Sift through the ashes,
Into the pot...

JACK'S MOTHER
Now listen to me well, son. Milky-White must be taken to market.

JACK
Mother, no- he's the best cow-

JACK'S MOTHER
Was! She has been dry for weeks now.
We've no food, no money,
and no choice but to sell her.

JACK
But Milky-Whites my best friend.

JACK'S MOTHER
Look at her!
There are bugs on her dugs.
There are flies in her eyes.
There's a lump on her rump
Big enough to be a hump-

JACK
But-

JACK'S MOTHER
We've no time to sit and dither,
While her wither's wither with her-
And no one keeps a cow for a friend!

Sometimes I wonder what's going on in that head of yours.

LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD
Into the woods,
It's time to go,
I hate to leave,
I have to.
Into the woods-
It's time, and so
I must begin my journey.

Into the woods
And through the trees
To where I am
Expected ma'am,
Into the woods
To Grandmother's house-

Into the woods
To Grandmother's house-

BAKER'S WIFE
You're certain of your way?

LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD
The way is clear,
The light is good,
I have no fear,
Nor no one should.
The woods are just trees,
The trees are just wood.
I sort of hate to ask it,
But do you have a basket?

BAKER'S WIFE
Yes we do

THE BAKER
Don't suppose you're planning on buying any of these?

BAKER'S WIFE
Oh, shh.
Now, don't stray and be late, alright?

THE BAKER
You might save some of those sweets for Granny.

OH MY?.

BAKER'S WIFE
Dear leave it

THE BAKER
She's a thief.

LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD
Into the woods
And down the dell,
The path is straight,
I know it well.
Into the woods,
And who can tell
What's waiting on the journey?

Into the woods
To bring some bread
To Granny who
Is sick in bed.
Never can tell
What lies ahead.
For all that I know,
She's already dead.

But into the woods,
Into the woods,
Into the woods
To Grandmother's house
And home before dark.

LUCINDA & FLORINDA
Cinderella, get up here.

CINDERELLA
Fly, birds,
Back to the sky,

FLORINDA
We're waiting

CINDERELLA
Back to the eaves
And the leaves
And the fields
And the-

FLORINDA
Hurry up and do my hair, Cinderella!

Are you really wearing that?

LUCINDA
Here, I found a little tear, Cinderella.

Can't you hide it with a hat?

CINDERELLA
You look beautiful.

FLORINDA
I know.

LUCINDA
She means me.

FLORINDA
No she didn't.

CINDERELLA
Mother said be good,
Father said be nice,
That was always their advice.
So be nice, Cinderella,
Good, Cinderella,
Nice good good nice-

FLORINDA
Tighter!

CINDERELLA
What's the good of being good
If everyone is blind
Always leaving you behind?
Never mind, Cinderella,
Kind Cinderella-
Nice good nice kind good nice-

FLORINDA
Owww!! Not that tight! Clod!!

(Florinda slaps Cinderella hard across the face.)

FLORIND & LUCINDA
**Laughing**

BAKER
Who might that be?

BAKER'S WIFE
We've sold our last loaf of bread.

BAKER
It's the witch from next door!

BAKER & BAKER'S WIFE
We have no bread.

WITCH
I don't want your bread!

BAKER
Then what is it you wish?

WITCH
It's not what I wish! It's what you wish!

(points to Baker's Wife)
Nothing cooking in that belly now is there?
And there will never be,
Unless you do exactly as I say.
In three days time,
A blue moon will appear.
Only then can the curse be undone.

BAKER'S WIFE
What curse?

WITCH
The one I placed on this house.

THE BAKER
What are you talking about?

THE WITCH
In the past, when you were no more than a babe,
your Father brought his young wife and you to this cottage.
They were a lovely couple,
but not lovely neighbors!
You see, your mother was with child,
and she developed an unusual appetite.
She admired my beautiful garden,
and she told your father that what she wanted more than
anything in the world was

(rapping)
Greens, greens, nothing but greens:
Parsley, peppers, cabbages and celery,
Asparagus and watercress and
Fiddleferns, lettuce-!

He said, "All right,"
But it wasn't, quite,
'Cause I caught him in the autumn
In my garden one night!
He was robbing me,
Raping me,
Rooting through my rutabaga,
Raiding my arugula and
Ripping up my rampion
(My champion! My favorite!)-
I should have laid a spell on him
Right there,
Could have changed him into stone
Or a dog or a chair...

But I let him have the rampion-
I'd lots to spare.
In return, however,
I said, "Fair is fair:
You can let me have the baby
That your wife will bear.

And we'll call it square."

BAKER
I had a brother?

WITCH
No! But you had a sister.

THE BAKER
Where is she?

THE WITCH
She's mine now.
And you'll never find her.
Small price to pay for what else your father stole from me.
It cost me my youth and my beauty.
My mother warned me,
She would punish me with the curse of ugliness if I ever lost any of them.

BAKER'S WIFE
Lost what?

THE WITCH
The beans

BAKER & WIFE
Beans?

WITCH
The special beans.

I let him go,
I didn't know
He'd stolen my beans!

I was watching him crawl,
Back over the wall-!
Then bang! Crash!
And the lightning flash!
And- well, that's another story,
Never mind-
Anyway, at last
The big day came,
I made my claim.
"Oh, don't take away the baby,"
They shrieked and screeched,
But I did,
And I hid her
Where she'll never be reached.

Your father cried,
your mother died.
And for extra measure-
I admit it was a pleasure-
I said, "Sorry,
I'm still not mollified."

And I laid little spell on them-
You, too, son-
That your family tree
Would always be a barren one...

BAKER'S WIFE
No!!

THE BAKER
How could you do that?

THE WITCH
And when your mother died,
Your father deserted you.
Your father was no father,
So why should you be?

WITCH
Now there's no more fuss
And there's no more scenes
And my garden thrives-
You should see my nectarines!
But I'm tellling you the same
I tell kings and queens:
Don't ever never ever
Mess around with my greens!
Especially the beans.

JACK
Ah ya but why do we need to go to the next village?

JACK'S MOTHER
Because everyone in this village knows the cow hasn't given a drop of milk in weeks.

JACK
But that's cheating

JACK'S MOTHER
We're starving Jack.
Don't you understand that?
Now, your not to accept less than five pounds for her.
Are you listening to me?

JACK
Yes

JACK'S MOTHER
How much are you to ask?

JACK
No more than five pound.

JACK'S MOTHER
Less than?

JACK
'than five.

JACK'S MOTHER
Into the woods
The time is now.
We have to live,
I don't care how.
Into the woods
To sell the cow,
You must begin the journey.
Straight to the woods
and don't delay-
We have to face
The marketplace.
Into the woods to journey's end-

JACK
Into the woods to sell a friend-

WITCH
You wish to have
The curse reversed?
I'll need a certain
Potion first.
Go to the wood and bring me back
One: the cow as white as milk,
Two: the cape as red as blood,
Three: the hair as yellow as corn,
Four: the slipper as pure as gold.

Bring me these
Before the chime
Of midnight,
In three day's time,
Tis then the blue moon reappears,
Which comes but once each hundred years.
Bring them and I guarantee a child as perfect as child can be.

Go to the wood!

STEPMOTHER
Ladies.
Our carriage waits.

CINDERELLA
Now may I go to the Festival?

STEPMOTHER
The Festival-!
Darling, those nails!
Darling, those clothes!
The lentils are one thing but
Darling, with those,
You'd make us the fools of the Festival
And mortify the Prince!

CINDERELLA
The festival last three nights.
Surely you can let me be there for one of them.

STEPMOTHER
The King is trying to find his son a wife,
Not a scullery maid.
We must be gone.
GO!!!
CINDERELLA
I wish?.

BAKER'S WIFE
Beans? These must be the witch's beans. We'll take them with us.

BAKER
We?

BAKER'S WIFE
Yes

BAKER
We? No! You are not coming, it's not safe out there.

BAKER'S WIFE
Well I can help you.

THE BAKER
No, I can do this on my own.

BAKER
The spell is on my house.
Only I can lift the spell,
The spell is on my house.

BAKER'S WIFE
No, no, the spell is on our house.
We must lift the spell.
The spell is on our house.

BAKER
Now, tell me what am I to return with?

BAKER'S WIFE
Oh, ga, You don't remember?

The cow as white as milk,
The cape as red as blood,
The hair as yellow as corn,
The slipper as pure as gold-

BAKER
The cow as white as milk,
The cape as red as blood,
The hair as yellow as corn,
The slipper as pure as gold...

CINDERELLA
I still wish to go to the Festival,
But how am I ever to get to the Festival?

BAKER
The cow as white as milk,
The cape as red as blood,
The hair as yellow as corn-

CINDERELLA
I know!
I'll visit Mother's grave,
The grave at the willow tree,
And tell her I just want to
Go to the King's Festival...

BAKER
The slipper as pure as gold...
The cow, the cape,
The slipper as pure as gold-

BAKER'S WIFE
The hair-!

CINDERELLA & BAKER
Into the woods,
It's time to go,
It may be all
In vain, I know.
Into the woods-
But even so,
I have to take the journey.

BAKER'S WIFE
Into the woods,
The path is straight,
You know it well,

THE BAKER
But who can tell-

BAKER'S WIFE
Into the woods to lift the spell-

CINDERELLA
Into the woods to visit Mother-

JACK'S MOTHER
Into the woods to sell the cow-

JACK
To get the money-

CINDERELLA
To go to the Festival-

LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD
Into the woods to Grandmother's house...
Into the woods to Grandmother's house...

ALL
The way is clear,
The light is good,
I have no fear,
Nor no one should.
The woods are just trees,
The trees are just wood.
No need to be afraid there-

BAKER
There's something in the glade there...

ALL
Into the woods,
Without delay,
But careful not
To lose the way.
Into the woods,
Who knows what may
Be lurking on the journey?

Into the woods
To get the thing
That makes it worth
The journeying.
Into the woods-

STEMOTHER & STEPSISTERS
To see the King-

JACK & MOTHER
To sell the cow-

BAKER & WIFE
To make the potion-

ALL
To see-
To sell-
To get-
To bring-
To make-
To lift-
To go to the Festival-!

Into the woods!
Into the woods!
Into the woods,
Then out of the woods,
And home before dark!

[Thanks to uri.bove for correcting these lyrics]