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First Night Cinders and Red Riding Hood soar in Sondheim's fairytale mash-up
The London Standard
|December 18, 2025
Stephen Sondheim's 1980s musical mashup of various, mostly Grimm fairy tales - Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel - is triumphantly revived by director Jordan Fein.
And it's an inspired choice to open it at Christmas.Not strictly a seasonal show, Into the Woods will chime with older kids and cynical adults who want an edgier Yuletide alternative to panto. Fein assembles a terrific cast of talents who give soaring voice to the witty lyrics and a score that hopscotches elegantly through recurring themes and motifs. The titular opening number sets the tone, a stirring, zesty number of overlapping narratives where characters voice their wants ("I wish...") that makes the audience feel they are setting enthusiastic foot on a quest.
This story is from the December 18, 2025 edition of The London Standard.
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