'Into The Woods' writer James Lapine on fairy tales and his collaboration with Stephen Sondheim

James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim's musical Into The Woods has been enchanting audiences since the fairy-tale characters began their journey in 1986. Forty years later, the show is back in the West End.

Summary

• James Lapine wrote the book for Into The Woods, in collaboration with long-time writing partner Stephen Sondheim
• The musical follows a group of Brothers Grimm fairy-tale characters as they take a trip into the woods
• Key songs from the musical include the title number and "Agony"

James Lapine is a stage director, playwright, screenwriter, and librettist, whose most famous works include the triptych of musicals he wrote with the late composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim: Passion, Sunday in the Park with George, and Into The Woods.

The latter intertwines classic Brothers Grimm fairy tales, as a group of characters take a trip into the woods, and a new production was staged by director Jordan Fein and his creative partner Tom Scutt at the Bridge Theatre in 2025. The show now transfers to the West End, with a cast that includes Simbi Akande, John Dagleish, Laura Pitt-Pulford, Kate Fleetwood, and Gracie McGonigal.

Lapine speaks to LondonThatre.co.uk about immersing himself in the world of fairy tales and why he and Sondheim worked so well together.

Book Into The Woods tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

What was your favourite fairy tale as a child?

Probably Jack and the Beanstalk. It's the only real English one. The idea of climbing out of my world and going somewhere more exciting. Very simple. When you live in a small town in the middle of Ohio, you have big dreams.

What drew you to write about fairy tales in Into The Woods?

I've always loved fairy tales and I did a lot of studying of Carl Jung and fairy tales. It's a subject that always interested me, and most people in our country are familiar with the Disney movies but then once you start reading the real fairy tales — the German ones, the Grimms — you realise how complicated, deep, and dark they are.

What do you think of director Jordan Fein and designer Tom Scutt's vision for the show as the Bridge Theatre production tranfers to the West End?

I think what Jordan and Tom did was they went into the show. What often happens with shows that have been done a lot — Into The Woods is an old show — is directors tend to try to reinvent it. Instead of reinventing it, [Jordan and Tom] went in the other direction and took it and burrowed into it. They found things in it that I thought were really exciting, and created a very literal, interesting production. That's what kind of blew me away.

You collaborated a lot with the late, great Stephen Sondheim on a number of occasions. Why do you think your creative styles worked so well together?

I think Steve and I really hit it off because I'd only seen one of his shows when I met him. I was only just moving into theatre. I had only done two musicals — maybe just one — that had a cast of five, and I had only seen one show of his, which was Sweeney Todd. I saw it a couple of times, and I was blown away by it.

I didn't come from the theatre; I started as a graphic designer and photographer and drifted into the theatre. I think he really liked that I was coming from a whole other world versus working with people who came from exactly the same world as him. I think he found that stimulating, and I of course found him incredibly stimulating. We just hit it off and maybe I took him in directions that he hadn't gone, and he taught me so much. We liked each other almost immediately. I wanted to see him every week in work. We became very close friends.

Why do you think Into The Woods continues to resonate with audiences?

Into The Woods resonates for the simple reason it's about fairy tales, and they've resonated with people for hundreds of years. Choosing it was sort of — not realising it at the time — a no-brainer because it wouldn't age. We lucked out blindly that we picked a topic that wouldn't age.

Is it exciting seeing your work reach new audiences?

It's amazing to know that you've written something 30, 40 years ago and people are still doing it. It's thrilling. Now it's time for London to do a new Passion.

Book Into The Woods tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Interview edited by Olivia Rook.

Photo credit: Into The Woods in the West End. (Photo by Johan Persson)