Editing Into the Woods (section)

==Development==
The development of Into the Woods first started when [[James Lapine]] and [[Stephen Sondheim]] came together for their second collaborative project after ''[[Sunday in the Park with George]]''. Lapine and Sondheim wanted a fairy tale–themed musical; they tried writing their own quest fairy tale, but this was scrapped. Lapine suggested combining several folktales into one musical. They discussed incorporating ''[[One Thousand and One Nights]]'' stories, or styling the production as fantasy computer game.<ref name=":2">{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=fLAQ2r56CB24m3ur&v=9Bjr0LbDKks&feature=youtu.be |title=Into the Woods: A conversation with Sondheim and Lapine – 1991 PBS TV |date=2020-08-10 |last=Broadway History |access-date=2024-12-14 |via=YouTube}}</ref>

"Into the Woods" first appeared as a workshop performance at the [[Old Globe Theatre]] in [[San Diego]]. California, on December 4, 1986, which ran for 50 performances under the direction of Lapine. Many of the performers from that production were in the Broadway cast. Kay McClelland, who played Rapunzel and Florinda in San Diego, played Florinda on Broadway.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Sondheim Guide / Into the Woods |url=https://www.sondheimguide.com/woods.html |access-date=2024-12-14 |website=www.sondheimguide.com}}</ref>

Throughout the run, dialogue, plot details, and songs were being rewritten or even cut entirely. For example, the Baker's Wife in the Old Globe production was not crushed by the Giantess. Instead, she ate a poisoned apple, in the manner of "[[Snow White]]". A reference to "[[The Three Little Pigs]]" in San Diego later returned for the 2002 Broadway revival.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=From "Boom Crunch" to "The Last Midnight": How Into the Woods Transformed Throughout the Years |url=https://playbill.com/article/from-boom-crunch-to-the-last-midnight-how-into-the-woods-transformed-throughout-the-years-com-335786 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241207143200/https://playbill.com/article/from-boom-crunch-to-the-last-midnight-how-into-the-woods-transformed-throughout-the-years-com-335786 |archive-date=2024-12-07 |access-date=2024-12-14 |website=Playbill |language=en-US |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":2" /> The song "Giants in the Sky" had different lyrics, and "So Happy", "Lament", and "Second Midnight" had extra lyrics. Many longer versions of the songs were cut for Broadway, but the longer version of "Lament" was preserved in the Broadway cast recording and was used in later productions.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Sondheim |first=Stephen |url=https://archive.org/details/lookimadehatcoll0000sond/mode/1up |title=Look, I made a hat : collected lyrics (1981-2011) with attendant comments, amplifications, dogmas, harangues, digressions, anecdotes and miscellany |date=2011 |publisher=New York : Alfred A. Knopf |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-307-59341-2}}</ref>