Into the Woods (Prologue)

Once upon a time...
I wish
In a far off kingdom
More than anything
Lived a fair maiden
More than life
A sad young lad
More than jewels
I wish
And a childless baker
I wish
With his wife
More than anything, more than the moon
I wish

The King is giving a festival
More than life
I wish
I wish to go to the festival
More than riches
And the ball...
I wish my cow would give us some milk
More like than anything
I wish we had a child
Please pal...
I want a child
Squeeze pal...
I wish to go to the festival
I wish you'd give us some milk or even cheese
I wish we might have a child
I wish

You wish to go to the festival?
The poor girl's mother had died
You Cinderella, the festival?
What you wish to go to the festival?
The festival? The king's festival?
And her father had taken for his new wife
The festival
A woman with two daughters of her own
Look at your nails,
Look at your dress,
People would laugh at you
Nevertheless
She still wants to go to the festival, and dance before the prince
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
All three were beautiful of face, but vile and black of heart

Jack on the other hand had no father, and his mother
I wish...
Well she was not quite beautiful
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

'Knock knock'
Why come in little girl
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

Cinderella's stepmother had a surprise for her
I have emptied a pot of lentils into the ashes for you
If you have picked them out again in two hours time
you shall go to the ball with us
And perhaps a sticky bun... Or four...
Birds in the sky,
Birds in the eaves and the leaves and the fields and the castles and ponds...
And a few of those pies
Come little birds,
Please
down from the eaves and the leaves over fields out of castles and ponds...
No squeeze pal...
Ahhhhh Ahhhhhh Ahhhhhh Ahhhhhhh Ahhhhhh
Quick little birds, flick through the ashes, pick and peck but swiftly,
Sift through the ashes, into the pot

listen well son,
Milky white must be taken to market
But mother no!
He's the best cow
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!
But...
Son,
We've no time to sit and dither
While her withers wither with her
And no one keeps a cow for a friend!
Sometimes I fear you're touched

Into the woods, it's time to go
I hate to leave, I have to though
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 mam
Into the woods to grandmother's house
Into the woods to grandmother's house
You're certain of your way?
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?

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.

Fly birds,
Back to the sky
Back to the eaves and leaves, and the fields, and the cas-
Hurry up and do my hair, Cinderella
Are you really wearing that?
Here I found a little tear, Cinderella
Can't you hide it with a hat?
You look beautiful
I know
She means me
Put it in a twist
Who will be there?
Mother said be good, father said be nice,
That was always their advice
So be nice Cinderella, good Cinderella, nice good good nice
Tighter
What's the good of being good
If everyone is blind, and you're always left behind?
Never mind Cinderella, kind Cinderella,
Nice, good, nice, kind, good, nice
Oh!
Not that tight!
Sorry
Clod.

'Knock Knock Knock'
Who might that be?
It's the witch from next door!
The old enchantress told the couple that she had placed a spell on their house
What spell?
In the past, when your mother was with child, she developed an unusual appetite
She took one look at my beautiful garden,
And she told your father, that what she wanted more than anything in the world was
Greens, greens, and nothing but greens,
Parsley, peppers, cabbages and celery,
Asparagus and watercress and fiddle ferns and 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 the rampion, my champion, my favourite
I should have laid a spell on him right there
I could have turned 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 bare
And we'll call it square

I had a brother?
No
But you had a sister
But the witch refused to tell him any more of his sister
No even that her name was name was Rapunzel

I thought I had been more than reasonable
But how was I to know what your father had also hidden in his pocket
What?
Beans
Beans
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
When bang! Crash! A lightening flask!
Oh 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 and your mother died
When for extra measure, I admit it was a pleasure
I said, sorry, I'm still not mollified
And I laid a little spell on them
You too son
That your family tree would always be a barren one

So there's no more fuss, and there's no more scenes
And my garden thrives, you should see my nectarines
But I'm telling you the same I tell kings and queens
Don't ever never ever mess around with my greens
Especially the beans

Now listen to me jack,
Lead milky white to market and fetch the best price you can
Are you listening to me?
Jack, jack, jack,
Head in a sack
The house is getting colder
This is not a time for dreaming
Chimney stack, starting to crack
The mice are getting bolder, the floor's gone slack
You're mother's getting older, your father's not back
And you can't just sit here dreaming pretty dreams
To wish and wait, from day to day
Will never keep the wolves away

So 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 through the woods and don't delay,
We have to face the marketplace
Into the the woods to journey's end
Into the woods to sell a friend

Meanwhile the witch, for purposes of her own,
explained how the baker might lift the spell
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 days time
And you shall have, I guarantee,
A child as perfect as child can be
Go to the wood!

Ladies! Our carriage waits!
Now may I go to the festival?
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 mortifying the prince!
The carriage is waiting
We must be gone
Goodnight father
Ah goodnight
I wish

Look what I found in Father's hunting jacket
Six beans, we'll take them with us!
No the spell is on my house
Only I can lift the spell the spell is on my house
No, no the spell is on our house,
No, you are not to come
We must lift the spell to-
Now what am I to return with?
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

The cow as white as milk
The cape as red as blood
And so the baker reluctantly set off to meet the enchantresses demands
The hair as yellow as corn
The slipper as pure as gold

As for Cinderella
I still wish to go to the festival
But how am I ever to get to the festival?
I know I'll visit mother's grave
The grave at the hazel tree
And tell her I just want to go to the king's festival
The hair
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
Into the woods the path is straight
I know it well, but who can tell?
Into the woods to lift the spell
Into the woods to visit mother
Into the woods to fetch the things
to make the potion
to go to the festival

Into the woods without regret
The choice is made, the task is set
Into the woods, but not forgetting why I'm on the journey
Into the woods to get my wish
I don't care how, the time is now
Into the woods to sell the cow
Into the woods to get the money
Into the woods to lift the spell
To make the potion
To go to the festival

Into the woods to grandmother's house
Into the woods to grandmother's house

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
There's something in the glade there

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 to see the King
To sell the cow
To make the potion

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!