ABSTRACT
Having married a princess, defeated a giant or rescued granny from the wolf, classic fairy tales end with the homily that life then proceeds free of difficulties. Steven Sondheim’s musical Into the Woods ends its first act with the characters’ wishes coming true. So strong is our collective memory of that being the end of the story that apparently, at early performances of the show, many members of the audience thought that was the end of the entire show and not just the interval. The second act reminds us that happily ever after is, well, fiction. Having got your wish, the hard work may only just be starting.
