UPDATE: Sondheim, speaking to Playbill (reported via Hitfix) has clarified his comments. From the sounds of it, fans should be feeling a little more confident: "An article in The New Yorker misreporting my 'Master Class' conversation about censorship in our schools with seventeen teachers from the Academy for Teachers a couple of weeks ago has created some false impressions about my collaboration with the Disney Studio on the film version of Into The Woods," he says. "The fact is that James (Lapine, who wrote both the show and the movie) and I worked out every change from stage to screen with the producers and with Rob Marshall, the director. Despite what the New Yorker article may convey, the collaboration was genuinely collaborative and always productive.
"When the conversation with the teachers occurred, I had not yet seen a full rough cut of the movie. Coincidentally, I saw it immediately after leaving the meeting and, having now seen it a couple of times, I can happily report that it is not only a faithful adaptation of the show, it is a first-rate movie. And for those who care, as the teachers did, the Prince's dalliance is still in the movie, and so is 'Any Moment.'"
We’ll have to wait until next January for Rob Marshall’s film of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s fairytale-twisting musical Into The Woods. But, judging by comments Sondheim made to high school drama teachers recently, fans of the show might want to gird their loins for some changes to the plot.
This is nothing particularly new in the world of the Woods, but given the popularity of the show, particularly among American high school theatre classes, some of the rougher edges of sexuality and violence are sanded down.
"Well, you'll be happy to know that Disney had the same objections," Sondheim told the assembled tutors, before going on to detail some of the alterations. Those wary of spoilers will want to skip the next paragraph.
"You will find in the movie that Rapunzel does not get killed, and the prince does not sleep with the Baker's Wife," he said. That in turn explains why one of the story’s songs, 'Any Moment', has had to go.
"The song is cut," he explained, but clarified, "I'm sorry, I should say, it's probably cut. Disney executives said, ‘We don't want Rapunzel to die', so we replotted it. I won't tell you what happens, but we wrote a new song to cover it."
Sondheim went on to explain why he expressed his concerns about the changes but didn’t ultimately veto them: "There has to be a point at which you don't compromise anymore, but that may mean that you won't get anyone to sell your painting or perform your musical. You have to deal with reality."
The spin on fairy tales such as Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, Cinderella, Jack And The Beanstalk and more is a starry affair for the Mouse House with Johnny Depp, Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, James Corden, Anna Kendrick, Chris Pine, Lucy Punch and Tracy Ullman among the names popping up.
The studio is naturally hoping that this can be a success with both Sondheim fans and the general audience, so you can understand any reticence to a certain degree. Still, we’ll see what the final result is – because the film is still being worked on – when** Into The Woods** arrives here on January 9.