Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine Ponder Their Success as INTO THE WOODS Opens at The Menier Chocolate Factory

When considering the different styles of the bookwriters he's worked with throughout his career, Stephen Sondheim tells The Guardian that George Furth (COMPANY, MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG) offered an urban, contemporary feel while John Weidman (PACIFIC OVERTURES, ASSASSINS) was more politically-minded.

James Lapine? Sondheim calls him the poet of the group. Certainly a fair assessment when you consider he wrote the books for, and directed the original productions of, SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE and INTO THE WOODS.

The latter of the Lapine duo is coming back to London by way of Fiasco Theater, the ensemble created by graduates of the Brown University/Trinity Rep M.F.A. acting program.

The production playing this summer at the Menier Chocolate Factory, performed by ten actors who double as musicians, originated at Princeton University's McCarter Theatre before Roundabout picked it up for an Off-Broadway transfer.

One might be surprised to learn that in their working relationship, Sondheim is the optimist of the pair.

"I just think everything will flop," Lapine tells The Guardian, while Sondheim once told him, "You know, I think everything I do is going to be a huge success." When Lapine asked why, Sondheim answered, "Because it's so interesting to me, I assume it will be interesting to others."

With GYPSY, WEST SIDE STORY, A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM, COMPANY, FOLLIES, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC and PACIFIC OVERTURES to his credit when the pair met in 1982, Sondheim was firmly establishing legendary status while Lapine was best known for directing William Finn's MARCH OF THE FALSETTOS, but one thing that helped them click as collaborators was that the bookwriter wasn't very familiar with the composer/lyricist's work.

"I'd only seen one show he had done," says Lapine. "I knew of him of course, but I wasn't a fan. That was kind of good. I think in retrospect he must have liked that it wasn't somebody who'd seen everything he'd done and was so impressed with him."

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The video shows scenes of Fiasco's INTO THE WOODS at the McCarter Theatre.

Following great critical success in New York, innovative and ground-breaking theatre company Fiasco brings its enchanting reinvention of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's masterpiece INTO THE WOODS to the Chocolate Factory this Summer.

Using ten actors, multiple musical instruments and boundless imagination, this fairytale classic is reimagined as never before.

Featuring the timeless songs "Children Will Listen" and "No One Is Alone," this Tony Award-winning musical was recently made into a successful Disney feature film starring Meryl Streep, James Corden and Johnny Depp.

This production is presented in association with Michael Harrison Entertainment andDavid Ian Productions.

The Fiasco Theater Production was produced Off-Broadway by Roundabout Theatre Company and originally produced by McCarter Theatre Center, Princeton

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