Into the Woods

Jordan Fein’s Olivier-winning revival has moved from the Bridge to the Noël Coward Theatre, and the magic has made the journey intact, writes Amelia Isaacs…

After receiving a wave of Olivier Award nominations and a win for Best Musical Revival earlier this year at the Bridge Theatre, Jordan Fein’s Into The Woods has made its way to the West End.

Having seen the show in its second iteration at the Bridge — several members of the cast changed mid-run, including the Witch, the Baker, the Baker’s Wife and the Narrator — I had, admittedly, very high expectations for this production when I saw it at its new home at the Noël Coward Theatre. When I saw it at the Bridge, it was my first time seeing Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Grimms’ fairy tale amalgamation and I was blown away, transported entirely to the woods.

Thankfully, it was just as magical as, if not more so than, the first time I saw it.

The story brings together a mashup of fairy tales with a cast of classic characters — think Cinderella, Rapunzel, Jack, a giant and some princes — but with a baker and his wife thrown in the mix. The couple, desperately in want of a child, have been cursed by the Witch, and have been set the task of finding a set of very specific items in order to reverse the curse.

The whole of the first half follows a classic fairy tale arc, all building to what feels like it could happily be the end of the show, rousing whole-cast song and all, until a beanstalk pierces the sky and we break for the interval. We return — some years later — to a familiar but different scene, where everything is just a little bit darker and more unexpected. What happens after Cinderella marries the Prince? What happens to Jack and his cow, Milky White, after he descends the beanstalk? We have to venture into the woods to find out.

Luckily, we have Michael S. Siegel and his comforting American accent to guide us beautifully through each character’s journey as the Narrator and the oh-so-Mysterious Man. He is one of the new members of the troupe, but many of the original cast have returned, including an outstanding Kate Fleetwood in the role of the Witch and a delightfully mischievous Gracie McGonigal as Little Red Ridinghood.

While each of the main characters get their own solo moment, Into The Woods is a show that makes the most of a big ensemble cast and there is not a weak voice amongst them. It also covers a lot of ground and very quickly, so while the first half might seem to generally follow the traditional path, there are some notable detours and if you look away for a second — why would you? — you might just miss an Easter egg of a plot point.

I was worried that no one would live up to Melanie La Barrie as the Witch, but I shouldn’t have had any concerns. Fleetwood brought her own humour and power to the role such that she and La Barrie’s Witches each felt like two entirely different, equally excellent takes on what is a phenomenal part. Now I just wish I could see them sing together.

She is effortlessly cool, lounging at the side of the stage as the rest of the cast scramble and bicker, and she brings incredible humour and sass and is utterly enthralling both as the gnarly witch, rapping her way through the iconic greens and beans section of the Prologue and soaring as a complicated mother through the gut-wrenching ‘Children Will Listen’ and ‘Last Midnight’.

If Victoria Hamilton-Barritt had not won Best Actress for her part as the villainous taxidermist Millicent Clyde in Paddington the Musical, I have no doubt the award would have gone to Fleetwood.

Similarly, if the wonderful world of marmalade sandwiches hadn’t won for set and costume, Tom Scutt would have come away with two awards of his own. Cinderella’s dress, appearing from the forest as if it is made from the trees and the flowers, is breathtaking and beautiful. The stepsisters’ contrastingly bright, brash gowns feel perfectly at odds with the woods around them, and their horse and carriage handbags on the way to the ball are a hilarious, thoughtful detail. The Wolf and his furs, Red’s eye-catching, pointy hood as red as blood, the princes’ dramatic capes and Andre Agassi bouncy hair and headbands all fit perfectly.

The woods are a starring character all of their own — the set, lighting, sound and video all working so well together. The show starts plainly, with a dark backdrop and only the Baker’s workbench for the set, but then the stage pulls apart to reveal the most magical forest that looks like it could go on forever beyond the depths of the stage. Light streaming through the woods is used so cleverly and magically to hide and reveal characters, to depict the Giant taking up the whole height of the stage, to show leaves falling and to show Cinderella’s flock of friends flying around her. Here, finally, Aideen Malone and Roland Horvath did win a joint Olivier.

There are fantastic, full-on musical ensemble songs to start peppered throughout and the Princes (Lucas Koch is Rapunzel’s Prince and Matthew Seadon-Young is Cinderella’s Prince and the Wolf) fully lean into the camp, comedy moments, particularly in the song ‘Agony’. There are no weak performances in the show, but Simbi Akande as Cinderella and Laura Pitt-Pulford as the Baker’s Wife are particularly excellent.

While I will never be Milky White’s biggest fan, I really can’t fault any part of this production. It is a mystical, magical, wondrous night at the theatre and I have not been able to stop singing ‘No One Is Alone’ since I saw it. I would happily return to the woods again and again.

Into The Woods plays at the Noël Coward Theatre until 9th January 2027. For more information, and for tickets, please visit www.intothewoodsonstage.com.