Why Does The Witch Die In "Into the Woods"? — Page 2

Okay so, I may be the only person in the universe who HASN'T seen Into the Woods, but was it absolutely necessary for you to put that in the subject line? Couldn't you have titled it "Into the Woods Question" ???

I can see how you might be a little perturbed, but I think something almost twenty years old doesn't really warrant a spoiler warning.

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I saw the into the woods original and revival, she just goes away

Updated On: 2/15/07 at 04:14 PM

um spoiler much

Wow

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I never saw the revival, but every time I come here an read another post about it, I am still genuinely shocked at how terrible it sounded.

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I didn't see either Broadway production, but I always assumed she dies. I always thought her singing "and the boom, crunch" was her throwing herself in the path of the giant.

What does that have to do with the Witch in INTO THE WOODS, Elphie?

i've seen both productions and been in a production, and I always thought the Witch died. I thought the CRUNCH was her being killed by the giant!

I agree that it is a confusing moment in the show, I did not really know what had happened to her the first time I saw the DVD way back when, I believe I thought she had melted.
From the lyrics and the Lapine original staging it is assumed that she goes back to her ugly self and leaves the kingdom for good.

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She returns in the end alive for "children will listen"- not like the baker's wife who the baker can only hear.

I never thought she died.


"Porter was conisdered for the role in the revival..."
That would have been amazing. Seriously.

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My problem with it is that the witch never disppears that way prior to the ending. She blows smoke, but she never disappears through the floor. So that being the first time she does it, that doesn't make sense. Most of them time, like in old theater, going through the floor is associated with hell, etc. If they wanted her to return to her normal self, then she should have just throw smoke and hobbled off like she did in the begining. I don't think it's accurate with the rest of the play. It's confusing, as most people weren't quite sure what was going on. I guess you could say it's open to interpretation, but I think it's a major part of the story. I think it could have been more interesting if the witch stayed around and showed some sort of humanity in singing the song "No One is Alone" or at least gotten her own little solo line.

She returns in the end alive for "children will listen"- not like the baker's wife who the baker can only hear.

All of the dead characters return for the finale, including Jack's Mother and Little Red's Grandmother. And, correct me if I'm wrong, but when the witch does appear in the finale, she appears beautiful, and it wouldn't make sense to see her that way if she had transformed back to her ugly self.