CAST

Plot Summary

The Narrator introduces four characters who each have a wish: Cinderella, who wishes to attend the King's festival; Jack a simple young man who wishes that his cow, Milky-White, would give milk; and the Baker and his Wife, who wish they could have a child. While Little Red Ridinghood buys bread from the Baker to take to her grandmother's house, Jack's weary mother nags him into selling the cow, and Cinderella's stepmother and sisters tease her about wanting to attend the King's festival.

The Baker's neighbor, an ugly old Witch reveals the source of the couple's infertility is a curse she placed on the Baker's line. In addition to the curse, the Witch took the Baker's father's newborn child, Rapunzel ("Witch's Entrance"). The curse will be lifted if the Baker and his Wife can find the four ingredients that the Witch needs for a certain potion — "the cow as white as milk, the cape as red as blood, the hair as yellow as corn, and the slipper as pure as gold", all before the chime of Midnight in three days' time. All begin their journeys into the woods — Jack to sell his cow at Market, Cinderella's family to the Festival, Cinderella to her mother's grave to ask for guidance, Red Ridinghood to her Grandmother's house, and the Baker, refusing his wife's help, to find the ingredients ("Prologue").

Cinderella visits her mother's grave and receives a beautiful gown and shoes from her mother's spirit ("Cinderella at the Grave"). Little Red Ridinghood meets a hungry wolf ("Hello, Little Girl"). The Baker meets his wife, who has followed him into the forest. The pair con Jack into selling Milky-White ("I Guess This Is Goodbye") for five of the beans, telling Jack that they're magic. The Baker, who does not realize the beans' power, has qualms about being so dishonest, but his wife reasons that "Maybe They're Magic". When Little Red Ridinghood arrives at her grandmother's house, she is swallowed by the Wolf. The Baker slays the Wolf, pulling Little Red Ridinghood and her grandmother from the beast's innards, and Red rewards him with the red cape, boasting of her new experiences ("I Know Things Now"). Jack's mother angrily tosses the beans aside; they grow into a very high beanstalk. As Cinderella flees the festival, pursued by a prince and his steward, the Wife quizzes Cinderella on her time at the ball. Cinderella explains that it was a nice ball with "A Very Nice Prince". The Wife spots Cinderella's pure gold slippers as Cinderella starts to leave. Turning her back to chase after Cinderella, Milky-White runs off, leaving the Wife both slipper-less and cow-less. The characters each state morals and credos as the First Midnight chimes ("First Midnight").

Jack describes his thrilling adventure after he returns from climbing the beanstalk ("Giants in the Sky"). He gives the Baker five gold pieces he stole from the giants to buy back his cow, and when the Baker hesitates, Jack climbs back up the beanstalk to find more. The Mysterious Man emerges and taunts the Baker, stealing the money. The Baker's wife confesses she has lost the cow, and she and the Baker split up to look for it. Cinderella's and Rapunzel's Princes, who are brothers, brag about their new-found loves ("Agony"). The Baker's wife takes note when Rapunzel's prince mentions that he is in love with a girl in a tower with hair as "yellow as corn." The Baker's Wife fools Rapunzel into letting down her hair and yanks out pieces. Meanwhile, The Mysterious Man gives Milky-White back to the Baker.

The Wife and Cinderella meet again, and the Wife makes a desperate grab for her shoes, almost succeeding before Cinderella flees. The Baker and his wife reunite, now with three of the four items. The Baker admits that they've had to work together to fulfill the quest ("It Takes Two"). Jack arrives with a hen that lays golden eggs and attempts to buy Milky-White back, but the cow suddenly keels over dead as midnight chimes. Again, the characters exchange morals ("Second Midnight"). The Witch discovers that the Prince has been visiting Rapunzel and begs Rapunzel to stay with her ("Stay with Me"). When she refuses, the Witch angrily cuts off Rapunzel's hair and banishes her to a desert. The Mysterious Man gives the Baker the money to buy another cow, and Jack, goaded by Little Red Ridinghood, who is now sporting a wolf skin cape and a knife for protection, returns once again to the Giant's home to steal a magical harp.

Cinderella's Prince spreads pitch on the stairs of the castle to try to capture her. She escapes, but leaves one of her slippers "On the Steps of the Palace" as a clue to her identity. The Baker's Wife tries to trade her own shoes and the last bean for Cinderella's one slipper; Cinderella throws the bean aside, but trades shoes with the Baker's wife and flees. The Baker arrives with another cow, and they now have all four items. A great crash is heard and Jack's mother reports that a Giant has fallen from the beanstalk and is dead in her backyard. The Witch discovers that the new cow is not pure white — it is covered with flour. However, the Witch revives Milky-White, and the Baker and his Wife feed the items to her. Jack milks her, but no milk comes. The Baker's Wife reveals that the hair is Rapunzel's, and the Witch furiously explains that the magic will not work, because she (the witch) has touched Rapunzel's hair. The Mysterious Man tells the Baker to feed the hair-like corn silk to the cow. Now Milky-White gives milk, which is the potion. The Witch reveals that the Mysterious Man is the Baker's father, but the Man dies before the Baker can talk to him. The curse is broken, and the Witch is restored to youth and beauty, which were lost when her magic beans were stolen.

Cinderella's Prince finds Cinderella, whose foot fits the slipper, and she becomes the Prince's bride. Rapunzel has borne twins, and she and her Prince are reunited. The Witch attempts to curse the couple, only to find that her powers have been lost. At Cinderella's wedding to the Prince, the stepsisters are blinded by birds as they try to win Cinderella's favor. Everyone but the Witch and the stepsisters congratulate themselves on being able to live happily "Ever After", though they fail to notice another beanstalk growing sky-high in the background.