Entertainment Tonight presents …

Little Red Riding Hood Stars on Broadway!

Music & Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, Book by James Lapine

Exclusive Gossip: You Will Hear This Here First: ‘Into the Woods’, an award winning musical by Stephen Sonheim and James Lapine has just hired Little Red Riding Hood for their starring role. Based on uncensored versions of the Grimm Brother’s fairy tales, this musical first hit Broadway in 1987 (Wikipedia).

Our undercover reporter attended the show to find out what was going on with this seductive young lady and the following was found:

· Little Red Riding Hood stars in both acts of the musical, Act 1 and Act 2.

· In the first Act, Little Red Riding Hood attends the Baker’s shop to buy bread for her dear old Grandmother, dressed in her usual attire, the red cape (she must have provided her own wardrobe!) After Little Red Riding Hood leaves the shop, a witch arrives and curses the Baker. The only thing that can lift the curse is a potion with four special ingredients, one being the red cape belonging to Little Red Riding Hood. Meanwhile, on her walk Little Red Riding Hood encounters a ‘friendly’ wolf, however Little Red Riding Hood continues on her walk and the wolf races ahead. (Sounding familiar? Art reflecting life maybe? I have reason to believe Little Red has been sharing her story to Lapine and Sondheim recently, maybe how she received this part was not as innocent as we are to believe, if you know what I mean?)

· On her journey however, Little Red Riding Hood ran into the Baker who after being refused, attempts to steal her cape. The Baker is unsuccessful and Little Red Riding Hood is seen arriving at Grandma’s house… Here she encounters the wolf again but this time she finds her Grandma has been savagely murdered and eaten by the wolf and she too meets this gruesome end with the wolf in a somewhat seductive way swallows Little Red Riding Hood. Just as the audience believes all is lost the Baker arrives, slays the wolf, freeing Little Red Riding Hood and her Grandmother! In exchange for his heroism Little Red Riding Hood gives the Baker her red cape.

· In Act 2 Little Red Riding Hood’s mother is killed by a Giant who is also after Little Red Riding Hood and the other characters. Bedlam occurs as they run for their lives in the forest. They concoct a plan to kill the Giant and work as a team. In one scene Little Red Riding Hood even risks her life for Jack (man from the beanstalk).

From what I have seen tonight it appears Little Red Riding Hood did not have to do much acting as she was playing a near exact replica of herself! It appears to me that Little Red cannot move on from her horrific past and is representing her life in art. One song in the musical however did catch my ear and my sources tell me Little Red may have had some part in writing it. I will leave you with this song:

And I know things now, many valuable things

That I hadn’t known before

Don not put your faith in a cape and a hood

They will not protect you the way they should

And take extra care with strangers

Even flowers have their dangers

And though scary is exciting

Nice is different than good

(Wikipedia 2006).

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