A long time ago, a Baker’s father stole from a witch’s garden. The witch agreed to let him take the vegetables on the condition that once his baby girl was born, he would give her to the witch. On the way out, the Baker’s father stole one last thing: a handful of magic beans.

The witch’s mother cursed her with ugliness for losing the beans, so when the witch took the father’s baby girl, she also cursed the family to be unable to have children.

Into the Woods opens with the main cast of Jack, Cinderella, Red Riding Hood, the Baker and his wife singing about their wishes. The Baker and his wife sing about their wish to have a child.

To become fertile again and for the witch to regain her beauty, the Baker must collect four items; to quote the lyrics, “The cow as white as milk, the cape as red as blood, the hair as yellow as corn, the slipper as pure as [gold].” And to collect these items, he must go into the woods, interacting with other characters along the way, including Jack, Cinderella, and Red Riding Hood.

Half way through the movie,the Baker and his wife seem to have found their “happily ever after:” The Baker and his wife finally have a child.

But the story does not end there.

Jack, in the act of chopping down a beanstalk, killed the giant he stole the gold from. Cinderella tossed one of the magic beans, causing a new beanstalk to shoot out of the ground. This gives the giant’s wife a means to get down to the ground to get revenge on Jack.

How will the five survive? Find out by watching the musical Into the Woods, directed by Rob Marshall and written by James Lapine.