A recent trend in Hollywood lately has been putting musicals onto the big screen. One that has a lot of attention on it is “Into the Woods,” which came out on Christmas Day.

“Into the Woods” is a musical by Steven Sondheim that premiered in 1987. It has had two revivals since then.

The musical intertwines Brothers Grimm fairy tales such as Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella and Rapunzel.

A couple of other characters are added, like the baker and his wife. There are many different subplots throughout the entire movie, but they all come together in the end.

The plot line that ties them together is that the baker’s wife is unable to produce any children because of a curse put on her husband’s family. The witch decides that she will take the curse away if they collect four items. Those four items help tie all the different plot lines together.

Differences between the musical and movie are few. The movie was changed slightly by a few subplots being cut or changed because of the family-friendly feel Disney wanted.

The cast of “Into the Woods” is very star filled. With Meryl Streep as the witch/narrator, Emily Blunt as the baker’s wife, Anna Kendrick as Cinderella and Johnny Depp as the Wolf, many people will be familiar with at least a few actors, which makes the movie more appealing.

Two characters that I thought were the best actors in the movie were Lilla Crawford, who played Little Red, and Daniel Huttlestone, who played Jack. The trueness in their acting made them the most believable characters in.

Many people were worried about the fact Jack and Little Red were played by children because they are often played by adults. Crawford was recently Annie in the revival of “Annie” on Broadway and Huttlestone was Gavroche in “Les Miserable,” another movie musical from 2012 so there was no reason to worry.

This show attempts to teach its audience many lessons, such as not wishing too big, liking life the way it is and being honest about what oneself really wants.

“Into the Woods” is very appealing to all audiences. It includes many lasting lessons to be learned and I thoroughly recommend all to see it.