Stephen Sondheim
First Midnight
[BAKER, spoken]
One midnight gone…

[MYSTERIOUS MAN, spoken]
No knot unties itself…

[WITCH, spoken]
Sometimes the things you most wish for are not to be touched…

[CINDERELLA'S PRINCE & RUPUNZEL'S PRINCE, spoken]
The harder to get, the better to have…

[CINDERELLA'S PRINCE, spoken]
Agreed?

[RUPUNZEL'S PRINCE, spoken]
Agreed

[FLORINDA, spoken]
Never wear mauve at a ball…

[LUCINDA, spoken]
Or pink…

[STEPMOTHER, spoken]
Or open your mouth…
[JACK, spoken]
The difference between a cow and a bean
Is a bean can begin an adventure…

[JACK'S MOTHER, spoken]
Slotted spoons don't hold much soup…

[LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD, spoken]
The prettier the flower, the farther from the path…

[CINDERELLA'S FATHER, spoken]
The closer to the family, the closer to the wine…

[RAPUNZEL (offstage)]
Ahhh...

[WITCH, spoken]
One midnight gone!…

[GRANNY, spoken]
The mouth of a wolf's not the end of the world…

[STEWARD, spoken]
A servant is not just a dog, to a Prince…

[CINDERELLA, spoken]
Opportunity is not a lengthy visitor…
[BAKER'S WIFE, spoken]
You may know what you need
But to get what you want
Better see that you keep what you have

[BAKER, spoken]
One midnight gone…

(The following lines overlap, or are spoken simultaneously)

[WITCH, spoken]
Sometimes the things you most wish for are not to be touched…

[CINDERELLA'S PRINCE & RAPUNZEL'S PRINCE, spoken]
The harder to get, the better to have…

[BAKER, spoken]
One midnight gone… One midnight gone…

[FLORINDA, spoken]
Never wear mauve at a ball…

[LUCINDA, spoken]
Or pink…

[JACK'S MOTHER, spoken]
Slotted spoons don't hold much soup…
[BAKER'S WIFE, spoken]
To get what you want better keep what you have…

[LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD, spoken]
The prettier the flower…

[BAKER, WITCH, CINDERELLA, & LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD, spoken]
One midnight gone… One midnight gone…

[CINDERELLA'S FATHER, MYSTERIOUS MAN, & GRANNY, spoken]
One midnight...
One midnight...
One midnight gone...

[CINDERELLA'S PRINCE, RAPUNZEL'S PRINCE, STEPMOTHER, FLORINDA & LUCINDA, spoken]
One midnight gone...

[JACK'S MOTHER & BAKER'S WIFE, spoken]
One midnight gone...

[ALL, in unison]
Into the woods
Into the woods
Into the woods, then out of the woods
And home before—