Prologue-2018 National Theatre Follies Orchestra

Once upon a time
I wish
In a far-off kingdom
More than anything
Lived a fair maiden
More than life
A sad young lad
More than jewels
I wish
And a childless baker
More than life
I wish
With his wife.
More than anything
More than the moon
I wish
The King is giving a Festival.
More than life
I wish
I wish to go to the Festival.
More than riches
And the ball
I wish my cow would
Give us some milk.
More than anything
I wish we had a child.
Please pal-
I want a child
Squeeze pal
I wish to go to the Festival.
I wish you'd give us some
Milk or even cheese
I wish
You wish to go to the Festival
The poor girl's mother had died
You Cinderella the Festival
You wish to go to the Festival
The Festival
The King's Festival
And her father had taken for his new wife
The Festival
A woman with two daughters of her own.
Look at you nails
Look at your dress
People would laugh at you-
Nevertheless
I still want to go to the Festival
And dance before the Prince.
All three were beautiful of face but vile and black of heart.
Jack on the other hand had no father and his mother-
I wish
Well she was not quite beautiful-
I wish my son were not a fool.
I wish my house was not a mess.
I wish the cow was full of milk.
I wish the walls were full of gold-
I wish a lot of things
Why come in little girl.
I wish
It's not for me
It's for my Granny in the woods.
A loaf of bread please-
To bring my poor old hungry
Granny in the woods
Just a loaf of bread please
Cinderella's Stepmother had a surprise for her.
I have emptied a pot of lentils into the ashes for you.
If you have picked them out again in two hours' time
You shall go to the ball with us.
And perhaps a sticky bun
Or four
Birds in the sky
Birds in the eaves
In the leaves
In the fields
In the castles and ponds
And a few of those pies please
Come little birds
Down from the eaves
And the leaves
Over fields
Out of castles and ponds
Now squeeze pal
Ahhh
Quick little birds
Flick through the ashes.
Pick and peck but swiftly
Sift through the ashes
Into the pot
Listen well son. Milky-White must be taken to market.
But mother no- he's the best cow-
Look at her.
There are bugs on her dugs.
There are flies in her eyes.
There's a lump on her rump
Big enough to be a hump-
But-
Son
We've no time to sit and dither
While her wither's wither with her-
And no one keeps a cow for a friend
Sometimes I fear your touched.
Into the woods
It's time to go
I hate to leave
I have to though.
Into the woods-
It's time and so
I must begin my journey.
Into the woods
And through the trees
To where I am
Expected ma'am
Into the woods
To Grandmother's house-
Into the woods
To Grandmother's house-
You're certain of your way
The way is clear
The light is good
I have no fear
Nor no one should.
The woods are just trees
The trees are just wood.
I sort of hate to ask it
But do you have a basket
Into the woods
And down the dell
The path is straight
I know it well.
Into the woods
And who can tell
What's waiting on the journey
Into the woods
To bring some bread
To Granny who
Is sick in bed.
Never can tell
What lies ahead.
For all that I know
She's already dead.
But into the woods
Into the woods
Into the woods
To Grandmother's house
And home before dark.
Fly birds
Back to the sky
Back to the eaves
And the leaves
And the fields
And the-
Hurry up and do my hair Cinderella
Are you really wearing that
Here I found a little tear Cinderella.
Can't you hide it with a hat
You look beautiful.
I know.
She means me.
Put it in a twist.
Who will be there
Mother said be good
Father said be nice
That was always their advice.
So be nice Cinderella
Good Cinderella
Nice good good nice-
What's the good of being good
If everyone is blind
And you're always left behind
Never mind Cinderella
Kind Cinderella-
Nice good nice kind good nice-
Not that tight
Sorry.
Clawed.
Who might that be
It's the witch from next door.
The old enchantress told the couple she had
Placed a spell on their house.
What spell
In the past when your mother was with child
She developed an unusual appetite.
She took one look at my beautiful garden
And told your father that what she wanted more than
Anything in the world was
Greens greens and nothing but greens
Parsley peppers cabbages and celery
Asparagus and watercress and
Fiddleferns and lettuce-
He said"All right"
But it wasn't quite
'Cause I caught him in the autumn
In my garden one night
He was robbing me
Raving me
Rooting through my rutabaga
Raiding my arugula and
Ripping up my rampion
My champion My favorite
-
I should have laid a spell on him
Right there
Could have changed him into stone
Or a dog or a chair
But I let him have the rampion-
I'd lots to spare.
In return however
I said"Fair is fair
You can let me have the baby
That your wife will bear.
And we'll call it square."
I had a brother
No. But you had a sister.
But the witch refused to tell him anymore of his sister.
Not even that her name was Rapunzel.
I though I had been more than reasonable.
But how was I to know what your father
Had also hidden in his pocket
What
Beans.
Beans
The special beans.
I let him go
I didn't know
He'd stolen my beans
I was watching him crawl
Back over the wall-
Then bang Crash
And the lightning flash
And- well that's another story
Never mind-
Anyway at last
The big day came
And I made my claim.
"Oh don't take away the baby"
They shrieked and screeched
But I did
And I hid her
Where she'll never be reached.
And your father cried
And your mother died
When for extra measure-
I admit it was a pleasure-
I said"Sorry
I'm still not mollified."
And I laid little spell on them-
You too son-
That your family tree
Would always be a barren one
So there's no more fuss
And there's no more scenes
And my garden thrives-
You should see my nectarines
But I'm telling you the same
I tell kings and queens
Don't ever never ever
Mess around with my greens
Especially the beans.
Now closely to me Jack.
Lead Milky-White to market
And fetch the best price you can. Are you listening to me
Jack Jack Jack
Head in a sack
The house is getting colder
This is not the time for dreaming.
Chimney stack
Starting to crack
The mice are getting bolder
The floor's gone slack
Your mother's getting older
Your father's not back
And you can't just sit here dreaming pretty dreams.
To wish and wait
From day to day
Will never keep
The wolves away.
So into the woods
The time is now.
We have to live
I don't care how.
Into the woods
To sell the cow
You must begin the journey.
Straight to the woods
And don't delay-
You have to face
The marketplace.
Into the woods to journey's end-
Into the woods to sell a friend-
Meanwhile the Witch for purposes of her own
Explained how the Baker might lift the spell
You wish to have
The curse reversed
I'll need a certain
Potion first.
Go to the woods and bring me back
Onethe cow as white as milk
Twothe cape as red as blood
Threethe hair as yellow as corn
Fourthe slipper as pure as gold.
Bring me these
Before the chime
Of midnight
In three day's time
And you shall have
I guarantee
A child as perfect
As child can be.
Go to the wood
Ladies.
Our carriage waits.
Now may I go to the Festival
The Festival-
Darling those nails
Darling those clothes
Lentils are one thing but
Darling with those
You'd make us the fools of the Festival
And mortify the Prince
Our carriage is waiting.
We must be gone.
Good night Father.
I wish
Look what I found in father's hunting jacket.
Six beans. We'll take them with us.
No
The spell is on my house.
Only I can lift the spell
The spell is on my house.
No no the spell is on our house.
We must lift the spell.
No. You are not to come and that is final.
Now what am I to return with
You don't remember
The cow as white as milk
The cape as red as blood
The hair as yellow as corn
The slipper as pure as gold-
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 so the Baker reluctantly set off to meet the
Enchantress' demands.
As for Cinderella
I still wish to go to the Festival
But how am I ever to get to the Festival
The cow as white as milk
The cape as red as blood
The hair as yellow as corn-
I know
I'll visit Mother's grave
The grave at the hazel tree
And tell her I just want to
Go to the King's Festival
The hair-
Into the woods
It's time to go
It may be all
In vain you/I know.
Into the woods-
But even so
I have to take the journey.
Into the woods
The path is straight
You know it well
But who can tell-
Into the woods to lift the spell-
Into the woods to visit Mother-
Into the woods to fetch the things-
To make the potion-
To got to the Festival-
Into the woods
Without regret
The choice is made
The task is set.
Into the woods
But not forget-
Ting why I'm on the journey.
Little Red Riding hood Joins
Into the woods
To get my wish
I don't care how
The time is now.
Into the woods to sell the cow-
Into the woods to get the money-
Into the woods to lift the spell-
To make the potion-
To go to the Festival-
Into the woods to Grandmother's house
Into the woods to Grandmother's house
The way is clear
The light is good
I have no fear
Nor no one should.
The woods are just trees
The trees are just wood.
No need to be afraid there-
There's something in the glade there
Into the woods
Without delay
But careful not
To lose the way.
Into the woods
Who knows what may
Be lurking on the journey
Into the woods
To get the thing
That makes it worth
The journeying.
Into the woods-
To see the King-
To sell the cow-
To make the potion-
To see-
To sell-
To get-
To bring-
To make-
To lift-
To go to the Festival-
Into the woods
Into the woods
Into the woods
Then out of the woods
And home before dark