Show Synopsis:
A Baker and his Wife discover that they cannot have children because of a curse that the Witch next door placed on the Baker's family, and work with her to reverse the effects of the curse. They interact with recognizable characters from many different fairy tales throughout their journey - Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack, Rapunzel and others who all hope to get their wish. The Baker and his Wife help the Witch turn from an ugly old woman to her beautiful former self, at the expense of her powers, and have a child. When the Wife of the Giant Jack stole things from comes down from her beanstalk seeking revenge, people begin to die, and the characters realize that their wishes come at a price. The Baker, Jack, Cinderella, and Little Red Riding Hood conspire to capture and kill the Giant's Wife after she has killed Rapunzel (the Witch's adopted daughter), the Baker's Wife, and more. The Baker has to learn how to care for his new son on his own and creates a new family with Cinderella, who has realized that being royal is not as glamorous as she thought it would be, Little Red Riding Hood, who has lost her family to the giant, and Jack, who needs someone to take care of him after his mother dies.
Character:
Jack, a simple young man who loves his cow and his mother; easily offended; naïve; has very little sense of the world outside of what people tell him.
Song Contexts:
Jack has just returned from the giant's house in the sky, and he feels that his entire perspective of the world and his life has changed.
Fun Facts:
1) This character is the title character in the famous fairytale "Jack and the Beanstalk." In this musical, the story is portrayed fairly accurately, though Jack is portrayed as more of a simpleton than retellings of the story usually depict him to be.
2) This song was written for Robert Sean Leonard, who played Jack in the six-week workshop of the musical. It was one of the first songs written about a character's story because composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim thought that the story of Jack on top of the beanstalk would lend itself to imagery and rich lyrics.
3) Sondheim noted that this song was in development when book writer James Lapine's wife Sarah suggested that the songs become more about what the adventures meant to the characters than what they actually did. This comment helped this song and others become less narrative and more descriptive.
"There are giants in the sky!
There are big tall terrible Giants
In the sky!
When you're way up high
And you look below
At the world you left
And the things you know,
Little more than a glance
Is enough to show
You just how small you are.
When you're way up high
And you're own your own
In a world like none
That you've ever known,
Where the sky is lead
And the earth is stone,
You're free, to do
Whatever pleases you,
Exploring things you'd never dare
'Cause you don't care,
When suddenly there's
A big tall terrible Giant at the door,
A big tall terrible lady Giant
sweeping the floor.
And she gives you food
And she gives you rest
And she draws you close
To her Giant breast,
And you know things now
that you never knew before,
Not till the sky.
Only just when you've made
A friend and all,
And you know she's big
But you don't feel small,
Someone bigger than her
Comes along the hall
To swallow you for lunch.
And you heart is lead
And your stomach stone
And you're really scared
Being all alone
And it's then that you long
All the things you've known
And the world you've left
And the little you own-
The fun is done.
You steal what you can and run.
And you scramble down
And you look below,
And the world you know
Begins to grow:
The roof, the house, and your Mother at the door.
The roof, the house and the world you never thought to explore.
And you think of all of the things you've seen,
And you wish that you could live in between,
And you're back again,
Only different than before,
After the sky.
There are giants in the sky!
There are big tall terrible awesome scary wonderful
Giants in the sky!"