Exclusive From the Tonys! Watch Sondheim, Lapine and Joanna Gleason Accept Awards for Into the Woods (Video) | Playbill

News Exclusive From the Tonys! Watch Sondheim, Lapine and Joanna Gleason Accept Awards for Into the Woods (Video) Before Into the Woods was a major movie musical, the iconic fairytale premiered on Broadway in 1987 and took home three 1988 Tony Awards. For the first time, the acceptance speeches (in high-definition quality) are on the interwebs, and the Tony Awards has shared them exclusively with Playbill.com.

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Stephen Sondheim was awarded the Tony Award for Best Score of the musical, which was up against The Phantom of the Opera that year at the Tonys. Although Woods took home trophies for Best Score and Best Book, Phantom was awarded top honors that night with Best Musical.

In his speech, Sondheim thanks the show's producers, the ensemble cast, James Lapine (whom he also thanked for collaborating with him on Sunday in the Park With George), conductor Paul Gemignani, orchestrator Jonathan Tunick and rehearsal pianist Paul Ford.

Watch the speech below.

Joanna Gleason took home the award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance as the Baker's Wife, besting Alison Fraser (Romance/Romance), Judy Kuhn (Chess) and Patti LuPone (Anything Goes).

She previously told Playbill.com, "That show paralleled a complicated time in my life, where it was all about 'and' versus 'or' … And each time I took the journey through the show, different themes within it resonated with greater weight. By the end of my run, I had a perspective on life, on my life, that I may not have ever found without it."

Following the show's run, she was divorced from husband Michael Bennahum, whom she thanked during her acceptance speech. Watch it below.

Lapine was awarded the 1988 Tony for Best Book. Along with Sondheim, he was an integral component to the film adaptation.

Around the time of the film's release, he told Playbill, "The reason to do it as a movie is to be able to open it up visually. I was kind of all gung-ho about throwing the whole thing in the air and starting over again. [Director] Rob [Marshall] was the one who was the purist and wanted to keep bringing things back."

Watch his original Tony acceptance speech below.

Playbill.com also asked Woods star Gleason to pick her favorite Sondheim songs. Check it out!

 
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