Children Will Listen

This is the first of a series of pictures of "Broadway Successors," the children of famous couples from Broadway musicals. The idea was inspired by the "Disney Successors" series by Grodansnagel (Although I wish to God I could draw as well as she does!).  This was made in The Tudors by Azaleasdolls.

The first group of successor children we have here are the children of the Baker and his Wife (Although not all are by both of them...) from Stephen Sondhiem and James Lapine's musical "Into the Woods." For reference in my fanfictions, in my headcanon, the Baker's name is Chip At-Woods and his wife is named Joanna At-Woods. The first names are after the actors who played them, the last name is in reference to the fact that, in Medieval Times, a person's last name would sometimes reflect where they lived. I am under the impression that the Baker and his family live on the outskirts of the woods, therefore At-Woods. The two to the left are the child of the Baker and his Wife (YES, I meant to say "Child." This is both my take on the canon male child they had in the play as an adult, and my take on what the child would be as an adult if it had been a girl), the three in the middle are the children of The Baker and Cinderella, and the two on the right are the children of The Baker's Wife and Cinderella's Prince (in my headcanon, the Baker's Wife concieved during their "Moment in the Woods," and if she hadn't been stepped on by the giant, she would have born his children nine months later.)

From left to right: Cordelia "Beauty" At-Woods, Nicholas "Lord Baker" At-Woods, Charles "Charlie" At-Woods, Mary At-Woods, Alfred At-Woods, Goneril At-Woods, Regan At-Woods.

Cordelia At-Woods, or "Beauty" as she is called, is the daughter of Chip and Joanna in my AU fanfiction Into the Woods II: The Mirror and Rose. She was the child born as the result of the family's curse being lifted through a cow as white as milk, a cape as red as blood, hair as yellow as corn, and a slipper as pure as gold. Her mother named her "Beauty" when she was born not only for her physical beauty, but for the beautiful fact that the curse was finally lifted; however, she was christened "Cordelia" in order to give her a proper Christian name, as people would probably think her parents daft if they brought her into a church and tried to have her named "Beauty." When Beauty is three months old, a giantess attacks the kingdom in revenge for the thievery of the Lad Jack, killing many people in the process, including Beauty's mother. As a result, although he marries Cinderella two years later and goes on to have three more children with her, Chip is strongly affected by his grief for his first wife. He never lets any of his children into the woods alone for fear that something will happen to them. He feels most protective of Beauty; she is secretly his favorite child because she is Joanna's. Beauty is the heroine of the story "Beauty and the Beast." When her father leaves to go to a spring festival in the next kingdom, he promises to bring her a bouquet of roses. When he returns, however, Beauty is about to find herself in a major scrape and the adventure story of a lifetime, and all because of a bunch of roses that were stolen from a Beast's garden. With the help of a cat in boots who longs for recognition, can she love a beast?

Nicholas At-Woods is my take on the canon offspring of the Baker and his Wife. His story takes the basic plotline of the medieval Scottish ballad "Young Beichan," also known as "Young Baker" or "Lord Baker" in some variants. I think after I finish Mirror and Rose, I MIGHT do a canon fansequel based on this, see how things go. He was named after Saint Nicholas, because his birth and the end of the curse was considered a great gift by his parents. Nicholas's upbringing goes much the same way it would have had he been born "Cordelia" instead, minus a few details and with the addition of a few others. When he grows up, he joins his cousin, Chandler (son of Rapunzel and her Prince) on a sailing expedition to the far East (like Beauty, Nicholas probably would have had to run away to fulfill this destiny), where he unwittingly breaks a law and is thrown into prison and chained to a tree to prevent escape. He would have died in prison, but for one small detail- the jailer has a beautiful daughter who gets to know and falls in love with him while making her rounds bringing food to the prisoners. One night, the daughter steals her father's keys and sets Nicholas free. She cannot run away with him and marry him yet, as right now he is only the poor son of a Baker and he does not see himself as currently able to support a wife the way he'd like to, but he has told her that he aims to one day have houses and lands of his own, and when he did, he would deserve her and he would give them to her. The Baker's son and the Jailor's daughter make a pact- Nicholas will go back home, and they will wait faithfully for each other for seven years. By the time seven years have passed, Nicholas has been made a lord by his cousin in gratitude for his help in his own story (The Chandler and Brina story remains the same in this fansequel, as Rapunzel's Twins remain the same- just with the addition of a few details and the omission of others)... but Nicholas has also become engaged to another woman and has no memory of his beautiful rescuer. Can he be made to remember her before it's too late?

Charles Junior "Charlie" At-Woods is the son of Chip the Baker and Cinderella (I'm a total Bakerella shipper, and fully believe they eventually ended up together after the giantess attack). Charlie, named after his father, is slightly less annoying to his oldest sibling than his younger brother, although he can be. However, he is thoughtful and kind, and always willing to lend a helping hand, and he has a very strong head on his shoulders. When his eldest sibling comes into his/her money and prestige, he, along with the rest of the family, shares in it. When Charlie grows up, he becomes a respected advisor, and is quite popular in court, eventually marrying well and having a good handful of children.

Mary At-Woods is the daughter of Chip and Cinderella, and their youngest child. She is quiet, sweet, and innocent, although she can be quite a headache to her oldest sibling at times, and she is utterly passionate about hair ribbons. She grows up to marry a lord in her oldest sibling's court and have a family with him, and looks after her oldest sibling in their old age, eventually. 

Alfred At-Woods is the second child of Chip the Baker and Cinderella. He is the archetypal "annoying younger brother" as a child- loud, obnoxious, and quick-tempered, along with being passionate about driving his oldest sibling crazy. However, although he tries to "be a man" and hide it, he loves his family deeply, and hates to see them insulted. Alfred remains a bachelor when he grows up, but he has a succession of ladies whose favor he holds, and a couple of children are whispered around his oldest sibling's estate to be his.

Goneril and Regan At-Woods would have been the twin daughters of Joanna At-Woods and Cinderella's Prince, although had they been born and had the Baker's Wife lived, their mother would have kept their true paternity a secret from everyone. They would have been told in private by their mother on their sixteenth birthday that they were really the illegitimate offspring of the crown prince, and sworn to secrecy. Already in a fierce rivaly with their older sibling due to the fact that he/she was the miracle child, the end to the family curse; the revelation that by birth, they are actually ABOVE the miracle child, and should by rights be RULING over their "perfect" sister/brother would have completely ruined their chances of reconciliation. The fact that later on, said "Miracle Child" comes into some serious good fortune would have been the straw that broke their backs. Had they been allowed to exist, Goneril and Regan would have conspired to ruin their older sibling's story completely, and he or she might never have gotten their "ever after."

Into the Woods c. Sondhiem and Lapine
Stories c. Their original authors
The At-Woods siblings c. me