Broadway's upcoming revival of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Into the Woods has completed its cast with Nancy Opel as Cinderella's Stepmother, Aymee Garcia as Jack's Mother, and Alysia Velez as Rapunzel. The production begins performances June 28 at the St. James Theatre, with opening night planned for July 10.
Opel, Garcia, and Velez join the previously announced Sara Bareilles as the Baker's Wife, Brian d'Arcy James as the Baker, Tony winner Patina Miller as the Witch, Phillipa Soo as Cinderella, Tony winner Gavin Creel as Cinderella's Prince/Wolf, Joshua Henry as Rapunzel's Prince, Cole Thompson as Jack, Julia Lester as Little Red Ridinghood, Annie Golden as Cinderella's Mother/Grandmother/Giant's Wife, David Patrick Kelly as Narrator/Mysterious Man, Ta'Nika Gibson as Lucinda, Albert Guerzon as Cinderella's Father, Brooke Ishibashi as Florinda, Kennedy Kanagawa as Milky White, and David Turner as Steward, along with Jason Forbach, Mary Kate Moore, and Cameron Johnson.
Also newly joining the company are understudies Delphi Borich, Felicia Curry, Alex Joseph Grayson, Paul Kreppel, Diane Phelan, and Lucia Spina.
The revival, the musical's third Broadway outing, comes to the Main Stem via an Encores! gala concert staging that played New York City Center last month. Director Lear deBessonet will be back at the helm of the transfer, leading a creative team also including music director Rob Berman, choreographer Lorin Latarro, scenic designer David Rockwell, costume designer Andrea Hood, lighting designer Tyler Micoloeau, sound designers Scott Lehrer and Alex Neumann, puppet designer James Ortiz, and hair and makeup designer Cookie Jordan. Casting is by Telsey & Co, and Cody Renard Richard will serve as production supervisor.
With a book by Lapine and a score by Sondheim, Into the Woods combines the fairy-tale stories of Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel, and more, ultimately going beyond "ever after" to explore what happens next. Boasting a score that includes such favorites as "Children Will Listen," "No One Is Alone," and its title song, the musical has become one of Sondheim's most beloved and frequently performed works both on professional stages and at schools and community theatres worldwide.
The work originally opened at Broadway's Martin Beck Theatre in 1987, with a cast including Bernadette Peters, Joanna Gleason, and Chip Zien. Up against Andrew Lloyd Webber's juggernaut The Phantom of the Opera, Into the Woods went on to win three 1988 Tony Awards, including Best Score, Best Book, and Best Actress in a Musical, the latter for Gleason. A Broadway revival played the Broadhurst Theatre in 2002 with a cast including Vanessa Williams, Laura Benanti, and Christopher Sieber, and Off-Broadway revivals were mounted by The Public Theater's Free Shakespeare in the Park in 2012 and Roundabout Theatre Company in 2014, the latter a collaboration with Fiasco Theater.
