Created by James Ortiz, The Woodsman wowed audiences during its most recent run at Off-Broadway’s New World Stages. Now, at-home audiences will be able to enjoy this inventive and breath-taking interpretation of the origin story of L. Frank Baum’s Tin Man.
READ MORE: How The Woodsman’s Treatment of Oz Has Us Re-Thinking the Tin Man
Theatre Close-Up, a collaboration between channel THIRTEEN and New York’s network of Off-Broadway theatres, will present a captured live performance September 2 at 9 PM. The performance was captured in partnership with streaming platform BroadwayHD. (The program will be re-broadcast on September 4 at 10 PM on WLIW21 and available to BroadwayHD subscribers starting September 6.)
READ MORE: Schedule of Upcoming Live Theatre Broadcasts in Movie Theatres and on Television
Through life-size hand-crafted puppetry, made by writer and star Ortiz, The Woodsman is a haunting re-envisioning of the Wicked Witch and her cast over the land of Oz.
Ortiz and Claire Karpen directed the work with music by Edward W. Hardy and lyrics by Jen Loring. The show features set and puppet design by Ortiz, costume design by Molly Seidel (original costume design by Carol Uraneck) and lighting design by Catherine Clark and Jamie Roderick.
READ MORE: How Do You Design a Fairy Tale?
The ensemble features Benjamin Bass, Devin Dunne Cannon, Will Gallacher, Alex J. Gould, Amanda A. Lederer, Aaron McDaniel, Lauren Nordvig, Ortiz, Eliza Martin Simpson, Meghan St. Thomas and Sophia Zukoski. The Woodsman is produced by Rob Nanus, Rachel Sussman, Ryan Bogner and Adam Silbermanand, and originally produced and developed by Strangemen & Co.
The production was a recipient of the 2014 Jim Henson Foundation grant and was recognized for its puppet design by the Obie Awards.
