The first show of the 2022-2023 Broadway season is open, and the reviews are in! Patina Miller, Brian d'Arcy James, Phillipa Soo, Joshua Henry, Sara Bareilles, and more go Into the Woods with the new revival of the Stephen Sondheim-James Lapine musical that opened at the St. James Theatre July 10. Find out what the critics had to say about the production below.
Also featured in the cast of the transfer from New York City Center Encores! are Julia Lester as Little Red Riding Hood, Cole Thompson as Jack, David Patrick Kelly as Narrator/Mysterious Man, Annie Golden as Cinderella's Mother/Granny/Giant, Nancy Opel as Cinderella's Stepmother, Aymee Garcia as Jack's Mother, Ta'Nika Gibson as Lucinda, Albert Guerzon as Cinderella's Father, Brooke Ishibashi as Florinda, Kennedy Kanagawa as Milky White, David Turner as Steward, and Alysia Velez as Rapunzel.
Read the reviews here.
The Hollywood Reporter (David Rooney)
New York Daily News (Chris Jones)
New York Stage Review (David Finkle)
The New York Times (Alexis Soloski)
Vulture/New York Magazine (Christopher Bonanos)
The Washington Post (Peter Marks)
Playbill will continue to update this list as reviews come in.
Rounding out the company as understudies are Delphi Borich, Felicia Curry, Jason Forbach, Alex Joseph Grayson, Cameron Johnson, Paul Kreppel, Mary Kate Moore, Diane Phelan, and Lucia Spina.
Back at the helm after directing the City Center run is Encores! Artistic Director Lear deBessonet, who has reunited her Encores! creative team: music director Rob Berman; choreographer Lorin Latarro; scenic designer David Rockwell; costume designer Andrea Hood; lighting designer Tyler Micoloeau; sound designer Scott Lehrer, co-designing with Alex Neumann; puppet designer James Ortiz; and hair and makeup designer Cookie Jordan. Casting is by The Telsey Office's Craig Burns, and Cody Renard Richard serves as production supervisor. Justin Scribner is production stage manager, and music coordination is by Seymour Red Press and Kimberlee Wertz.
With a book by James Lapine and a score by Stephen 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 revival is the seventh Encores! production to play the Main Stem, following earlier transfers of Chicago, The Apple Tree, Gypsy, Finian's Rainbow, After Midnight, and Violet, the latter of which originated as a New York City Center Encores! Off-Center production. A 2000 Encores! concert of Wonderful Town also inspired a full Broadway revival in 2003. The production is also Into the Woods' third Broadway outing, following its 1987 premiere and a 2002 revival.
Into the Woods is produced by Jujamcyn Theaters, Jordan Roth, New York City Center, Daryl Roth, Hunter Arnold, Concord Theatricals, Nicole Eisenberg, Jessica R. Jenen, Michael Cassel Group, Kevin Ryan, Showtown Productions, and Armstrong, Gold & Ross, with Nicole Kastrinos serving as executive producer.
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