A production of “Into the Woods” that received ecstatic reviews this month during a sold-out two-week run in downtown New York is transferring to Broadway this summer.
The Broadway production, which will run for just eight weeks, will once again feature singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles as Baker’s Wife and Gavin Creel as Prince, but the other lead roles will be played by newcomers to the production – including Patina Miller, a Tony- winner for ‘Pippin’ as the witch; Brian d’Arcy James (“Something Rotten!”) as the baker; Phillipa Soo (“Hamilton”) as Cinderella; and Joshua Henry (“Carousel”) as the other prince.
“When things get out of hand, this is the show that holds our hand,” said Jordan Roth, the president of Jujamcyn Theaters and the production’s lead producer. “That’s why it resonated so deeply and why we need to let more people have that experience.”
First opening on Broadway in 1987, Into the Woods is one of the great collaborations between songwriter Stephen Sondheim, who died last fall, and book writer James Lapine. The show, a cautionary hodgepodge of various fairy tales, is widely staged, both professionally and in schools, and in 2014 Disney released a film adaptation.
This new production, which started as part of the Encores! program at City Center, starts showings on June 28 and opens July 10 at the St. James Theater. It will be directed again by Lear deBessonet, the Encores! art director. Writing in DailyExpertNews, critic Alexis Soloski called City Center’s production “glorious,” and many other critics agreed.
The encores! cast included several performers not participating in the Broadway production due to film commitments, including Heather Headley, who played the witch; Denée Benton, who played Cinderella; and Neil Patrick Harris, who played the Baker.
The Broadway run is produced by Jujamcyn, Roth and City Center, as well as Hunter Arnold, Nicole Eisenberg, Michael Cassel Group, Jessica R. Jenen, Daryl Roth, ShowTown Productions and Armstrong, Gold & Ross.
Jordan Roth said the physical production would be the same as in City Center, with an orchestra on stage and minimal sets and costumes. “The simplicity and poetry of this production brought this story right into our hearts,” he said.
A downtown New York production of “Sunday in the Park With George,” also written by Sondheim and Lapine, followed a similar path to Broadway. That production, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Annaleigh Ashford, had four performances at City Center in 2016, followed by a 10-week run on Broadway in 2017.