CENTERSTAGE and Westport Country Playhouse Announce INTO THE WOODS Cast

CENTERSTAGE and Westport Country Playhouse have announced casting for their co-production of Into the Woods, and Broadway fans will be excited to hear that the original Little Red Ridinghood, Danielle Ferland, is making her way back Into the Woods. The production is set to run March 7-April 15 at CENTERSTAGE before moving to Westport Country Playhouse in May. Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's beloved fairy tale musical will be directed by Westport Country Playhouse's Artistic Director Mark Lamos, who directed A Little Night Music in 2008.

"Into the Woods is a musical unlike any other," says Lamos. "With a book by James Lapine that veers cunningly between tragedy and comedy, and one of Stephen Sondheim's most sophisticated and playful scores, it re-imagines well-known fairy tales and imbues them with new possibilities. It's a challenging show-Sondheim's lyrics alone are dazzling in their own right-and one that really excites me to be directing, especially with this amazing cast of artists. The show can appeal to a very young theatergoer as well as a veteran. Mature audiences will appreciate its deeper soundings and rich, human colors. Enchantment is not without its dangers, the show seems to be saying; but at the same time, with our capacity to love, we become infinite, whole, meaningful, and truly human."

Danielle Ferland will return to CENTERSTAGE (where she previously appeared in 2001 in Short Plays by Thornton Wilder) as the Baker's Wife. Since making her Broadway debut in the original cast of Sunday in the Park with George, followed by Into the Woods, Ferland has appeared in numerous Broadway productions, including the recent revival of All My Sons with Dianne Wiest, John Lithgow, and Katie Holmes; A Little Night Music; and The Crucible. She has also previously appeared at Westport Country Playhouse in The Streets of New York and The School for Husbands.

Lauren Kennedy, who appeared in the original cast of Side Show, will play the Witch. Kennedy has also been seen in Monty Python's Spamalot, Les Misérables, Sunset Boulevard with Glenn Close, and Cinderella with New York City Opera. Other prominent stage credits include South Pacific at The National Theatre in London; the world premiere of Frank Wildhorn and Jack Murphy's Waiting for the Moon; and developmental readings of Wildhorn and Murphy's musical Wonderland: Alice's New Musical Adventure.

Appearing as Jack's Mother is Broadway veteran Cheryl Stern, whose extensive credits include the 2010 Tony Award-winning revival of La Cage aux Folles; The Women with Cynthia Nixon, Jennifer Tilly, and Kristen Johnston; Candide with the New York City Opera; and Jackie Mason's Laughing Room Only, starring Kelsey Grammer.

Playing opposite Ferland as the Baker is Erik Liberman, whose credits include Harold Prince's LoveMusik on Broadway; numerous Off-Broadway roles; the North American tour of Fiddler on the Roof opposite Topol, Harvey Fierstein and Theodore Bikel; and Merrily We Roll Along at Signature Theatre (Helen Hayes Award). Jeffry Denman, who plays the Narrator, has been seen on Broadway as Phil Davis in White Christmas (originating the role at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco); the original cast of The Producers; as well as appearing in several productions with City Center Encores!. In the role of Little Red Ridinghood will be Dana Steingold, whose credits include the Encores! production of Anyone Can Whistle; the pre-Broadway workshop of Godspell; and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, directed by James Lapine.

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