EXCLUSIVE INTO THE WOODS Update: Donna Murphy In Talks for the 'Witch' and Christopher Fitzgerald Being Courted for the 'Baker'?

BroadwayWorld's Rialto Chatter was the first to break the news in January that INTO THE WOODS was to play the Delacorte Theatre as part of the 2012 Shakespeare in the Park season.

Today we have learned that two new additions to the exciting cast are likely to be Broadway vets Donna Murphy and Christopher Fitzgerald as the Witch and Baker, respectively. The Public Theater had no official comment on further casting at the moment.

Donna Murphy was last seen on Broadway in THE PEOPLE IN THE PICTURE, for which she earned a Tony nomination. She has won three Drama Desk Awards (LOVEMUSIK, PASSION and WONDERFUL TOWN) and two Tony Awards (PASSION and THE KING AND I) in her distinguished career. She has also appeared on screens big and small in such feature films as Spider-Man 2 (2004) and Tangled (2010). She has also lent her talents to a host of TV series, among them Law & Order and The Practice. She has performed on a number of recordings, including “Leonard Bernstein’s New York,” “Hello Again,” “The King and I” and the Grammy Award-winning “Passion.”

Christopher Fitzgerald was last seen on Broadway in THE MERCHANT OF VENICE and earned a Tony Nomination and a Drama Desk Award for his performance in the recent Broadway revival of Finian’s Rainbow. He has also appeared on Broadway in the original casts of YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN (Tony and Drama Desk nominations), WICKED, and AMOUR (Drama Desk nomination). His off-Broadway credits include GUTENBERG! The Musical!, OBSERVE THE SONS OF ULSTER…, SATURDAY NIGHT (Drama Desk nomination), FULLY COMMITTED, CORPUS CHRISTI, and THE CRIPPLE OF INISHMAAN.

As announced yesterday, Academy and Golden Globe Award nominee Amy Adams has been cast as The Baker’s Wife in Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s beloved musical INTO THE WOODS. The company will also include Jack Broderick (Narrator), Gideon Glick (Jack), Cooper Grodin (Rapunzel’s Prince), Ivan Hernandez (Cinderella’s Prince/Wolf), Tina Johnson (Granny), Josh Lamon (Steward), Jessie Mueller (Cinderella), Laura Shoop (Cinderella’s Mother), and Tess Soltau (Rapunzel).

INTO THE WOODS, directed by Timothy Sheader with co-direction by Liam Steel, will begin previews on Monday, July 23 and continue for five weeks through Saturday, August 25 with an official press opening on Thursday, August 9.

In INTO THE WOODS, a witch’s curse condemns the Baker and his Wife to a life without children. They embark on a quest to find the four items required to break the spell: the cow as white as milk, the cape as red as blood, the hair as yellow as corn, and the slipper as pure as gold. Will they succeed? And what happens after “happily ever after?” A Tony Award-winning masterpiece by musical theater giants Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine, INTO THE WOODS is a witty and irreverent reimagining of beloved classic fairytales: Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and Cinderella.

INTO THE WOODS opened on Broadway at the Martin Beck Theatre on November 5, 1987 and played 764 performances. It earned three Tony Awards, the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award, the Drama Desk Award for Best Musical and a Grammy Award. Directed by James Lapine, the original Broadway production featured a cast that included Bernadette Peters as the Witch and Joanna Gleason as the Baker’s Wife. James Lapine also directed the 2002 Broadway revival that opened on April 30, 2002 at the Broadhurst Theatre and starred Vanessa Williams as the Witch and Laura Benanti as Cinderella.

The 2012 Shakespeare in the Park summer production of INTO THE WOODS is based on the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre London Production, produced by Timothy Sheader and William Village for Regent’s Park Theatre Ltd.

Tickets to Shakespeare in the Park are FREE and are distributed, two per person, at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park the day of the show. The Public Theater will again offer free tickets through our Virtual Ticketing lottery at www.shakespeareinthepark.org on the day of the show.