Original Cast Member Chip Zien Added to Starry INTO THE WOODS Cast; Full Central Park Cast Revealed!

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Patrick Willingham) announced complete casting today for Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's beloved musical INTO THE WOODS, directed by Timothy Sheader with co-direction by Liam Steel. Ellen Harvey (Cinderella's Stepmother); Bethany Moore (Stepsister); Jennifer Rias (Stepsister); Sarah Stiles (Little Red Ridinghood); and Kristine Zbornik (Jack's Mother) complete the cast with Chip Zien, who originated the role of the Baker in the 1987 Broadway production, playing Mysterious Man.

INTO THE WOODS will begin previews on Monday, July 23 at the Delacorte Theater and continue for five weeks through Saturday, August 25, with an official press opening on Thursday, August 9.

The Delacorte Theater in Central Park officially opened on June 18, 1962 with The Merchant of Venice, directed by Public Theater founder Joe Papp and Gladys Vaughn and featuring the then-unknown actors George C. Scott and James Earl Jones. Conceived by Papp as a way to make great theater accessible to all, over the past 50 years more than five million people have enjoyed more than 150 free productions of Shakespeare and other classical works and musicals at the Delacorte.

The cast of INTO THE WOODS also features Amy Adams (The Baker's Wife); 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); Donna Murphy (The Witch); Denis O'Hare (The Baker); Laura Shoop (Cinderella's Mother); and Tess Soltau (Rapunzel). The non-Equity ensemble of INTO THE WOODS features Victoria Cook, Johnny Newcomb, Noah Radcliffe, and Eric R. Williams.

AS YOU LIKE IT, the first show of The Public's 50th Anniversary Delacorte season directed by Daniel Sullivan, will run through Saturday, June 30.

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.