Manhattan School of Music to Present Free Into the Woods

The Manhattan School of Music's American Musical Theater Ensemble will present their first-ever full-length musical, Stephen Sondheim's Into The Woods, with a cast made up of some of the school's most versatile singers. The production will run Thursday May 17, through Saturday May 19, at 7:30p.m. in the School's John C. Borden Auditorium. Carolyn Marlow, a Manhattan School of Music Faculty member since 1990 and "Jack's Mother" in the original Broadway cast of Into the Woods, directs.

Press notes state, "Into the Woods is an award-winning musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. It debuted in San Diego at the Old Globe Theatre in 1986, and premiered on Broadway in 1987. It won several Tony awards, including Best Score and Best Actress in a Musical (Joanna Gleason), in a year dominated by The Phantom of the Opera. The musical has been produced many times, with a 1988 national tour, a 1990 West End production, a 1991 television production, a 1997 tenth anniversary concert, a 2002 Los Angeles production and a 2002 Broadway revival. It is also a popular choice for school productions."

Into the Woods features choreography by Broadway's Colleen Durham (West Side Story, A Chorus Line, Jerome Robbins' Broadway), and musical direction by Dan Gettinger (American Theater Esemble's A Grand Night for Singing, Side by Side by Sondheim). Maitland Peters, currently in his fifteenth year as Chairman of the Voice Department at Manhattan School of Music, is the show's narrator, leading a cast that includes James Rodgers, Elizabeth Cernadas, Christiana Little, Callie Wahl, Christina Skleros, Patrick James, Jacob Smith, David Hughey, Paul Robinson, Diana Herstein, Dustin Vye, Anna Booman, Stephanie Lauricella, Diana Merek, Angela Scherrah, Leah Wyman, Jesse Cromer and Margaret Peterson.

The Manhattan School of Music American Musical Theater Ensemble Performance is free and tickets are not required.  For more information, contact the Manhattan School of Music Concert office at (917) 493-4428, e-mail concertinfo@msmnyc.edu, or visit www.msmnyc.edu. The school is easily reached by bus (M4 and M104 buses stop at the corner of Broadway and 122nd Street) or by subway (the #1 train stops at Broadway and 116th Street).  In addition, taxis are readily available following concerts directly in front of the School at Broadway and 122nd Street.