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.

Fresh off the National 25th Anniversary Tour of Les Misérables are Jenny Latimer and Justin Scott Brown, who toured as Cosette and Marius, respectively. Latimer, who will play Cinderella, previously appeared in Westport Country Playhouse's production of She Loves Me, directed by Mark Lamos. Brown, who has also performed in the National Tour of Spring Awakening, will play Jack.

Alma Cuervo, who plays Cinderella's Stepmother, Granny, and voices the Giant, has an extensive list of Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regional credits, including the original casts of Titanic, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Beauty and the Beast, and Cabaret. She has also previously appeared at Westport Country Playhouse in Dancing at Lughnasa. Cinderella's stepsisters, Florinda and Lucinda, will be played by Nikka Lanzarone and Eleni Delopoulos. Lanzarone's Broadway credits include Velma Kelly in Chicago and the original Lincoln Center cast of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. Delopoulos has appeared Off-Broadway and regionally in such productions as Two Gentlemen of Verona; the original cast of A Stoop on Orchard Street; Crossing Delancey; and Phantom.

Nik Walker will play the Wolf and Cinderella's Prince. He has most recently appeared as John in Miss Saigon at the Ogunquit Playhouse, as well as regional productions including RENT and Man of La Mancha. Robert Lenzi will join him as Rapunzel's Prince, having previously appeared in the Lincoln Center production of South Pacific and several films, including M. Night Shyamalan's The Village and The Happening.

Rapunzel and Cinderella's Mother will be played by Britney Coleman, who has appeared in Adam Rapp's production of Stop the Virgens, and the regional premiere of Tarzan: The Broadway Musical. Coleman also starred with fellow University of Michigan students in the internet cult phenomenon A Very Potter Musical and A Very Potter Sequel, alongside Glee's Darren Criss. Jeremy Lawrence completes the cast as the Mysterious Man. Lawrence has appeared in regional productions throughout the country, including at the Abingdon Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, Antaeus Theatre Company, and The Mint.

Into the Woods, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine, begins previews on Wednesday, March 7. The show opens on Wednesday, March 14, and closes April 15. Tickets are $10-$60, and can be ordered online at www.centerstage.org/woods, or by calling 410.332.0033. This production is supported by M&T Bank and Northrop Grumman, with additional funding from T. Rowe Price and Goodell, DeVries, Leech & Dann, LLP. The production's media partner is Maryland Public Television.

The State Theater of Maryland, CENTERSTAGE will soon announce its 50th Anniversary Season. The not-for-profit company serves as a local hub and national leader for smart, provocative, and entertaining theater and as a catalyst for conversation with the community. Each year, a consistently broad range of productions in two intimate performing spaces attracts highly diverse audiences of more than 100,000 people-including more than 8,000 fiercely loyal members, many of whom have been with the theater during its entire history. Additionally, CENTERSTAGE offers a variety of dramaturgical, community, and educational programs to broaden access and enhance the theatergoing experience.

FINAL WEEK: Gleam by Bonnie Lee Moss Rattner, based on Their Eyes Were Watching God

Now Playing: A Skull in Connemara by Martin McDonagh, through March 4

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