Photo Coverage: Blue Hill Troupe's INTO THE WOODS

Blue Hill Troupe, Ltd., the only musical theater group in New York City to donate its net proceeds to charity, kicked off its 85th season with Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Into the Woods, November 7 through 15, 2008 at Dicapo Opera Theater, 184 East 76th Street.  The Blue Hill Troupe produces a musical every fall and a Gilbert & Sullivan operetta every spring, and has donated over $3 million to local charities.

On November 12th, the Blue Hill Troupe will sponsored a special pre-show event moderated by WNYC host Richard Hake.  Currently slated to appear are original Broadway cast members Chip Zien and Jeff Blumenkrantz.  Admission is free with the price of a ticket to any of the 8 performances.

The 2008-2009 Season will benefit Inwood House, a leader and innovator in youth development, teen pregnancy prevention, and family support, serving nearly 5,000 young people in New York City and New Jersey.

The Tony Award-winning Into the Woods originally directed on Broadway by James Lapine, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine, fractures the tales of Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel and the ever-present Wolf and Witch to bring new depth to characters we thought we knew.  Drawn into a twisty puzzle of a plot, they must band together and discover their personal strengths to battle the darkness that lurks in the woods. Andy Sandberg directs the Blue Hill Troupe's production, with musical direction by Matthew Rupcich.

The all-volunteer Blue Hill Troupe has presented four other works by Stephen Sondheim: A Little Night Music (1993), Company (2000), Sweeney Todd (2001), and Follies (2005), which was honored by BroadwayWorld.com as "Semi-professional theatre at its finest."

The Blue Hill Troupe has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning and appeared with The New York Pops at Carnegie Hall.  For fourteen years, they have presented a Gilbert & Sullivan concert as part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Concerts and Lectures series, where they will return on February 15, 2009.  In 2005, the Blue Hill Troupe was honored with three awards at the 12th Annual International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival in Buxton, UK, for their innovative production of the G&S rarity, The Grand Duke.

For more information about the Blue Hill Troupe, Ltd., contact Joanne Lessner at (212) 222-7436 or visit www.bht.org.

Photos by Peter James Zielinski

Jeff Blumenkrantz, Richard Hake and Chip Zien

Chip Zien

WNYC's Richard Hake

Jeff Blumenkrantz