Cast Set For Sondheim's INTO THE WOODS Concert At The Royal Conservatory

​The Royal Conservatory of Music has revealed the cast for the 2024 holiday season production of Into the Woods in concert. There will be three holiday performances suitable for the whole family on December 28, 29, and 30, with a special New Year's Eve presentation on the 31st.

Richard Ouzounian, who has directed both Follies in October of 2021 and A Little Night Music in May of 2023 at The Royal Conservatory, said: “I am happy to be returning for the third time to Koerner Hall – my favourite venue – with a third work by Stephen Sondheim – my favourite composer. Into the Woods will provide a marvelous way for the whole family to round out the holiday season and sail into the new year with an inspiring message.”

The all-star cast of Canadian theatre and television icons includes Tess Benger, who has performed in both our previous Sondheim shows, and recently starred as Carole King in Beautiful in Montreal and Winnipeg, will play Cinderella; Dora Award-winning performer and recording artist Gabi Epstein (The Baker's Wife), hailed “Canada's Queen of Cabaret” by CTV, best known for playing Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors at the Stratford Festival and Fanny Brice in Funny Girl at the Segal Centre; Sara Farb, who has appeared at the Stratford Festival and made her Broadway debut in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in 2019, is The Witch; Mike Nadajewski, fresh off his triumphant role in La Bête, and who has spent multiple seasons at Shaw and Stratford festivals, is The Baker; and one of Canada's best known stage actors, Fiona Reid (Jack's Mother and The Giant), who has performed in theatres across the country, including five seasons with the Stratford Festival and 12 at the Shaw Festival, as well as theatres in Great Britain and the U.S. Reid, Epstein, and Benger have previously appeared in the Conservatory's production of Sondheim's A Little Night Music as Madame Armfeldt, Charlotte Magnus, and Petra, respectively.

Also joining the cast is Nicole Joy-Fraser (Cinderella's Stepmother), an actor, singer, and dancer of mixed Cree and European descent who has been fortunate enough to perform not only internationally, but also for some of Canada's leading Indigenous theatre companies; Robert Markus (Cinderella's Prince and The Wolf), a Stratford-based actor and singer, best known to audiences for performing the titular role in Dear Evan Hansen, for which he was a recipient of the Toronto Theatre Critics Award and a Dora Award nomination; Ben Page (Jack) a writer/composer/actor who has appeared in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat (Drayton), The Man That Got Away (Buddies in Bad Times), Ursa: A Folk Musical (Tweed & Co), and Alice in Wonderland (Soulpepper); and Heeyun Park 박희윤 (Little Red Ridinghood), a Korean-Canadian actor, singer, and creator who is currently in Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1821, and has appeared with the Musical Stage Company and Talk Is Free Theatre.

The cast is rounded out by Dillan Chiblow (Rapunzel's Prince), an Anishnawbe storyteller from Garden River First Nation in Ontario, nominated for a Dora Award in 2023 for Outstanding Performance by an Individual for his performance in Bentboy that had its world premiere at Young People's Theatre in Toronto; soprano Elena Howard-Scott (Rapunzel), a Rebanks Fellow at The Royal Conservatory's Glenn Gould School, who will perform the role of Blanche de la Force in the GGS's spring production of Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites later this month; Will Parry (Puppeteer), a Barrie-born music theatre artist who has self-produced a virtual cabaret titled Here I Am: A Cabaret, directed by Steven Gallagher and music directed by Aaron Eyre; Hailey Lewis (Step Sister), recently seen in 6ix, and who has appeared in Alice in Winterland Virtual Panto (Ross Petty Productions), Hairspray (Dayton Entertainment & Theatre Aquarius), Anne of Green Gables (Charlottetown Festival), Mary Poppins (YPT), Shrek: The Musical (Globe Theatre), Grease (Irregular Entertainment), and Prom Queen (Segal Centre); and Mirabella Sundar Singh (Step Sister), a South Indian-Sri Lankan performer, choreographer, and creator whose select credits include NEW (Necessary Angel/Royal MTC), Fifteen Dogs (Crow's Theatre), Mamma Mia! (Drayton Entertainment), Shakespeare D&D (Driftwood Theatre), Twelfth Night the Musical and Parkdale the Musical (Musical Stage Co. & Theatre).

The roles of The Narrator and Cinderella's Mother will be announced soon.

Richard Ouzounian directs the semi-staged production and Paul Sportelli conducts a 20-piece, on-stage orchestra featuring students from The Royal Conservatory's Glenn Gould School.

Performance Details: 

Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim 

Book by James Lapine

Directed by Richard Ouzounian

Conducted by Paul Sportelli 

Designer, Arun Srinivasan

Choreography by Genny Sermonia

Stage manager, Kevin Bowers

Assistant conductor, David Atkinson

Rehearsal pianist, Stephan Ermel

Produced by Mervon Mehta for The Royal Conservatory

Associate producer, Alice Sellwood

One of Sondheim's most popular works, Into the Woods is a Tony Award-winning musical which takes everyone's favourite storybook characters and brings them together for a timeless yet relevant modern classic. The story follows a Baker and his wife, who wish to have a child; Cinderella, who wishes to attend the King's Festival; and Jack, who wishes his cow would give milk. When the Baker and his wife learn that they cannot have a child because of a Witch's curse, the two set off on a journey to break the curse. Everyone's wish is granted, but the consequences of their actions return to haunt them later with disastrous results.

NEW YEAR'S EVE CELEBRATION

On December 31, 2024, the audience is invited to experience a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to ring in the new year with the stars of the show! After the concert, patrons are invited to join an exclusive after-party where they can mingle with the cast, enjoy special party favours, toast with a glass of champagne, and savour sumptuous desserts on every floor of the stunning Leslie & Anna Dan Gallerias. They will dance the night away to the tunes of a live band and celebrate the start of 2025 in style.

How to Purchase Tickets

Presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI).
All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI.

Saturday, December 28, 2024 at 7pm

Sunday, December 29, 2024 at 7pm 

Monday, December 30, 2024 at 7pm

Tuesday, December 31, 2024 at 7pm                                                                                                                   

Koerner Hall

The Royal Conservatory of Music

TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning, 273 Bloor Street West, Toronto

Tickets start at $75; $150 for the New Year's Eve performance and party on December 31

online at www.rcmusic.com/performance, by calling 416.408.0208, or in person at the Weston Family Box Office

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