JENNA RUSSELL in Into The Woods
August 16, 2010
Jenna Russell stars in the Open Air Theatre’s Into the Woods
This summer Jenna Russell will play the Baker’s Wife in a new production of Stephen Sondheim’s Into The Woods at the Open Air Theatre in Regent’s Park, timed to celebrate Sondheim’s 80th birthday year.
Directed by Timothy Sheader, the show adds a dark twist to famous fairytales such as Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel.
Jenna is no stranger to working outdoors having played the Open Air Theatre on a number of occasions, namely as Hermia in A Midsummer Nights Dream and Nellie in The Card.
She has also appeared in Into the Woods before – playing Cinderella in the Donmar’s 1998 production directed by John Crowley and Jonathan Butterell.
Jenna’s talent and versatility is demonstrated by her numerous stage roles, crossing both drama and musicals, and both classic and modern work.
Her credits include Amy in Amy’s View for Sir Peter Hall; Dot/Marie in the Menier Chocolate Factory production of Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George, for which she won an Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical; Sarah in Guys and Dolls at the Donmar Warehouse directed by Michael Grandage; a number of RSC productions for directors including David Thacker, John Caird, Adrian Noble and Alan Ayckbourn; and West End roles in Les Miserables, Follies and Martin Guerre.
Jenna recently performed at Stephen Sondheim’s 80th birthday Prom at the Royal Albert Hall alongside Dame Judi Dench and Simon Russell Beale.
Other cast in Into The Woods include Hannah Waddingham, Valda Aviks, Billy Boyle, Gaye Brown, Helen Dallimore, Alice Fearn, Amy Griffiths, Mark Hadfield, Amy Ellen Richardson, Beverly Rudd, Ben Stott, Simon Thomas, Gemma Wardle and Michael Xavier.
Into the Woods will run from 5 August until 11 September at the Open Air Theatre, Regent’s Park.
Book tickets to Into The Woods at the Open Air Theatre in London
Into The Woods opens tonight
August 16, 2010
The Open Air Theatre’s new production of Into The Woods officially opens tonight, 16 August, at its Regent’s Park venue.
Jenna Russell in Into The Woods. Photo: Catherine Ashmore
Timed to celebrate Stephen Sondheim 80th birthday year, the musical features West End stars – and Sondheim aficionados – Hannah Waddingham (A Little Night Music) and Jenna Russell (Sunday in the Park with George).
Directed by Timothy Sheader, Into The Woods adds a dark twist to famous fairytales such as Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel.
Other cast in the show include Valda Aviks, Billy Boyle, Gaye Brown, Helen Dallimore, Alice Fearn, Amy Griffiths, Mark Hadfield, Amy Ellen Richardson, Beverly Rudd, Ben Stott, Simon Thomas, Gemma Wardle and Michael Xavier.
Into the Woods will run from 5 August until 11 September at the Open Air Theatre, Regent’s Park.
Book tickets to Into The Woods at the Open Air Theatre in London
OTHER SHOWS STARTING IN AUGUST
Deathtrap, starring Simon Russell Beale and Jonathan Groff, starts previews at the Noel Coward Theatre on 21 August.
AND CLOSING:
As You Like It and The Tempest at the Old Vic Theatre, directed by Sam Mendes and starring Stephen Dillane and Juliet Rylance, closes 21 August.
La Bete at the Comedy Theatre, closes 28 August.
STARTING IN SEPTEMBER
Noel Coward’s Design for Living at the Old Vic Theatre, from3 September.
Passion at the Donmar Warehouse starring Elena Roger, from 10 September.
Complicite’s A Disappearing Number at the Novello Theatre, from 10 September.
Les Miserables 25th anniversary production at the Barbican Theatre, from 14 September.
Krapp’s Last Tape starring Michael Gambon at the Duchess Theatre, from 15 September.
Yes, Prime Minister at the Gielgud Theatre starring David Haig and Henry Goodman, from 17 September.
Birdsong starring Ben Barnes and directed by Trevor Nunn, at the Comedy Theatre from 18 September.
Flashdance The Musical at the Shaftesbury Theatre, from 24 September.
Onassis at the Novello Theatre starring Robert Lindsay, from 30 September.
AND CLOSING:
HAIR at the Gielgud Theatre, closes on 4 September.
All The Fun of the Fair at the Garrick Theatre, closes on 4 September.
Burn The Floor at the Shaftesbury Theatre, closes 4 September.
Tap Dogs at the Novello Theatre, closes 5 September.
The Secret of Sherlock Holmes at the Duchess Theatre, closes on 11 September.
The Prisoner of Second Avenue at the Vaudeville Theatre, closes 25 September.
HANNAH WADDINGHAM in Into The Woods
July 9, 2010
Beautiful Hannah returns to Sondheim and goes Into the Woods
West End star Hannah Waddingham, whose recent successes include Trevor Nunn’s production of Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music, will return to Sondheim this summer in Into The Woods.
Part of this year’s Open Air Theatre season in Regent’s Park, the show helps celebrate Stephen Sondheim’s 80th year which also sees a revival of Passion this summer at the Donmar Warehouse starring Elena Roger.
Directed by Timothy Sheader, Hannah Waddingham plays the central role of the Witch, alongside Olivier award winner Jenna Russell (Sunday in the Park with George) as the Baker’s wife in the show that adds a dark twist to famous fairytales such as Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel.
Hannah has enjoyed a successful stage career, including Olivier Award nominations for playing the Lady of the Lake in Spamalot and Desiree Armfelt in Trevor Nunn’s production of A Little Night Music at the Menier Choclate Factory and the Garrick Theatre. Other roles include Suzanne Valadon in Lautrec, Christine Warner in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Beautiful Game at the Cambridge Theatre) Satan in Rod Stewart’s Tonight’s The Night and Rizzo in Grease at the Victoria Palace Theatre.
The Menier Chocolate Factory production of Sondheim’s A Little Night Music continues to pack them in on Broadway, now starring Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stritch (from 13 July). Catherine Zeta-Jones won a Tony Award for her performance as Desiree in the show on Broadway.
Other cast in Into The Woods include Valda Aviks, Billy Boyle, Gaye Brown, Helen Dallimore, Alice Fearn, Amy Griffiths, Mark Hadfield, Amy Ellen Richardson, Beverly Rudd, Ben Stott, Simon Thomas, Gemma Wardle and Michael Xavier.
Into the Woods will run from 5 August until 11 September at the Open Air Theatre, Regent’s Park.
Book tickets to Into The Woods at the Open Air Theatre in London
