Into The Woods – Reviews Round-up

Into The Woods at the Open Air Theatre, Regent’s Park

It seems that the Open Air Theatre in Regent’s Park has delivered again. After last summer’s enormously popular revival of Hello Dolly!, this year they have taken on Stephen Sondheim in tribute to his 80th year.

As the critics almost unanimously agree, a staging of Sondheim’s Into the Woods in the middle of Regent’s Park is an inspired setting, with Soutra Gilmour’s set winning much praise from the critics.

As does Timothy Sheader’s direction, with some light adapting of the original (making the narrator a young boy) to ensure that awards should follow.

And to seal its success – a cast to die for, including Michael Xavier having fun as the Prince and the Wolf before moving on to Love Story at the Duchess, the mischievous and hilarious Beverly Rudd as Little Red Riding Hood, and the Sondheim Babes – Hannah Waddingham and Jenna Russell – working their magic.

Book tickets to Into the Woods at the Open Air Theatre in Regent’s Park.

JENNA RUSSELL in Into The Woods

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

The Open Air Theatre’s new production of Into The Woods officially opens tonight, 16 August, at its Regent’s Park venue.

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.

VIDEO: Into The Woods – Rehearsals

The Open Air Theatre’s new production of Into The Woods opens this Thursday, 5 August, at their Regent’s Park venue.

Nicely timed for this year’s Stephen Sondheim 80th anniversary celebrations, the musical stars Sondheim women of the moment Hannah Waddingham (A Little Night Music) and Jenna Russell (Sunday in the Park with George).

The Open Air Theatre has posted a video of the sitzprobe for the show where the singers rehearse with the orchestra, often for the first time.

Looks like it’s going to be quite a show.

Into The Woods

Olivier award winner Jenna Russell and nominee Hannah Waddingham star in Stephen Sondheim’s Into The Woods, a dark and humorous twist on the Brothers Grimm fairy tales, in the beautiful setting of the Open Air Theatre in Regent’s Park.

HANNAH WADDINGHAM in Into The Woods

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

Summer Theatre in the West End

New shows opening in London this summer

Spring and autumn may be the busiest times for new shows in London, but this summer will still pack quite a punch with some big names, high-profile directors and a few surprises in store.

A range of musicals and plays will open in the capital over the next few months, including classic musicals from Stephen Sondheim (Into the Woods) and Rogers & Hammerstein (State Fair); starry comedy, including David Hyde Pearce and Joanna Lumley in La Bete, Jeff Goldblum in The Prisoner of Second Avenue and Simon Russell Beal and Jonathan Groff in Deathtrap); dance spectaculars (Burn the Floor), new musicals (Wolfboy), ambitious children’s drama (The Railway Children) and a terrifying new play (Ghost Stories).

Read more

OLIVIER AWARDS – Best Actress Winners

OLIVIER AWARDS – BEST ACTRESS WINNERS

Best Actress

2010 Rachel Weisz for A Streetcar Named Desire
2009 Margaret Tyzack for The Chalk Garden
2008 Kristin Scott Thomas for Chekhov’s The Seagull
2007 Tamsin Greig for Much Ado About Nothing
2006 Eve Best for Hedda Gabler
2005 Clare Higgins for Hecuba
2004 Eileen Atkins for Honour
2003 Clare Higgins for Vincent In Brixton
2002 Lindsay Duncan for Private Lives
2001 Julie Walters for All My Sons
2000 Janie Dee for Comic Potential
1999 Eileen Atkins for The Unexpected Man
1998 Zoë Wanamaker for Electra
1997 Janet McTeer for A Doll’s House
1996 Judi Dench for Absolute Hell
1995 Clare Higgins for Sweet Bird Of Youth
1994 Fiona Shaw for Machinal
1993 Alison Steadman for The Rise And Fall Of Little Voice
1992 Juliet Stevenson for Death And The Maiden
1991 Kathryn Hunter for The Visit
1989/90 Fiona Shaw for Electra, As You Like It and The Good Person Of Sichuan
1987 Judi Dench for Antony and Cleopatra
1986 Lindsay Duncan for Les Liaisons Dangereuses
1985 Yvonne Bryceland for The Road To Mecca

Actress of the Year in a New Play

1988 Pauline Collins for Shirley Valentine
1984 Thuli Dumakude for Poppie Nongena
1983 Judi Dench for Pack Of Lies
1982 Rosemary Leach for 84 Charing Cross Road
1981 Elizabeth Quinn for Children Of A Lesser God
1980 Frances de la Tour for Duet For One
1979 Jane Lapotaire for Piaf
1978 Joan Plowright for Filumena
1977 Alison Fiske for Dusa, Fish, Stas and Vi
1976 Peggy Ashcroft for Old World

Actress of the Year in a Revival

1988 Harriet Walter for Twelfth Night and The Three Sisters
1984 Vanessa Redgrave for The Aspern Papers
1983 Frances de la Tour for A Moon For The Misbegotten
1982 Cheryl Campbell for A Doll’s House
1981 Margaret Tyzack for Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?
1980 Judi Dench for Juno And The Paycock
1979 Zoë Wanamaker for Once In A Lifetime
1978 Dorothy Tutin for The Double Dealer
1977 Judi Dench for Macbeth
1976 Dorothy Tutin for A Month In The Country

Best Actress in a Musical

2010 Samantha Spiro for Hello Dolly!
2009 Elena Roger for Piaf
2008 Leanne Jones for Hairspray
2007 Jenna Russell for Sunday In The Park With George
2006 Jane Krakowski for Guys And Dolls
2005 Laura Michelle Kelly for Mary Poppins
2004 Maria Friedman for Ragtime at the Piccadilly
2003 Joanna Riding for My Fair Lady
2002 Martine McCutcheon for My Fair Lady
2001 Samantha Spiro for Merrily We Roll Along
2000 Barbara Dickson for Spend Spend Spend
1999 Sophie Thompson for Into The Woods
1998 Ute Lemper for Chicago
1997 Maria Friedman for Passion
1996 Judi Dench for A Little Night Music
1995 Ruthie Henshall for She Loves Me
1994 Julia McKenzie for Sweeney Todd
1993 Joanna Riding for Carousel
1992 Wilhelmenia Fernandez for Carmen Jones
1991 Imelda Staunton for Into The Woods
1989/90 Lea Salonga for Miss Saigon
1988 Patricia Routledge for Candide
1987 Nichola McAuliffe for Kiss Me Kate
1986 Lesley Mackie for Judy
1985 Patti LuPone for Les Misérables and The Cradle Will Rock
1984 Natalia Makarova for On Your Toes
1983 Barbara Dickson for Blood Brothers
1982 Julia McKenzie for Guys And Dolls
1981 Carlin Glynn for The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas
1980 Gemma Craven for They’re Playing Our Song
1979 Virginia McKenna for The King And I

OLIVIER AWARDS – Best Director Winners

OLIVIER AWARDS – Best Director Winners

Best Director

2010 Rupert Goold for Enron
2009 John Tiffany for Black Watch
2008 Rupert Goold for Macbeth
2007 Dominic Cooke for The Crucible
2006 Richard Eyre for Hedda Gabler
2005 Nicholas Hytner for The History Boys
2004 Michael Grandage for Caligula
2003 Sam Mendes for Twelfth Night and Uncle Vanya
2002 Michael Boyd for Henry VI Parts I, II and III and Richard III
2001 Howard Davies for All My Sons
2000 Trevor Nunn for Summerfolk, The Merchant Of Venice and Troilus And Cressida
1999 Howard Davies for The Iceman Cometh
1998 Richard Eyre for King Lear
1997 Des McAnuff for Tommy
1996 Sam Mendes for Company and The Glass Menagerie
1989/90 Michael Bogdanov for The Wars Of The Roses
1988 Deborah Warner for Titus Andronicus
1987 Declan Donnellan for The Cid, Twelfth Night and Macbeth
1986 Bill Alexander for The Merry Wives Of Windsor
1985 Bill Bryden for The Mysteries
1984 Christopher Morahan for Wild Honey
1983 Terry Hands for Cyrano De Bergerac
1982 Richard Eyre for Guys And Dolls
1981 Peter Wood for On the Razzle
1980 Trevor Nunn and John Caird for Nicholas Nickleby
1979 Michael Bogdanov for The Taming Of The Shrew
1978 Terry Hands for Henry VI
1977 Clifford Williams for Wild Oats
1976 Jonathan Miller for The Three Sisters

Best Director of a Play

1995 Declan Donnellan for As You Like It
1994 Stephen Daldry for Machinal
1993 Stephen Daldry for An Inspector Calls
1992 Deborah Warner for Hedda Gabler
1991 David Thacker for Pericles
Best Director of a Musical
1995 Scott Ellis for She Loves Me
1994 Declan Donnellan for Sweeney Todd
1993 Nicholas Hytner for Carousel
1992 Simon Callow for Carmen Jones
1991 Richard Jones for Into The Woods

CASTING: Open Air’s Into The Woods

West End star Hannah Waddingham, who enjoyed success in 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 at the Donmar Warehouse starring Elena Roger and a special South Bank Show Revisited on ITV1 in April.

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.

The Menier Chocolate Factory production of Sondheim’s A Little Night Music continues to pack them in on Broadway starring Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Elena Roger (Evita, Piaf), Scarlett Strallen (Mary Poppins) and David Thaxton (Les Miserables) will star in Passion at the Donmar Warehouse from 10 September.

Into the Woods will run from 5 August until 11 September at the Open Air Theatre, Regent’s Park.